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Insurance for Your Restaurant/Food Service Business

This insurance is designed for family-style or fine-dining restaurants where sales are primarily from food instead of liquor, as well as for other food service businesses such as bakeries, coffee shops, delis, ice cream shops, and pizzerias.

Every business is different, but most restaurants need basic insurance

Restaurant owners face many types of risks in addition to the common issues most small business owners can encounter. As a restaurant owner, you could be named in a lawsuit by a customer who feels they’ve been wronged after an experience like slipping and falling due to a wet floor, or being unintentionally served spoiled food should your refrigerators malfunction. With proper insurance coverage, you can protect your restaurant business from these risks.

General Liability (GL) Insurance

Helps protect your restaurant when your employees, products or services cause damage to other people or their property, for example, if a customer slips or falls. Merchants has liability coverages available to help protect your restaurant such as:

Medical Expenses

Covers costs of medical treatments should a customer get injured at your restaurant.

Employment Practices Liability (EPL) (Not available in Vermont)

EPL coverage protects you against claims of discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

Employee Benefits Liability Coverage

Provides coverage for damages resulting from negligent acts, errors or omissions relating to administration of your employee benefit program.

Cyber Liability Coverage (Not available in Vermont)

This optional coverage provides comprehensive data security and privacy coverage that addresses both first party losses and third party liability claims, expert claims handling and breach response services in the event of a suspected breach, and a risk management website which provides information, guidelines and tools to help mitigate risk before a breach occurs.

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Commercial Property Insurance

Building and Business Personal Property Coverage protects you against loss to your physical assets such as your building, its contents, and your equipment. Merchants has additional property coverages available to help protect your restaurant shop such as:

Business Income and Extra Expense

Provides reimbursement of net lost business income and continuing normal operating expenses due to the suspension of your business operations from a covered loss.

Equipment Breakdown

Equipment Breakdown coverage responds to the cost of repairing or replacing mechanical, electrical or pressure systems equipment that suffers a breakdown. Covered property can include steamers, boilers, ovens, refrigerators, freezers, ice makers, and food warmers.

Spoilage

Provides coverage for spoilage of perishable stock caused by a power outage.

Food Contamination

Coverage for loss of contaminated food, equipment cleaning expenses, and advertising expenses if your business is ordered to be closed due to the discovery or suspicion of food contamination.

Outdoor Signs

Coverage applies to your outdoor signs, whether or not they are attached to buildings that are within 1,000 feet of the described premises and are damaged by a covered loss.

Employee Dishonesty

Covers loss due to theft committed by your employees.

Water Backup and Sump Overflow

Provides coverage for damage to your property resulting from water which backs up or overflows from a sewer, drain or sump.

Money savings discounts for:

  • Multiple Policies with Merchants Insurance Group
  • Franchises
  • Multiple Locations
Payment Options

Food Service Insurance Options

Woman working at a bakery with a cake

Bakery

Bakeries face many types of risks in addition to the common issues most small business owners can encounter. As a bakery owner, you could be named in a lawsuit by a customer who feels they’ve been wronged after an experience like slipping and falling due to a wet floor, or being unintentionally served spoiled food should your refrigerators malfunction.

Cafe barista making espresso

Coffee Shop

As a coffee shop owner, you could be named in a lawsuit by a customer who feels they’ve been wronged after an experience. With proper insurance coverage, you can protect your coffee shop from these risks.

Deli sandwich

Deli

Deli owners face many types of risks in addition to the common issues most small business owners can encounter. As a deli owner, you could be named in a lawsuit by a customer who feels they’ve been wronged after an experience like slipping and falling due to a wet floor, or being unintentionally served spoiled food should your refrigerators malfunction.

Ice cream

Ice Cream Shop

As an ice cream shop owner, you could be named in a lawsuit by a customer who feels they’ve been wronged after an experience like slipping and falling due to a wet floor, or being unintentionally served spoiled food should your refrigerators malfunction.

Pizzeria worker making pizza

Pizzeria

Pizzeria owners face many types of risks in addition to the common issues most small business owners can encounter. Our Pizzeria coverage provides a number of automatic property and liability coverages to protect your business.