If you serve alcohol, your general liability almost certainly excludes it.

General liability

Third-party bodily injury and property damage — the line nearly every contract names by default.

Without it — A slip in the dining room or a foodborne illness claim lands directly on the business.

Liquor liability

If you serve alcohol, your general liability almost certainly excludes what happens after you serve it.

Without it — A guest who was over-served and then causes harm becomes your liability, and general liability excludes it by name.

Assault & battery

A fight in a bar is an intentional act, and general liability excludes intentional acts — so the claim most likely to arrive from a late-night venue is the one most often uninsured.

Without it — A fight is an intentional act, and general liability excludes intentional acts — so the claim a late-night venue is most likely to see is the one it is least likely to be covered for.

Business income

Replaces the profit and pays the ongoing bills while a covered loss keeps you closed — the part of a fire claim that is not the building.

Without it — A kitchen fire closes you for months, and the rent, the payroll and the profit carry on without the revenue behind them.

Equipment breakdown & spoilage

Covers the walk-in, the compressor and the line when they fail from the inside — a mechanical or electrical breakdown is excluded by property policies, and the stock that thawed goes with it.

Without it — A walk-in compressor that fails from the inside is excluded by the property policy, and the stock inside it goes at the same time.

Food contamination

Pays for the destroyed stock, the deep clean, the lost income and the publicity when a health department closes you or a supplier contaminates a batch.

Without it — A health department closure means destroyed stock, a deep clean and a dark dining room, none of which general liability pays for.

Commercial property

Buildings and contents, valued at what it costs to rebuild today rather than what you paid.

Without it — Kitchen fires are the most common total loss in this trade, and equipment replaces at today’s prices.

Workers compensation

Required in almost every state the moment you have employees. Priced on payroll and class code, which is why the class code is worth arguing about.

Without it — Burns, cuts and slips are constant in a kitchen and become uncapped claims without it.

Hired & non-owned auto

Covers vehicles the business does not own but its people drive on the job — rentals, and employees running errands in their own cars. Their personal auto policy will not cover a business trip, and the claim lands on the business.

Without it — Delivery drivers in their own cars leave the restaurant named in the suit with nothing responding — the exposure that makes delivery hard to place at all.

Cyber & tech E&O

Breach response, ransomware and the notification costs that follow. Technology errors and omissions sits on the same policy and covers the software or service itself failing a client, which is the half most tech companies find out about too late.

Without it — Card data and the POS are the target, and a breach brings notification costs the property policy does not touch.

Business owners policy

General liability and property packaged together. Cheaper than buying them separately when you qualify, and most small businesses do.

Without it — Buying liability and property separately usually costs more than packaging them.

Employment practices liability

Wrongful termination, discrimination and harassment claims brought by your own employees. General liability specifically excludes these.

Without it — Harassment and wrongful termination claims are common in high-turnover hospitality and are excluded from general liability.

We deliver. Why is that so hard to insure?

Because delivery turns a premises risk into an auto risk, and most restaurant programmes are not written for auto. A driver in their own car is covered by their personal policy for their own liability — that policy will decline the claim the moment it learns the trip was work, and the restaurant is named anyway. Hired and non-owned auto is what responds. It is placeable, it is priced on how many drivers and how far they go, and it is the single most common reason a restaurant gets declined or non-renewed.

Does general liability cover alcohol claims?

No. Nearly every general liability policy carries a liquor liability exclusion, which removes coverage for injury caused by someone you served. Liquor liability is a separate line, and in most states dram shop law makes the establishment directly liable. If you serve alcohol at all, including beer and wine, you need it.

What about delivery drivers?

If staff deliver in their own vehicles, hired and non-owned auto is the coverage that responds — their personal policy will decline a claim once it learns the trip was for work, and the claim lands on the restaurant. Third-party delivery platforms usually carry their own coverage, but the terms vary and are worth reading rather than assuming.

Do I need spoilage coverage?

It is worth pricing. Spoilage responds when a power failure or equipment breakdown ruins stock, which for a restaurant carrying serious inventory can be a five-figure loss from an outage nobody could have prevented. It is usually a cheap endorsement rather than a separate policy.