Restaurant Insurance – Part 10 Liquor Liability

This is the final installment of our 10 part series on buying restaurant insurance for NC and SC restaurants. This installment covers the often overlooked but almost always needed protection for liquor liability. Now if your restaurant doesn’t sell any alcohol, then you will not need to purchase this protection. But if you do sell alcohol, then this is a coverage that you can’t afford to do without. Skipping this protection could force you to sell your restaurant and lose most of what you have worked for all of your life. Yeah, it’s that important.

Liquor liability protects your restaurant against 3^rd party claims for those injured by an inebriated person who consumed some or all of their alcohol at your restaurant prior to the loss. The loss most often comes in the form of a car accident. Hold on you say, you would never serve someone who is drunk, or let a drunk leave your bar with his car keys in hand. But the liability issue doesn’t work that way. Here’s a real world example. One of our clients had a claim several years ago that cost their insurance company over $750,000 and that was less than 1/3 of the total damages. You see, they had served a customer a couple of drinks with dinner. This customer left their restaurant about 8:30 pm and then visited two bars before finally killing another person in an auto accident around 2 am. This customer was not drunk when he left our client’s restaurant, but because they had served him alcohol, our client was dragged into the lawsuit and forced to defend themselves and ultimately forced to share in the damages.

Hopefully now I have your attention and you understand how important it is to have this protection. Now let’s talk about buying this coverage. There are two ways liquor liability insurance is sold. One is as a standalone policy and the other is ad an add on to your businessowners or package policy for your restaurant. Stand alone policies are generally more expensive and are most often used for true bars and night clubs as opposed to restaurants. If you own a restaurant and your liquor liability is a standalone policy, then this should be an immediate red flag that you need to evaluate your current policy and your insurance agent as you may not be using a true restaurant insurance specialist.

Rates for liquor liability vary widely from one insurance company to the next and also from one program to the next offered by the same company. There are several factors that can drive your liquor liability rate. First of all is the ratio of alcohol sales to food sales. Get this ratio above 30% and you are going to start falling out of the most preferred rate plans. Get above 50% and you may find yourself kicked out of the businessowners add on coverage and be forced to purchase a standalone liquor liability policy. Another factor is the type of alcohol that you sell in your establishment. If you sell only beer and wine and no hard liquor, then you should have a reduced rate. If you are selling no hard liquor at all, then you need to check with your agent to be sure that he or she knows this and that this is reflected in your rate. Past claims will also play a big part in what rate you pay and whether or not you are able to add this protection to your businessowners policy or if you have to purchase a standalone policy. The last factor that can impact your rate is the type of safety training and safety programs that you are running in your restaurant to help prevent a liquor liability claim from happening.

One last tip that should be mentioned relates to bar and grill and tavern type restaurants. Often these types of restaurants are discriminated against in their liquor liability rate and get classified as night clubs. This is often unfair and you should know that there are a few programs out there that recognize this and have special rates for bar and grill type establishments that don’t treat them as night clubs. For more information on the bar and grill liquor liability issue, please read my blog on this topic by clicking here.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping restaurant owners with their insurance needs. We understand the importance of using an insurance specialist for your industry and we work hard to fill that need for our clients. Our specialty with restaurant owners is so broad that we can usually help you with every type of policy that you buy for your business and for your family, including your family auto insurance, your home insurance and your life insurance and retirement planning. We also understand that not all restaurants have the same insurance needs and as such we have developed 5 different restaurant insurance programs so that you aren’t subsidizing add on coverages that you don’t need. We have a fine dining restaurant insurance program, a casual dining restaurant insurance program, a fast food restaurant insurance program, a bar and grill and taveren insurance program and a special insurance program for catering companies. If we can help you with your restaurant insurance in either North Carolina or South Carolina, please feel free to call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.TheRestaurantStore.com.

The source information for this article was pulled from other articles which can be found in their entirety at www.RetaurantInsuranceGuy.com.

Restaurant Insurance – Have You Read Your Lease?

Not every restaurant owner owns his or her building. And not every lease is the same. But if you have not taken the time to make sure that your lease requirements match up with your restaurant insurance policy, then you may be leaving yourself open to an uncovered claim and as a result, potential downtime or a huge hit to your cash flow.

