Restaurant Insurance - The must have and nice to have cover for all seasons

The last two years have taught us that we never know what is round the corner, we can’t predict the future, but we can protect it. Having the right insurance for your independent restaurant protects you, your business and your customers from risks and liabilities should an accident happen.

With the unpredictable comes the predictable, continued challenges of staffing shortages, interruptions to the food supply chain and rising costs. Planning for the year ahead has never been more important for the independent restaurant owner. Re-evaluating your insurance is a major part of being as prepared and ensuring you have the right cover in place.

But what is the right cover?

Must have

Employers Liability Insurance

If you employ staff, even seasonal ones, it is a legal requirement to have Employers Liability Insurance, providing cover if an employee is injured or suffers illness as a result of working for you. If you are found legally liable for the injury, your insurance would pay the damages, including claimant's costs and expenses.

If you do not have Employers Liability, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)can fine you £2,500 for each day you don’t have it, with a further £1,000 daily fine for not displaying it.

Nice to have

Theft by employee’s

Staffing and the shortages faced by the hospitality industry are well documented. When looking for staff, independent restaurants owners should have a robust recruitment process in place, hiring employees with a high level of integrity and commitment. However,  no matter how detailed the job description, rigorous the interview and selection process or in depth the reference checking procedure, you may encounter a bad egg. Theft by employee’s cover will help to protect you for a loss of money or property resulting from any acts of fraud or dishonesty by any of your employees.

Legal Cover

With staff comes the potential for grievances and if you want to protect your restaurant from employment , property, or tax disputes, Legal Cover provides support and guidance. As an Expression Insurance customer you would have free access to online legal services, document templates and Health & Safety statements.

Public Liability

Your restaurant is all about your customers, and as a good restaurant owner you look to offer a clean, safe, well-kept, and managed establishment. Public Liability provides protection by covering you if a customer or member of the public claims to have been injured or have their property damaged as a result of your business activities. Having robust Public Liability reflects the care and attention you have for both customers and your business. This cover would pay the damages, including claimant's costs and expenses.

If you host small local events, to support your business and local community, it’s wise to check for Public Liability cover that includes this, even the most innocuous seeming slip could lead to catastrophic injuries which are very costly, so having a good level of protection here is key for peace of mind. Expression Insurance packages start at £2m Public Liability, increasing to £5m Public Liability cover for medium and large restaurants.

The minute you start selling and serving your product you’re at risk for product liability claims, which can be very expensive and time consuming for you and your business. If a member of the public (most likely one of your customers) is injured or their property damaged by one of the products you have served or sold, and you are found legally liable, peace of mind is provided by Product Liability as it pays the damages, including claimant's costs and expenses.

Stock Cover

Flexibility reigns and knowing you have not only the right level of stock cover for normal trading but also ample cover during your restaurants seasonal peaks is important. Seasonal stock cover prevents being underinsured during your peak periods.

For example:

o Late spring and summer months bring an increase in tourism to the high street and the warmer temperatures encourage visitors to venture outside and enjoy the café culture and alfresco dining experience.

o Restaurants located in towns and cities, with strong links to colleges and universities, can experience a boost in their bookings around moving in days and graduations.

o Not forgetting Christmas, New Year, Valentines and Easter with tables bursting as hungry shoppers looking for a light lunch and evening diners look to celebrate with good food and company.

Expression Insurance insure the cost of replacing your stock if it is damaged. Common reasons for a claim include fire, theft and flood and as standard the sum insured by, in respect of stock in trade, is increased each Period of Insurance by,

a)       25% during the months of November and December although these can be easily altered to reflect your business peaks

b)      25% for a period of 15 days preceding and including any Bank or Public Holidays and for a period of 15 days thereafter other than occurring in point a)

Goods in Transit

With the rise in delivery services offered by local independent restaurants, Goods in Transit cover provides financial protection for goods on the move, covering the cost of goods damaged in transit or during loading /unloading.

Contents Cover

A restaurants interior design carries just as much importance as its menu, drawing in diners, influencing how much they order and how long they stay. Having the correct cover in place is crucial, offering protecting to your restaurant if damage occurs to your fixtures and fittings. Contents Cover insures the cost of replacing your equipment, furniture, shelving, racking and all other contents (excluding stock) at the premises if they are damaged due to fire, theft, and flood.

·Keeping your restaurant doors open, tables booked, and tills ringing is a priority, look at cover provided if your business is forced to close,

Loss of Licence Insurance provides cover if your alcohol license is suspended or withdrawn, due to no fault of your own.

Frozen food (Deterioration of stock) provides cover if freezers or refrigerators were to fail due to a power cut, or the unit develops a fault with its temperature controls and the food was ruined as a result.

Business Interruption Insurance provides cover if your business is forced to close as a result of damage caused by one of the insured perils (fire / flood / storm / impact from a vehicle / escape of water).

Revaluating your restaurants insurance ensures you have enough cover in place should a claim arise, and the confidence that, should the unforeseen and unfortunate happen, the financial cost will be met and you won’t have to cover any shortfall yourself. Consider things like,

· Has your stock and/or contents increased from the previous year?

· Due to success and growth has the number of employees increased?

· Has the value of your building increased?

· Are you planning to host small local events?

· Do you have a pavement dining area?

· Have you introduced charcoal cooking or deep fat fryers to your restaurant or café as these can be a leading cause of fire claims where appropriate fire safety and housekeeping measures are not in place.

To sum up, business insurance for your restaurant adds value and peace of mind by protecting not only yourself and your customers, but also your business, knowing a potentially costly claim would be covered by your insurers.

By taking reasonable precautions to prevent bad things happening, having appropriate security precautions in place, maintaining your property properly and obeying the law, in terms of health and safety, choosing the right cover for your high street restaurant does not have to be complicated.

For example, do you have a documented housekeeping / spillage clean up policy which will help to defend claims from slips and trips both from members of the public and employees or a H&S / training policy for new employees so they know what to do if a glass is broken?

Look for insurance that is easy to understand, offers the cover you require, is competitively priced and a great claims service, after all that is what you are paying for.

If you want to find out more about how Expression supports independent restaurant owners who love their business visit www.expressioninsurance.co.uk