For a passionate restaurateur, nothing is quite as rewarding as serving up your delectable culinary creations for your customers. But that reward doesn’t come without risks. Restaurants, bars, and bakeries carry a unique set of hazards to owners, employees, and patrons that may be alleviated through proper restaurant insurance coverage.
If you own a small business in the restaurant industry, such as a deli, cafe, pizzeria, bar, coffee shop, or bakery, your employees may face hazards such as burns, cuts, slips, and falls. Your customers could become ill from contaminated or improperly handled food. Your establishment could be damaged due to fire or catastrophic weather. And you could be held liable for all of these damages.
However, when you carry the right types of restaurant insurance, your customers, employees, and small business may be covered.
What are the common types of restaurant insurance?
Workers’ compensation insurance helps protect your restaurant business and covers your employees if they become ill or injured on the job. Check your current workers’ comp rate.
General Liability
General liability insurance helps protect your restaurant against third-party claims that involve property damage, bodily injury, or advertising injury.
Business Owner’s Policy
BOP offers bundled insurance that may include business interruption insurance, property insurance, and liability coverage for your restaurant business.
Cyber Insurance
Cyber liability insurance helps cover your company for events such as a data breach in which your customers’ or employees’ personal information or your company information is stolen or held hostage.
Additional Restaurant Insurance Options
Additional coverage options such as liquor liability or temperature change coverage may be built into your business owner’s policy or purchased separately to customize your restaurant insurance package.
What are examples of restaurant industry risks and restaurant insurance that may cover them?
Selecting small business insurance can be confusing. Here are some sample scenarios to point you in the right direction. We recommend consulting with a trusted advisor to make sure you get the right types of coverage for your business.
An employees is cut while prepping vegetables
Workers’ compensation insurance may cover the worker’s medical bills and lost wages.
A customer slips on a freshly mopped floor and sprains an ankle
General liability insurance may cover the customer’s medical bills and lost wages due to bodily injury and protects the company from further liability.
The restaurant and equipment are damaged by fire
Property insurance (often through a bundled business owner’s policy) may cover the costs to rebuild, repair, and replace the restaurant and equipment.
In addition to the damage from the fire, the business is interrupted
Business interruption insurance (often through a business owner’s policy) may cover lost profits, temporary location moving costs, and certain operating expenses related to business loss from the fire.
An employee runs the delivery truck into a parked car
Commercial auto insurance may cover the auto repair costs and the third party’s car repair bills.
Who needs restaurant insurance?
Businesses that prepare, serve, or deliver any type of food or drinks to customers should have adequate restaurant insurance. This includes:
- Coffee shops and tea houses
- Bistros, cafes, and eateries
- Bakeries and pastry shops
- Delis and sandwich shops
- Bars, pubs, and taverns
- Caterers and food delivery services
- Food trucks, pop-ups, and fast food restaurants
- Family restaurants and fine dining establishments