Consider the case of James, the owner of a small family restaurant. James signed his lease with his landlord but did not really study it carefully. One of the stipulations in his lease was that he was responsible for all repairs to the heating and air conditioning units on the roof. Two years into the lease, lightning strikes the roof units and destroys them. The cost to replace them is $24,000.

Here’s the problem. James has a businessowners policy which covers the contents of his restaurant - so everything not attached to the building. In addition, James did think ahead and had his agent add coverage for betterments and improvements to this policy. This betterments coverage is for items that are part of the building, which the tenant added – could be paint on the walls or even attached booths for the diners. The problem for James is that he didn’t add the rooftop air conditioning units to the building so technically they don’t fall under the tenants betterments and improvements coverage.

So how could James have protected himself? Well, for those air conditioning units he would need to add building coverage to his policy. The problem is, there is a coinsurance clause on the building coverage that would reduce his claim payment. (For more help with coinsurance clauses, read my blog about it by clicking here.) The answer is that James should have added an Agreed Value Building coverage endorsement to his policy to cover the HVAC equipment. This Agreed Value form should be written with no coinsurance penalty.

There’s one more area of concern in James’ claim that needs to be addressed. Without the air conditioning units he is going to be in trouble keeping his restaurant open. He needs mechanical breakdown coverage to protect him from the loss of earnings he will suffer while he is waiting on his HVAC system to be repaired. To read my blog about mechanical breakdown coverage, click here. To see a short video about mechanical breakdown coverage, click here.

This real world example shows how important it is to take the time to review your lease and make sure that your restaurant insurance policy seamlessly integrates with that lease. When choosing a restaurant insurance policy it is very important that you select an agent that specializes in restaurant insurance. At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we do just that. We write insurance for over 100 restaurants all across NC and SC. We understand that each restaurant is different and that they don’t all need the exact same coverages. For that reason we have developed 5 different restaurant insurance programs to help you find the program that best suits your needs. We have a Fine Dining Restaurant Insurance Program, a Casual Dining Restaurant Insurance Program, A Bar and Grill Insurance Program, A Fast Food Restaurant Insurance Program and a Catering Insurance Program. Visit us on the web at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com or call us toll free at 877-687-7557 and find out how we can help you find the coverage you want and a price that will astound you.

The source information for this blog was taken from blog articles which can be found at www.RestaurantInsuranceGuy.com.

Restaurant Insurance – Understanding The Basics

If you are considering opening an eating establishment, then one of the hurdles you will have handle is purchasing restaurant business insurance. You will need to know what types of insurance policies you might need and how they will affect your business. This article approaches this problem from an overview perspective and covers really the basic outline of the types of insurance policies that you should consider. For more details on any of these types of policies, you may want to read more of my restaurant blogs at www.RestaurantInsuranceGuy.com.

Property Insurance – You will need to consider coverage for your building and your contents. If you don’t own the building, check your lease to be sure that your landlord is requiring you to carry coverage on the building. Also, if you are a tenant, be sure to carry a high enough limit to replace all of your contents in a total loss. Also, don’t forget to include enough building coverage for the improvements and betterments that you make to the building itself in order to decorate the restaurant as yours.

Liability Insurance – You will need protection for your company for premises liability in case someone is injured on your premises. A good example of this would be someone who slips on a wet spot and is injured in your restaurant. In addition, you will need products liability for injury caused by the product you sell, that is the food. This would protect you if someone breaks a tooth on a meal or claims food poisoning as a result of eating at your establishment.

Business Interruption Insurance – This coverage will provide your lost income and ongoing expenses that occur while your business is out of business due to a covered loss such as fire or tornado. It is very important to have this protection to make sure that once you rebuild, you are still able to stay in business.

Mechanical Breakdown Coverage – What happens if your air conditioner stops working in the middle of July? No one will visit your restaurant and suppose it takes 5 days to order the part and get the air conditioner repaired. How will you deal with the loss of earnings that occurred during this time? This protection solves that problem. For more detailed information on mechanical breakdown coverage visit my blog by clicking here.

Liquor Liability – If you sell alcoholic beverages then this protection is a must. You can be sued by a third party if they are injured by one of your patrons who may have imbibed an adult beverage while visiting your establishment. These claims can be huge and can come out of nowhere so it is very important that you don’t overlook this protection.

Automobile Insurance – This is a no brainer if you purchase a vehicle in the company name. But even if you don’t you need this coverage. At the very least you need non-owned auto protection in case you ask one of your employees to run an errand for you and they have an accident while on that errand.

