Restaurant Insurance BC

An extensive restaurant insurance policy may include the following types of coverages:

• Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance: CGL, or general liability insurance, covers third-party bodily injuries and third-party property damage claims. Also called slip-and-fall insurance, CGL coverage is designed to pay for customer injuries or damage to their property while on your premises. Suppose one of your customers suffers a severe allergic reaction to the food you served them and requires medical attention. In that instance, CGL insurance may cover the injured patron’s medical expenses, for which you could be liable.

• Commercial Property Insurance: Commercial property insurance covers damages to your restaurant, business contents, and inventory caused by fire, water, natural disasters, theft, and vandalism. For example, wildfires have increasingly become an existential threat to business owners throughout B.C. who don’t have commercial property insurance. With commercial property insurance, damage caused by a wildfire to your premises, business contents, and inventory may be covered.

• Product Liability Insurance: Often included with general liability insurance, product liability insurance pays for third-party bodily injuries and third-party property damages resulting from the foods you make, serve, and sell. It can be added to your policy if not included with general liability insurance. It is critical to include whether your kitchen staff concocts a dish or ingredient from scratch or uses processed foodstuffs made by a supplier.

• Business Interruption Insurance: An insurable loss such as a kitchen fire that forces you to close your eatery temporarily for repairs usually results in a loss of income. Business interruption insurance is the financial lifeline to cover lost income, utility bills, lease or mortgage payments, loans, and employee payroll. If it’s not automatically included, your restaurant must have commercial property insurance to add business interruption coverage to your policy.

• Liquor Liability Insurance: If your establishment serves alcohol, you’re legally required to have liquor liability insurance to cover your liabilities arising from the sale or service of alcoholic beverages to the public. Although specific regulations vary by province, any restaurant or food service establishment selling liquor can be liable for damages and injuries to or caused by an individual who becomes intoxicated on your premises. 

• Equipment Breakdown Insurance: Every restaurant has expensive commercial appliances, like refrigerators, freezers, ovens, stoves and grills. They also have HVAC systems, office equipment, and computers. If any of these items cease to operate because of an internal mechanical or electrical malfunction, equipment breakdown insurance is designed to pay for repairing or replacing that equipment.

• Cyber Liability Insurance: Your restaurant’s digital assets are at risk of a cyber-attack or data breach. Your website, email account, social media accounts, point-of-sale (POS) system, and cloud storage systems could be hacked and confidential data stolen or compromised. Cyber liability insurance covers your recovery costs if your restaurant becomes a victim of cybercrime due to a phishing attack, ransomware attack, POS intrusions, data breaches and other digital crimes. It includes coverage for legal advice, credit monitoring, software restoration, crisis management fees, and losses sustained due to a system outage because of a cyber-attack.