Owning a restaurant comes with risks and liabilities. Getting the right kinds of restaurant insurance will help make protect your money, time, and effort. Here are a few things to consider when deciding what insurance you need to protect your restaurant:
Things to Consider
Restaurant Assets
A restaurant insurance policy should cover the assets in your restaurant. Before shopping around for an insurance policy, identify what your restaurant assets are. The things that need protection are things such as onsite cash, cooking appliances, cooking tools, and ingredient inventory. Your restaurant equity should also be considered an asset.
Potential Risks and Liabilities
There are a few risks specific to restaurants that you’ll need to consider. Protecting your restaurant requires you to identify these risks and make sure your insurance covers them.
These can include things such as:
- Slips and falls
- Food poisoning
- Customer burns
- Workplace injuries
- Liquor liability
- Crime
- Weather-related property damage
- In-house delivery service vehicle accidents
- General property damage or bodily injury
Restaurant liabilities can also include the amount you owe on loans you’ve taken out to finance your restaurant, equipment leases, and unpaid bills.
Type of Restaurant
Not every restaurant needs the same types of coverage. This depends on the type of restaurant you own and the services you offer. If your restaurant doesn’t offer in-house delivery, you won’t need commercial auto insurance. If your restaurant doesn’t serve alcohol, you won’t need insurance to cover alcohol-related incidents. While some types of insurance are needed for all restaurants, others a very specific to your restaurant.
Types of Restaurant Insurance
Once you’ve identified what your risks, liabilities, assets, and restaurant type, you can determine what you need in your restaurant insurance policy. Here are a few types of insurance your restaurant may need and what they cover:
Commercial General Liability Insurance
This type of insurance helps you as a restaurant owner to be protected in case of issues with customers on the restaurant premises. It includes coverage for things like slips and falls, food poisoning, customer burns, or other customer injuries. Liability insurance can also cover damage to customer property while they frequent your restaurant. This is the type of insurance to use if your customers need medical bills paid as a result of negligence on the restaurant’s part.
Commercial Property Insurance
Commercial property insurance covers losses relating to equipment damage and any damage to things on your property. This includes losses from weather-related incidents, fire damage, water damage, food contamination, crime, income losses, and any other damage to the restaurant’s property. It can protect furniture and assets such as restaurant tables, chairs, and other furniture. Make sure to consider where your restaurant is located when deciding what kinds of things you should add to your policy. If it’s located in an area that experiences frequent tornadoes, get a policy that covers tornado-related damages.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Regardless of how careful you might be or how much training you give your employees, worker accidents will inevitably happen. Workers’ compensation insurance protects your staff in case of injury or illness during work hours. Workers’ compensation insurance covers a worker’s medical bills, and can cover lost wages in case of illness or injury on-site. This insurance helps to protect the health and safety of your employees.
Liquor Liability Insurance
If your restaurant serves alcohol, you need liquor liability insurance. People can be unpredictable when drinking alcohol. If one of your waitstaff serves liquor to a visibly intoxicated person, you could be held liable for any harmful actions the patron takes after they leave your establishment. This includes things like damages related to drunk driving or property damage caused by a drunk guest. Liquor liabilities vary by state, so research what applies in your state to make sure you account for all potential alcohol-related risks in your insurance policy. If you have liquor-related losses or injuries resulting from restaurant negligence, liquor liability insurance can pay for related property repairs, your legal fees, and injured parties’ medical bills.
Commercial Auto Insurance
Food delivery has become much more popular in recent years. Since third-party food courier services tend to take a large chunk of a sale when delivering from restaurants, you might be inclined to have your own in-house delivery service. This increases the risks that you need to have covered in your restaurant. Commercial auto insurance can cover accidents made with company vehicles and any incidents that may happen when an employee uses their own vehicle to make a delivery for you. If an employee gets into a crash and is found to be the party at fault, commercial auto insurance can pay for the related damages.
Finding an Insurance Company
While owning a restaurant can be an exciting and profitable venture, you’ll need the proper insurance to help your restaurant remain successful. Your restaurant will be protected from a variety of accidents and liabilities with full-coverage insurance. At Tabak Insurance, we offer a full-range of plans to service your restaurant needs. With over 25 years of experience, we can help you safeguard your establishment so that you can focus on providing your customers with a delicious dining experience.