Workers Compensation – In NC the rules say that you don’t have to purchase a workers compensation policy if you have 3 or less employees. But what most don’t realize is that you are still on the hook for paying all claims yourself if you don’t purchase a policy. For more help with workers compensation rules and audit tips, be sure to visit my general blog at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Life Insurance – You may need additional life insurance to cover the money that you had to borrow to set up your business, or you may want to fund a buy out in the case of your death with a key man life insurance policy.

Disability Insurance – don’t forget to protect yourself in the event you become disabled and cannot work for a period of time.

Many of these coverages can be combined into one package policy so that you won’t have 10 or 15 different policies to keep up with. The best way to handle your insurance needs is to seek out an insurance agent that specializes in restaurants, one who knows the ins and outs of insuring restaurants and already insures 100 or more of them. At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in restaurants and write them in both NC and SC. We understand that not every restaurant is the same and so to avoid making you a square peg jammed into a round hole, we have designed 5 different insurance programs for different types of restaurants. We have a program for casual dining restaurants, one for fine dining restaurants, one for fast food insurance, one for the bar and grill or tavern insurance and one for catering insurance. If you would like help with your restaurant insurance, please call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.

The source information for this article was pulled from articles found at www.RestaurantInsuranceGuy.com.

Restaurant Insurance – If You Have a Vintage Building, Consider This Approach

If you are a restaurant owner who also owns the building where your restaurant is housed, then you should take the time to consider exactly how the coinsurance clause on your property insurance policy works and what it means for you. To gain a better understanding of the coinsurance clause itself, please read my blog called, Coinsurance for Restaurants. In addition, if the building that you own is an older one, then you may find that the coinsurance clause is punishing you in a big way. In that case you may be looking for an alternative. That alternative can be a policy with a functional replacement cost clause.

As my earlier blog indicated, your coinsurance clause is based on the replacement cost of your building. But with older buildings there are many issues that skew the replacement cost of the building far too high. Simply stated, the functional replacement cost clause allows the building to be replaced with similar property that performs the same function but is less costly.

Functional replacement cost provides a combination of three separate coverages. They are:

Building limit of insurance – This covers the value of the building that you are going to replace at the time of the loss.

Demolition Cost -- This covers the cost to demolish and clear the site of the undamaged portion of the building which is caused by enforcement of ordinances.

Cost To Reconstruct In Compliance With Ordinance Or Law -- Generally speaking, you must repair or replace the building for this coverage to apply.

So who should use the functional replacement cost clause? This form is recommended when any of the following situations exist:

You own the building but in the event of a loss, you would only want to replace a portion of the building. Or, your building contains materials or design that is costly and difficult to replace. For instance, your building may have plaster walls but would happily replace them with dry wall after a loss. Another example would be if you would want to change the entire construction type of your building after a loss, perhaps replacing a masonry noncombustible building with a frame one.

What are the advantages of using this form in these cases? First of all, you can usually purchase a lower limit of insurance without putting yourself in jeopardy of the dreaded coinsurance clause. Secondly, total and partial losses can be settled on a replacement cost basis without a deduction from your claim for depreciation. Third, ordinance or law coverage for increased construction or repair costs is included in the form.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC we specialize in helping restaurant owners of all types of restaurants with their insurance needs. We want all of our clients to be informed insurance consumers and to understand exactly what they are buying. To make this process a bit easier, we have developed 5 different restaurant insurance programs so that you aren’t a square peg forced into a round hole. We know that all restaurants are different and that is why we have develop specialized restaurant insurance programs for fine dining, casual dining, fast food, bar & grill and even catering. To see all of our restaurant insurance programs, visit us online at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com or call us, toll free at 877-687-7557.

The source information for this article was pulled from articles found at The Restaurant Answer Guy blog site.

Restaurant Insurance Programs – Watch Out For That Coinsurance Clause

Restaurant owners are busy individuals with little time to delve into the details of their restaurant insurance policy. So it’s little surprise that few of them understand the coinsurance clause on their policy. And often, those that are aware of it may not correctly understand how it is applied in the event of a loss. All of this can lead to the restaurant owner spending more out of pocket funds after a large loss than he or she expected. Talk about a cash flow killer.

