What is restaurant insurance?
Operating a restaurant comes with many risks, ranging from product liability to parking lot falls. Restaurant insurance can help restaurants in Vermont shield themselves from many of the risks they face.
Restaurant insurance offers customizable protections for restaurants, and policies normally bundle property with liability coverages to help protect your assets.
What food service businesses in Vermont need a restaurant policy?
Restaurant policies are primarily for Vermont restaurants that offer table service or take-out. Here are some of the eateries that would benefit from restaurant insurance:
- Seafood restaurants, steakhouses, and other fine dining establishments
- Diners, family-friendly restaurants, buffets, and other more casual eateries
- Bistros, delis, coffee shops, bakeries, and cafes
- Pizza places, fast food chains, and fast-casual restaurants
- Cultural restaurants, vegetarian restaurants, and farm-to-table eateries
- Other restaurants with table service available
Many of these restaurants offer to-go in addition to sit-down dining, and some might also have a drive-thru, food truck, or counter service. An insurance agent knowledgeable in restaurant policies can help put a policy package together for you.
What restaurant liability insurance coverages do restaurant policies include?
The coverage structure of most restaurant policies is highly customizable, and part of that stems from these policies offering a variety of liability coverages. Some restaurant liability insurance coverages that are frequently available include:
- General Liability Coverage: May apply if a customer is injured in a “slip and fall” or other common accident. Coverage may also include protection against other types of lawsuits.
- Product Liability Coverage: May apply if customers become ill or are injured due to the food/beverage they consume. Coverage may include choking, salmonella and E. coli food poisoning, allergic reactions, and similar incidents.
- Liquor Liability Coverage: May apply if an intoxicated customer is injured on the premises, or involved in a car accident shortly after leaving.
- Umbrella Liability Coverage: May apply if there’s a lawsuit that exceeds the limits of the restaurant liability insurance coverage.
What property insurance coverages are important for restaurants to have?
The property insurance coverages a restaurant should purchase depends on what it owns or has invested in. Establishments with sit-down dining normally need either commercial building coverage or tenant improvements coverage, and there are other protections too:
- Commercial Building Coverage: Can insure a restaurant’s physical location if it owns the building. Your attached sign can be included.
- Tenant Improvements Coverage: Can insure the build-out of a leased space if a restaurant doesn’t own its building.
- Commercial Contents Coverage: Can insure the many different items that a restaurant owns. This could include refrigerators and freezers, stoves and ovens, other appliances, small wares, tableware, tables and other furniture, computers, and much more.
- Spoilage Coverage: Can insure ingredients, prepared foods, and prepared beverages against spoilage that’s caused by a covered event. Power outages may be covered, for example.
Do restaurants need additional restaurant liability insurance if they host private events?
Restaurants that host private events may find that their restaurant policy already has all of the protections they need, or it might need to be amended with additional coverages. This depends on the policy and the types of events that are hosted.
An insurance agent knowledgeable restaurant liability insurance can help evaluate coverage needs and a policy’s features.
Where can Vermont restaurants find restaurant insurance?
If you need assistance insuring a restaurant in Vermont, contact the independent insurance agents at Burlington Insurance Agency. Our agents have helped many food service businesses get the coverages they need, and we’ll help protect your business at a reasonable rate.
