General liability
Slip and fall, foodborne illness, and premises claims. Watch for assault and battery sublimits, which carriers apply aggressively to any location serving alcohol after 10pm.
Home/Industries/Restaurants and hospitality
Restaurant and
hospitality
insurance
Thin margins, high turnover, alcohol, hot equipment, and the most wage and hour litigation of any industry in California. Hospitality is priced accordingly, and the wording matters more than the premium.
Wage and hour is the real exposure
Meal and rest break claims and PAGA actions hit food service harder than any other class in this state. Check whether your EPLI sublimits it or excludes it outright.
The program we build
The pieces, and what each one is actually for.
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Liquor liability
Dram shop exposure for overservice. Separate from general liability, required by nearly every landlord, and not optional if you hold an ABC license.
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Property and equipment breakdown
Build out, tenant improvements, hoods, walk-ins, and line equipment. Equipment breakdown is the endorsement that pays when the compressor goes, and it is not in the base form.
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Spoilage and food contamination
Product loss from refrigeration failure or power outage, plus the cost of a health department closure and the cleanup that follows.
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Workers' compensation
Class 9079 and related codes. Burns, cuts, and slips drive frequency, and high turnover keeps the experience modification volatile.
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EPLI and wage and hour
Harassment, discrimination, and the meal and rest break claims that arrive by certified mail. The wage and hour sublimit is the number to negotiate.
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What gets excluded in this class
Hospitality policies are heavily endorsed. These are the ones we find on almost every renewal we review.
- Assault and battery excluded or sublimited to twenty five thousand, which is nothing if a fight happens in your parking lot.
- Liquor liability missing entirely because the account was written as a restaurant with incidental alcohol sales.
- Employment practices excluded, or wage and hour carved out of an EPLI form that otherwise looks complete.
- Delivery operations undisclosed, leaving your drivers uninsured under both auto and general liability.
- Catering and off premises events excluded when the policy was written for a single fixed location.
How we place hospitality
Work the inputs before working the market.
Step 01
Split the revenue
Food, alcohol, catering, delivery, and merchandise reported separately. Alcohol as a percentage of sales moves both the rate and the market list.
Step 02
Document the controls
Server training certification, ID scanners, closing procedures, hood cleaning schedule, and slip resistant flooring. Each one is a real credit.
Step 03
Negotiate the sublimits
Assault and battery, liquor, and wage and hour. This is where the value is on a hospitality placement, not in the premium comparison.
Step 04
Coordinate the landlord
Additional insured, waiver of subrogation, and the limits your lease demands, confirmed before renewal rather than after a certificate is rejected.
Operations we place
Full service restaurantsFast casualBars and tavernsBreweries and taproomsWineries and tasting roomsCaterersFood trucksCoffee shopsBakeriesHotels and motelsEvent venuesGhost kitchens
Not on the list is not the same as not placeable. Ask.
Questions we get
Straight answers.
How much does alcohol sales percentage affect my premium?
A great deal. Under fifteen percent and most standard markets stay interested. Past fifty percent and you are being underwritten as a bar, which is a different rate, a different market list, and usually an assault and battery sublimit.
Do I need liquor liability if I only serve beer and wine?
Yes. California dram shop exposure does not distinguish by beverage type, and your landlord and your ABC license conditions will not either.
What is the cheapest way to lower a restaurant premium?
Documented server training and a written closing procedure. Both are cheap, both are credited by carriers, and both reduce the claims that actually happen in this class.
Next step
Send us the submission
Loss runs, current declarations, and five minutes of context. You will hear back the same business day with what we can do and which markets we are approaching.