It’s important for restaurants to protect themselves against unexpected costs resulting from employee actions, property damages, or other incidents. What level of insurance protection do you have? Is your restaurant fully covered against all potential risks?
Must-Have Insurance Coverages
At minimum the following coverages are recommended for your business:
• Commercial General Liability: Allows you to protect your business against injury claims brought by visitors to your restaurant.
• Business Interruption: This coverage reimburses you for business lost due to unforeseen circumstances like fire or bad weather. It also reimburses you if a vendor can’t bring you needed supplies to run your business.
• Commercial Property Insurance: Pays you back for repairs needed for damages from incidents including:
- Theft
- Vandalism
- Fire
- Equipment Breakdown
- Weather Events
- Note that some policies do not cover natural disasters, so read the details before signing
• Worker’s Compensation Insurance: Be prepared to handle any legal or medical expenses from claims filed by employees for on the job injuries.
Other Important Coverages
These coverages protect you against additional financial burdens:
• Employment Practices Liability Insurance: Protects you if you’re sued for the outcomes of actions taken by any of your employees.
• Food Contamination: This policy allows you to be reimbursed for the costs of food spoiled by power loss or other factors. It can also cover the costs of testing patrons for illness and public relations to deal with the fallout.
• Commercial Automobile Coverage: Covers the costs of incidents related to vehicles you own that your employees use for business purposes.
• Liquor Liability Insurance: If your restaurant sells alcohol, we strongly recommend you protect yourself against potential lawsuits brought on by the actions of a visitor who consumed alcohol at your business.
• Cyber Liability: You don’t need to be a huge company to be at risk for data theft. Make sure you’re not brought down by someone getting into your files and stealing customer information.
Take a hard look at your own situation and consider adding additional insurance coverage to cover any exposure your restaurant has to potential business liabilities.
Jared Strong, AAI
