Liquor liability
You serve alcohol, and an intoxicated guest causes harm after leaving.
Restaurants and Hospitality Insurance
Restaurants, cafes, and bars run on tight margins and high foot traffic. We cover liquor liability, spoilage, and slips.
We shop the market for you, no broker fees
Society Insurance
Restaurants and bars
The Hartford
Restaurant packages
Travelers
Hospitality risks
Markel
Liquor and specialty liability
Great American
Hospitality programs
AmTrust
Restaurant packages
Philadelphia Insurance Companies
Hospitality risks
Kinsale
Hard to place hospitality
How it works
10 minute form
A few questions about your business or home.
We shop the market
We compare carriers and read the forms line by line.
Pick the best policy
We explain what is covered, what is not, and what it costs.
Restaurants and Hospitality
- Liquor liability
- Guest injuries
- Spoilage and equipment
- Property and income
What changes your premium
There is no flat rate for this coverage. These are the inputs a carrier prices against, and they are the same things the quote form asks you for.
- Food and alcohol sales
- Cooking methods and fire protection
- Payroll, seating, and operating hours
- Delivery, catering, and events
- Building, equipment, and spoilage values
- Claims history and requested limits
Text us. We're by your side.
Common exposures in this line of work
Guest injuries
A slip on a wet floor or a burn in the dining room turns into a liability claim.
Spoilage and equipment
A cooler fails and inventory is lost, or kitchen equipment breaks down at the worst moment.
Property and income
A fire or water loss closes the kitchen.
Anywhere food or drink is served, including:
- Full-service restaurants
- Quick service and fast casual
- Cafes and coffee shops
- Bars, taprooms and nightclubs
- Breweries with taprooms
- Wine bars and tasting rooms
- Pizzerias with delivery
- Food trucks and mobile vendors
- Caterers and event kitchens
- Bakeries and dessert shops
- Ghost kitchens and delivery-only brands
- Juice and smoothie bars
- Hotels with food service
- Banquet and event venues
The coverages this industry actually buys
Business Owners Policy
A business owners policy is the usual starting point for a single location: building or tenant improvements, contents, and general liability on one form, normally with business income included. Cooking operations, hood and duct cleaning intervals, and closing hours all move eligibility. A carrier that likes fast casual will decline the same square footage once a late night bar is attached to it.
General Liability
A guest slips on a wet floor, a server spills a hot drink, a sidewalk sign catches someone on the way in. General liability pays the defense and the settlement on claims like those. Liquor, assault and battery, and delivery exposures live in separate coverage parts or endorsements, and that is where restaurant policies differ most from one another.
Commercial Property
Tenant improvements, kitchen equipment, refrigeration, furniture, and stock are what a restaurant actually owns, and most of it belongs to the tenant rather than the landlord. Spoilage and equipment breakdown are separate coverages that respond when a cooler or a compressor fails. What the lease makes you responsible for is the starting point for setting the limit, not the square footage.
Workers' Compensation
Kitchens produce burns, cuts, and slips. Front of house produces lifting and fall claims. Workers' compensation pays medical treatment and wage replacement and is required in California from the first employee. Restaurant payroll turns over quickly, so the figure on the policy and the figure at audit rarely match unless somebody is watching it through the year.
Excess and Surplus Lines
Bars, nightclubs, late hours, live entertainment, and a large alcohol share of sales push an operation out of standard appetite. Surplus lines carriers write those risks and price the individual operation rather than the class. Liquor liability and assault and battery terms vary widely between those forms, so we set the quotes side by side instead of handing you a single number.
Questions we get asked
The longer answers, with the form numbers, live in the Library.
Which policies do restaurants and hospitality businesses usually need?
The right program depends on the operation, but the lines we most often evaluate are Business Owners Policy, General Liability, Commercial Property, Workers' Compensation, and Excess and Surplus Lines. We confirm which exposures are present before recommending a policy, so you do not pay for a line simply because it appears on a standard checklist.
What information do you need to quote restaurants and hospitality insurance?
Have sales, payroll, seating, cooking equipment, alcohol service, delivery operations, building and equipment values, and loss runs ready. A complete submission lets carriers evaluate the account on the actual operation and reduces follow-up questions before they can quote.
Can you help if a standard carrier already declined the account?
Often, yes. A decline does not guarantee another carrier will quote, but it tells us where the standard market stopped. We review the reason, improve the submission where the facts support it, and approach specialty markets when they are appropriate.
How do you compare the quotes you receive?
We compare the coverage form, limits, deductibles, exclusions, carrier financial strength, binding requirements, and total cost. The lowest premium is not the best option when the form removes the protection the business needs.
Get it placed by someone who reads the fine print
Start a quote and a licensed broker takes it from there, or talk to one now.