Restaurant Insurance

Restaurants cannot operate without insurance. It is one of the few businesses that require insurance to even open its doors. Restaurant insurance can be overwhelming.  There are minimum requirements that are necessary. But those minimums, may not be enough. Going above the minimum is crucial to truly protect your restaurant from going bankrupt when having to pay a claim.

One of the main issues restaurants face, that other businesses don’t deal with, is the actual service of food and alcohol. There are legal regulations to these products, such as:

• the temperature of the food,
• how it must be prepared,
• who is eligible to receive alcohol,
• and even health department requirements affecting the overall layout of a restaurant, kitchen, and bar.

These are just a few. And each regulation must have protection should it be violated. Each restaurant must maintain coverage to protect against any of these violations that may interrupt business and its normal course.

Restaurant insurance must also protect against injury resulting from a bad batch of food, even when it is not the fault of the restaurant’s preparation. It may have been the fault of the provider of the raw food material. These issues not only affect a restaurant in terms of lawsuits but can damage its reputation if not handled promptly and discreetly.

Comprehensive restaurant insurance will protect a restaurant financially and allow the business to make payments to insurance claims without a large, public process, helping to mitigate damages all around. In addition, if there are associated fines and inspections required as a result of a claim, the insurance can help cover those costs as well, truly helping protect the restaurant’s bottom line.

Duliban’s restaurant insurance is designed to help protect you and your restaurant from any and all situations that can affect your restaurant and its clientele. First of all, restaurant insurance in Ontario should be much more than general liability coverage. Many business owners assume general liability covers them completely, but it does not. Quality coverage requires special coverages that are directly related to issues only a restaurant may deal with. These coverages include the following:

• General Liability: This is the mandatory coverage any restaurant must maintain at bare minimum. This helps protect the restaurant when a person is injured on the premises through things like a slip and fall or other type of general injury. Most of these injuries may result in a lawsuit simply because the victim was injured, whether it was the fault of the restaurant or simply occurred on the premises.
• Property Insurance: This type of restaurant insurance in Ontario will protect your business in the event the restaurant has a fire, vandalism, or other type of property damage that may occur within your restaurant. Fires are more common in restaurants due to the nature of the business, resulting in a higher need for property insurance.
• Commercial Auto: In today’s marketplace, many restaurants find it necessary to own a commercial vehicle to help make deliveries or even pick up ingredients from local markets and vendors. A comprehensive restaurant insurance policy in Ontario will include coverage for these commercial vehicles as well. This type of coverage helps protect a restaurant when an employee is injured while driving on the job. It also helps protect the vehicle in the event of an accident.
• Food Contamination Coverage: Food contamination is not actually covered by a general liability policy in the insurance industry. Yet, this is likely one of the most important coverages available to restaurants in Ontario. This is the coverage that protects the financial interests of the restaurant when a claim is brought against the establishment for food poisoning. This coverage will help pay legal fees and medical fees associated with any issue that may occur. While every restaurant strives to provide only the best quality food and service, anything can occur, and a batch of ingredients may be contaminated resulting in an influx of claims.
• Business Interruption or Loss of Business: Businesses may incur loss of ability to conduct business, whether it be temporary or a permanent. This can be in the form of temporary closure for health department violations, fire, theft, or construction. It could also be the result of a vendor unable to deliver product after a disaster strikes them. This coverage can help pay bills, like rent and utilities, and even help pay off loans taken to help open the establishment.

In order to determine your options available under restaurant insurance in Ontario, contact the experts at Duliban Insurance Brokers. They will be happy to answer your questions and provide you with a free quote based on your needs.

Duliban Insurance Brokers has worked hard to make owning a restaurant in Ontario as carefree as possible. We strive to make our customer’s worries disappear when it comes to risk and lawsuits. In turn, our customers have the time and energy to focus on the things that truly matter, running a successful restaurant and bar. You do not need to take our word for it. You are welcome to read what they have to say for yourself.

“Everything was explained in detail by my broker Michael Robinson. My current coverage was updated to provide better protection at a lower cost than the current company I was insured with.” – Alley S