Restaurant
Insurance

With so many options, where do you start?

Simple – start with your essential insurance, then take into action the add-ons, and consider which offer the most relevant value to your business. Some people have a tendency to over-insure to make sure every eventuality is covered; while others will under insure, and potentially miss out on those extras that could make a real difference to their business in the event a claim needed to be made. Whichever ‘bucket’ you fall into, speaking with our team can help give you that perfect element of balance. 

We’ll make sure we understand the inner workings of your business; whether you are a deli, café, or a busy 150 cover restaurant; and we’ll only suggest the products and add-ons that make sense for your business. 

Here’s a quick list of the different types of restaurant insurance you can buy.

General Liability Coverage
Essential to cover against any third-party claims of damage to property or person. In some cases, it will also cover advertising injury.

Commercial Property Coverage
Another essential – and if you lease a building, then it could form part of your contract. It covers the physical building, along with your equipment, inventory*, furnishings, signage, and more. 

*As you’ll be keeping temperature-sensitive products and inventory on-site, you’ll need to look at coverage for spoilage too*

Business Interruption Insurance
If you’re buying the above two insurances in a business owner policy, you will usually get this coverage included as standard. It can give you a portion of any lost profits and potentially cover some of your staff’s lost wages after a covered event.

Workers Compensation Coverage
Again, another essential! This is state mandated in most places, and it can cover medical expenses for any employees who are injured at work or whom develop a work-related injury.

Other types of insurance that you can consider for your restaurant, include:

• Employment Practices Liability
• Employment Benefits Liability – only applicable if you provide benefits to your staff
• Liquor Liability – only relevant if you serve alcohol or allow people to bring their own
• Garage Keepers Liability – only applicable if you have a valet parking services
• Commercial Auto – only relevant if you have company-owned autos, or if wither yourself or your staff use a vehicle for work-related reasons

Add-on Options 
Here’s a list of most of the endorsements and riders you can buy for your restaurant’s business. Speak with a member of our team to find out which will and will not apply to your business. 

• Spoilage Cover – this can cover losses caused by a failure of cooling equipment.
• Extra Expense – if your restaurant needs to close or relocate after a covered event, this can cover rental costs of temporary premises.
• Non-hired and owner auto insurance – if you deliver food, you might need this.
• Peak season – if you are a seasonal business, this should be considered.
• Employee theft – never something that restaurant owners foresee, but sadly, it does happen. This is usually excluded from standard commercial insurance, but it is offered as an add-on.
• Equipment breakdown – most restaurants couldn’t operate as usual if their equipment breaks down, this will usually cover both mechanical and electrical breakdowns.
• Sewer backup – This is usually excluded from standard property insurance for restaurants. If you are affected by a sewer backing up, you can get protection with this add-on.
• Utility Interruption – If your water, electricity, or gas supply is interrupted, it can have a major impact on your business. This provides you with coverage for an incident such as this. 
• Fine Arts – If you have invested in art works for your restaurant, this add-on will give you adequate coverage for their value.
• Data Breach/electronic data processing – whether you take bookings and payments online or in-person, these modern-day endorsements are key.