Florida is world-renowned for its hospitality business, and it’s home to some of the most-unique dining, social and vacation experiences in the United States. It doesn’t matter if you are in one of the cities or in a smaller community, you can make your restaurant, bar or other dining establishment a success, provided that you have the appropriate insurance policies for it.

Start With Essential Business Insurance

All businesses need insurance coverage in one form or another. Restaurants, bars, clubs or hotels that serve food and beverages will be able to use it to help with the recovery costs of accidents that impact the business, it’s property, employees and customers. The essential policies that every business owner needs, usually include:

• Property Coverage: Should a problem like a fire, severe weather, vandalism or other hazardous event strike your business and damage the location, this coverage can pay for the repairs.

• Contents Coverage: Policies can also cover the contents of the business, including furniture, china and table settings, stock and cooking machinery when they get damaged or destroyed.

• General Liability Coverage: Your services or mistakes might cause harm to one of your diners, or even someone who simply visits on a business errand. This coverage can provide settlements for property damage, bodily injuries, personal injuries (libel, slander) and advertising injuries to others for which the business is at-fault.

• Business Interruption Coverage: If a problem occurs in the business, you might have to halt operations until you can fix the issue. This coverage can help you obtain income lost during this closure, so that you can keep the operation solvent.

In many cases, you can receive these essential policies through a business owners policy, also called a BOP. This is a package of insurance that offers not only this coverage, but also expanded policy options. BOPs are great for small businesses because they offer many essential types of protection in one place. If this route isn’t for you, you can still buy quality coverage through other means.

Expand Your Policy for More Protection

Besides standard BOP options, you might need other expanded coverage, like:

• Equipment Breakdown Coverage: If essential systems like your refrigeration or ranges fail, this coverage can help you repair those items.

• Food Spoilage Coverage: When a hazard ruins food, this coverage can pay for replacements.

• Product Liability Coverage: This coverage protects you in situations where you make a product that harms someone else. If a diner catches a food-borne illness, the coverage can help you pay.

• Liquor Liability Coverage: Establishments that serve alcohol might bear responsibility when a patron gets drunk and then harms others. This coverage can help you compensate those harmed for the losses you might have unintentionally caused.

• Workers’ Compensation: If an employee gets hurt on the job, they could try to sue the business for lost wages and medical bills. Workers’ compensation is supplementary income assistance that often eliminates the need for someone to sue for that restitution. Instead, they can file against the workers’ comp policy for help with medical bills, lost income and other expenses.

• Commercial Auto Insurance: When a dining establishment owns vehicles, such as catering or delivery vans, they need to insure the vehicle with appropriate liability, physical damage and injury coverage. Commercial auto insurance is necessary because personal auto policies won’t insure vehicles owned by or used for business purposes.

Some of this coverage, you can add to your BOP itself—If it doesn’t include it already. Others (like commercial auto insurance and workers’ comp policies) you will have to buy separately.

We’re Here to Help You

It’s important that your restaurant’s insurance adequately addresses your specific operating risks and liabilities at all times. With the help of the Garzor Insurance's team, you can receive coverage backed by top-rated insurance carriers, supported by experienced commercial insurance agents.

To get covered quickly, easily and securely, call us at 321-206-8035 or request your free online quote right now!