Restaurant Insurance: 7 Coverages Every Owner Needs

Restaurants run on thin margins and high risk: kitchen fires, slip-and-falls, liquor lawsuits, equipment failures, food spoilage, and an industry-wide labor crisis that means many owners are also working the line. The wrong insurance policy can sink a profitable restaurant in a single bad week.

Here are the 7 coverages we insist on for every restaurant client across Ohio and Pennsylvania.

1. General Liability ($1M / $2M Aggregate)

Covers customer injuries on premises — slips, falls, choking, allergic reactions. The standard floor is $1 million per occurrence / $2 million aggregate. Anything less and your landlord, vendors, and franchisor will reject your certificate.

2. Liquor Liability

If you sell, serve, or even give away alcohol, general liability excludes dram-shop claims. A separate liquor liability endorsement (or standalone policy) protects you when an intoxicated patron causes harm after leaving your establishment. Ohio's dram-shop laws are aggressive — don't skip this.

3. Commercial Property + Equipment Breakdown

Replacement cost on the building (if owned), tenant improvements, kitchen equipment, furniture, and signs. Add Equipment Breakdown for compressors, walk-ins, fryers, and HVAC — mechanical failures are usually excluded from base property coverage.

4. Food Spoilage / Contamination

A power outage on a Friday night can spoil $5,000–$25,000 of inventory in 8 hours. Spoilage coverage pays for it. Contamination coverage extends to off-premise causes (utility failure, sewer backup).

5. Business Income & Extra Expense (12+ Months)

If a fire shuts you down for 6 months, this pays the rent, utilities, key employees, and lost profits. Many restaurant owners carry only 3 months — far too short for kitchen rebuilds. We recommend a minimum of 12 months with no co-insurance penalty.

6. Workers' Compensation

Required by law in both Ohio (BWC) and Pennsylvania. Ohio's monopolistic system requires a BWC policy plus a private Employer's Liability "stop-gap" endorsement. PA uses private carriers. Burns, cuts, slips on greasy floors, and back injuries make restaurants a moderate-to-high class code — premium audits at year-end are common.

7. Cyber & Crime

POS systems hold credit card data. Skimmers, ransomware, and employee theft are now routine. A $25,000–$100,000 cyber + crime endorsement is one of the cheapest add-ons on the policy and shuts down a huge exposure.

Bonus: Hired & Non-Owned Auto

If any employee uses a personal vehicle for catering deliveries, supply runs, or bank drops, you need Hired & Non-Owned Auto. Costs ~$150/year and prevents your business assets from being on the hook for an employee's car wreck.

What We Look For When Auditing a Restaurant Policy

• Cooking equipment fire protection (Ansul system inspection current?).
• Assault & battery sublimit (especially for late-night/bar concepts).
• Employment Practices Liability (EPLI) — wage & hour and discrimination claims are surging.
• Properly classified payroll for workers' comp (cooks vs. bartenders vs. servers).

Carriers We Use for Restaurants

We place restaurants with markets that specialize in food service: Society Insurance, Acadia, Markel, Hiscox, Cincinnati Insurance, Travelers, and Liberty Mutual, among others. Each has strengths — full-service vs. QSR, dine-in vs. delivery-heavy, alcohol-heavy vs. dry.

Opening or already running a restaurant in OH or PA? Call (614) 647-7093 or request a restaurant insurance quote. We'll do a free coverage gap analysis on your current policy and quote 3+ specialty markets.