What to Insure at Your Restaurant

 

As with any other type of business, insuring a restaurant properly means looking at its operations and determining where to find risk. Aside from the standard worker’s compensation insurance to protect employees, there are several specific reasons why a restaurant owner must invest in certain types of insurance to protect their business and prevent financial disaster.

Liquor Liability Insurance

If your restaurant has a bar or allows customers to bring in alcohol, then you are exposed to several different kinds of liability. Most restaurant owners do not realize that even if their customer showed up at their restaurant intoxicated, they could still be liable if the customer got into an accident after leaving. Liquor liability insurance is a smart move, even if you do not directly serve the alcohol.

Hired And Non-Owned Vehicle Insurance

If your restaurant delivers, then you are introducing yet another area of risk for your business. It is important that you routinely check with all of your drivers who use their personal vehicles to make deliveries that their license and auto insurance is current and adequate. You can also protect your business by getting hired and non-owned vehicle insurance. If your driver causes property damage on a delivery, your company could be required to pay for some of that damage. This insurance is also good if your company rents a lot of vehicles for any reason.

The Unique Need For Property Insurance

Every business has property insurance, but restaurants have special situations that make property insurance critically important. Fires that could start from improperly cleaned grills or grease traps could inflict a significant amount of damage. Deep fryers also pose a unique business threat that would make property insurance especially important. Walk-in coolers and other food preservation devices could create a lot of problems if they start to leak water or even coolant. Restaurants need to look at their specific needs in order to get the right kind of property insurance.

Business Insurance

If a walk-in cooler starts to leak materials, then all of the product inside could be destroyed. That is why business insurance is just as critical to a restaurant as property insurance. The different ways in which a restaurant could lose income when compared to other businesses makes comprehensive business insurance extremely important. You should work with your insurance agent to identify potential areas of loss and put the right business insurance in place to protect your organization.

When insuring any business, it is very important to consider as many areas of risk as possible and be sure to get the right type and amount of coverage. Running a restaurant poses a long list of unique challenges that the restaurant owner must consider and protect themselves against. The right insurance is how a smart restaurant owner preserves their business and keeps customers happy.