Congratulations, you are opening a new restaurant! Now the question is, what insurances do you need to get started?
Your landlord will most likely require you to have Commercial General Liability insurance before you move into the space. This insurance covers common business risks like customer injury. It protects your small business from the high costs of lawsuits and helps you satisfy your landlord’s requirements.
Are you planning on selling liquor? If so, you will need to add Liquor Liability to your General Liability package. Depending on the carrier it can be added or installed as a standalone.
Now that you are in your location, what happens if your furniture and equipment get damaged by a fire or a hurricane? The policy that covers this exposure is Commercial Property Insurance. Here you will find coverage against theft, fire, water, hurricane damage, and also your business interruption coverage if it was added.
There are two main categories under a property policy. All the upgrades you did to the inside structure would be covered under the building section. Your equipment and furniture would be under your Business Personal Property.
In the state of Florida if you have 4 or more employees you are required to have Workers Compensation Insurance. You will most likely be opening your doors with more than 4 employees, so you will be required to have this. You want to display your policy information and the Workers Compensation poster in a centralized location where all employees have access to the information in the case of a claim.
If you are going to accept credit card payments, you will need to get Cyber Liability Insurance to protect you against your Point Of Sale system being hacked, amongst other risks restaurants face.
Other factors that come into play when
- Deliveries
- Live music
- Entertainment
- Dancing
- Open past midnight