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Restaurant & Bar Insurance

If you’re in the restaurant or food and beverage industry in Mississippi, you have a LOT going on. You have customers to serve and property and people to protect. Every restaurant, bar, and food service business owner needs a set of insurance policies designed to protect your business in case of property damage, bodily injury, customer illness, and more. Let’s go over the basic insurance coverages you need.

There are several basic insurance coverages we recommend you consider as a food and beverage business owner. Liability insurance applies to nearly every business operation.

Restaurant & Bar Liability Insurance

Commercial General Liability

Also known as slip-and-fall coverage or simply restaurant liability insurance.

As a business owner, you are liable for every product, service, and operation relating to your business. While you may stress sound procedures, the fact remains that no person, process, or equipment is perfect. Despite your best efforts, harm caused to a third party relating to your business could lead to litigation. Commercial general liability insurance protects business owners and assets from various exposures. You can learn more about commercial general liability insurance here.

General liability can cover:

Bodily injury: If a customer slips and falls on a wet or greasy floor, your liability insurance can cover the cost of their medical expense, lost wages, and more.

Property damage: One of your servers accidentally drops a glass of wine and ruins a customer’s expensive pair of suede loafers, purse, mobile phone, whatever. Your insurance can cover the replacement cost of the damaged property.

Product Liability

Also known as food liability insurance.

Even if your restaurant isn’t at fault, you could still be sued to cover medical expenses. Product liability coverage can help cover the potential legal costs. You’ll need this coverage if a customer becomes ill or gets food poisoning from the food you serve.

Liquor Liability

If your business serves alcohol, you need to have liquor liability insurance. This coverage can help cover expenses if an intoxicated customer causes bodily harm or property damage. You could be held liable for the actions of a drunken customer.

Restaurant & Bar Commercial Property Insurance

Imagine a fire breaking out in your kitchen. That repair bill won’t be cheap. Your commercial property insurance can help cover the cost.

Or your business is burglarized, causing physical damage and lost assets. Your ability to recover from incidents like these depends on your commercial property insurance.

Wind, hail, and floods are especially common in Mississippi, especially if you’re on the Gulf Coast, where the risk of hurricanes and tropical storms is high. You’ll want to give special consideration to protecting your business property from these risks.

Business Interruption Insurance

Also known as business income and extra expense coverage.

This coverage works with commercial property insurance. It covers operating costs like rent, bills, payroll, and taxes if your property is damaged and your business can’t remain open while repairs are underway.

Business Owners Policy

This single policy combines your general liability insurance, commercial property insurance, and business interruption insurance as a single, more affordable policy.

Workers Compensation

You do your best to maintain a safe work environment. Still, you are legally responsible if your employees are injured or become ill on the job. Workers compensation insurance can cover medical expenses, lost wages, lawsuits, or settlements if an employee is injured or becomes sick on the job.

Business Auto Insurance

Imagine you were involved in an accident in your personal vehicle while engaged in company business. Did you know your personal insurance may not cover you? What if you have catering delivery vehicles? Commercial auto insurance protects your company-owned vehicles, leased or rented vehicles, and your employees’ cars used for business purposes.

Other Beneficial Restaurant & Bar Insurance Policies

Flood & Earthquake Insurance

Your basic insurance policy does not protect you against damage from earthquakes and floods. Whether in a high-risk or moderate-to-low-risk area, you should consider adding earthquake and flood insurance to your business insurance policy. More than half of all flood claims occur in areas considered to have low flood exposure, and each year there are around 5,000 earthquakes in the United States. If you’re located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, definitely talk to your insurance agent about flood coverage.

Equipment Breakdown Insurance

Even if you don’t have lots of costly commercial kitchen equipment, you still have air conditioning units, a furnace, and other high-value mechanical equipment that could break down or get damaged. Equipment breakdown coverage can help pay for repairs or replacement.

Employment Practices Liability Insurance

This liability coverage can help cover costs if you are accused of discrimination or harassment.

Inland Marine

Do you have business equipment, materials, or supplies in transit? Do you store business property in an off-site location? Inland marine coverage protects your most valuable business property or equipment, wherever it may be.

Cyber

Today, cybercrime runs rampant. Data breaches are an all-too-common occurrence and commonly target small businesses. Suppose you store sensitive customer information, such as account numbers, driver’s license numbers, and credit card numbers, and you are the victim of a data breach. In that case, you are liable for any damages caused by the breached information.

Where do I start?

Restaurant & bar insurance or any food service industry insurance can be a complex process of finding the insurance policies that best fit your needs. We’re here to help you identify your potential risks and liabilities and then work with you to tailor the right set of policies that will protect your business. Let’s get started protecting what’s yours.