A Restaurateur’s Guide to Restaurant Insurance
Owning and operating a dining establishment entails plenty of work. Numerous parts need to come together for a restaurant to be successful. If you think about it, a stocked freezer and kitchen pantry and making sure that there are enough tables in the dining area are just the basic principles of running this kind of enterprise. Your primary concern as a restaurateur should be the protection of your business. Regardless of whether you’re about to venture into the food and beverage industry or have already been established, restaurant insurance is one thing you have to have.
What is restaurant insurance?
It is a type of business insurance catering particularly to those in the food and beverage industry. Whatever the size of your business, there’s always a number of potential risks. This is true whether you run a small diner or coffee house, or maybe a Michelin-starred bistro. This insurance coverage is protection against a number of problems, which might include but are not restricted to busted equipment, incidents, as well as liability lawsuits.
One aspect worth mentioning is that this type of cover isn’t your average general business insurance. It consists of many factors that adjust to the demands of a restaurant. Examples of the standard covers include:
General Liability
This is the most common of the numerous different covers encompassing this type of insurance. It’s a plan that protects you from common problems occurring in your line of work. This could include situations such as someone slipping and falling because of wet floors, food poisoning issues, as well as other claims that could come from a variety of sources. This policy comes in handy considering that customers sue for almost anything nowadays. Plan options vary depending on provider, but remember that this ought to be one of the more flexible policies.
Property Damage Insurance
This policy provides protection against fires, or other events that may damage your establishment. Although disasters like floods and earthquakes could cause the same type of damage, they are usually not included in a standard coverage. Most policies also cover furniture, fixtures, or inventory stored inside your establishment. Depending on your provider, you can insure these items for a replacement cost or actual cash value.
Business Income Interruption
Another potential risk of running a restaurant is closing your doors due to unforseen events. This is the reason behind this policy – to secure your income stream in case there is a loss of profits or severe damage to your establishment. Fires, water damages, along with other risks are a reality; and this policy covers your lost revenue at that time your restaurant undergoes repairs and renovation. It’s a type of overall protection during your time of need.
Conduct an exhaustive evaluation of your enterprise prior to getting restaurant insurance. Doing so may help you select which policies you need. Apart from the three common insurance policies, others you might be interested in include liquor, automobile, and employment practices liability, worker’s compensation, and food contamination insurance. Think about what your business requires of you in the near future to help make the right decisions. It might also help to look into the options provided by the different providers. See what premiums work and don’t work in order to determine the best options for your business.
Mary Fonesca is a first-time restaurateur researching the different business insurance options, particularly restaurant insurance.
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