What Is Food And Drink Insurance?

If you own a restaurant, bar, or brewery, your customers have a very intimate relationship with your product and service. They have complete trust that you made the food correctly and it is safe to consume.

If you serve alcohol, your responsibilities are even higher. You are expected to monitor your patrons and will be legally responsible for their actions if they have an accident as a result of intoxication.

Running a restaurant or similar business is very complicated and comes with an incredible amount of responsibility. So how can you protect yourself? And what is food insurance? Food and drink industry insurance can help you manage this responsibility and protect your investments if an accident occurs. 

Most Common Food And Drink Industry Insurance Coverages

General Liability Insurance

General liability insurance covers bodily injury and property damage that you cause others arising out of your business operations. This coverage provides financial protections from accidents, food poisoning, patron injuries, and much more. 

This is a basic insurance policy that every restaurant needs to have. It is usually very affordable and there are a tremendous amount of options to choose from.

Building & Contents Insurance

Although some types of restaurants operate at a higher risk than others, if you are cooking, a potential fire could burn your building or your contents in the building - causing you to either pay for new property or close your doors.

A good insurance program will reconstruct the building, replace the contents burnt in a fire, and pay your regular bills while the business is nonoperational.

Liquor Liability Insurance

One of the most pressing issues with modern-day restaurants is the ever-increasing liability associated with serving alcohol. If a patron is overserved and afterward were to get in a severe car accident, your restaurant would be on the hook for the damages. Due to dram shop laws, restaurants are paying incredible amounts of money from accidents caused by serving liquor.

Whether you agree that these laws are just or not, it is a business risk you have to accept. A liquor liability policy would protect your assets in the event of a similar claim.

Workers Compensation Insurance

Workers' compensation will pay for the medical bills and time off work if an employee were to be injured while working for you. Frequently, this coverage is required by the state you operate in.

It is important to choose a reputable carrier with a history of paying claims quickly and without hassle. If you have any questions regarding which insurance company you should partner with, schedule a call with a LandesBlosch Risk Advisor.

Cyber Insurance

Restaurants take payment from a lot of credit cards and rely heavily on their point-of-sale systems to keep their doors open. What if your customers' credit cards were to get breached? What if your Square account were to be hacked? What if ransomware locked up all your computers and registers?

These are all questions you need to address. A cyber insurance policy would pay for the liability associated with a breach and could also pay for the time while your doors were closed due to your system being down. Cyber insurance could also bring in a team of experts to help you get back up and running.

Another consideration for cyber insurance should be how you digitally store your current and former employees' personal information. Employers frequently have documents that contain social security information, confidential medical information, and much more. Should you fail to keep this information private, you could get sued for damages associated with a public leak of personal information.

Summary

Owning a restaurant comes with more liability than it ever has before - especially if you serve alcohol. Not only can small incidents, such as hot food burning a guest or a slip and fall, accrue significant medical bills, but you can also be on the hook for deaths arising from serving your customers alcoholic drinks. Insurance for food and beverage companies can help you worry less about the financial impact of an accident and more about running your business.