First of all it is helpful to understand that not every restaurant insurance program will even have a coinsurance clause built in to the policy language. If your restaurant insurance is written on the business owners policy form, then you will more than likely not have any coinsurance clause to deal with. But if you are in an older building, or if you have high liquor receipts or have had past losses or are insured with a company that doesn’t specialize in restaurants, then your property insurance for your building and your contents might be written on the commercial package policy. If that is the case, then you will likely have a coinsurance clause embedded in your policy language.

So what is this coinsurance clause exactly? Well, it is a clause in the policy that helps force the policy holder to purchase enough insurance to cover a total loss of the property. Since most losses are partial losses, some crafty restaurant owners would attempt to purchase only enough insurance to cover the partial loss and not a total loss. If everyone were able to do this, then insurance rates would be much higher than they are now.

Here’s how a coinsurance clause works. Let’s assume that you have replacement cost coverage on your building and contents and you are in a building worth $1,000,000 and have contents valued at a replacement cost value of $300,000. If your policy has an 80% coinsurance clause, then to avoid the coinsurance penalty at the time of a loss, you need to carry a building limit if at least 80% of the replacement value of the building or in this case $800,000. Likewise, you must purchase a contents coverage limit of at least 80% of $300,000 or $240,000. As long as you do so, then you face no coinsurance penalty in the event of a loss.

Now let’s see just how the coinsurance penalty would work if you were not in compliance with your policy’s coinsurance clause. Taking the above example, let’s assume that you only purchased $600,000 of building coverage and $100,000 of contents coverage. And now let’s assume you have a small fire loss and the damage to your building is $10,000 and your contents loss is $5000. Here’s where some restaurant owners who are aware of the coinsurance clause don’t have a clear understanding of how the coinsurance penalty works. Many think that if you don’t carry the 80% required by the clause, then the insurance company will only pay 80% of the loss. But the reality is more brutal than that. You see, the insurance company will only pay the percentage of your loss that is in ratio to the percentage of coverage that you carried. Let’s crunch the numbers. In this example you purchased $600,000 of building coverage when you should have purchased $800,000. If we take a ratio of these two numbers then we divide 800,000 by 600,000. The result is 6/8ths or 75%. So you purchased 75% of the amount of insurance you should have purchased so you will only be paid 75% of the claim. If we ignore the deductible in this example then you would only be paid $7500 for the $10,000 damage to your building. Just think if the loss had been $100,000. Now you are out $25,000 on the claim. That’s going to kill your savings and your cash flow. In the case of your contents coverage, your ratio of what you purchased to what you should have purchased is 100,000 divided by 240,000 or 41.6%. Multiply that by the loss of $5000 to the contents and you see that the company is only going to pay for $2083 of that $5000 loss.

It’s clear from these notes that restaurant owners need to be very aware of any coinsurance requirements that are on their restaurant insurance policies as ignorance could lead to a financial disaster after a large loss. At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, insuring restaurants all across NC and SC is our specialty. We have designed specialty Restaurant Insurance Programs for many different types of restaurants so that you don’t find yourself as a square peg jammed into a round hole. We have created specialized programs for Fine Dining Insurance, Casual Dining Insurance, Fast Food Insurance, and Bar & Grill Insurance as well as Catering insurance so we can help you with your restaurant insurance no matter what type of restaurant you own. If you would like help with your restaurant insurance issues, or if you would like a quote on your current restaurant insurance, please call us toll free at 877-687-7557, or visit us on the web at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.

The source information for this blog can be found at The Restaurant Answer Guy blog site.

Restaurant Insurance – What is Mechanical Breakdown Coverage

Some restaurant owners have heard of mechanical breakdown coverage and some of those have a clear understanding of what it is. There are quite a number of insurance agents out there who do not really understand how this protection works. But it is a coverage add on that no restaurant should do without. Think of it this way, everyone likes to eat their food while it is hot but no one likes to eat their food while they are hot. If you can remember that, you can understand this coverage and why you need it.

Mechanical breakdown coverage is a protection add on that should be on every restaurant insurance policy. If you own a restaurant, and you don’t have this coverage on your policy, you should consider firing your agent immediately. This protection is fairly inexpensive and it could save you a huge loss somewhere down the road. So doing without it rarely makes sense for any restaurant owner.

Let’s talk a bit about what mechanical breakdown coverage is and how it works. The first thing you want to understand is that the coverage is not for the breakdown of the machinery itself, but rather for the consequential losses that you will absorb as a result of the temporary loss of some equipment. The most common type of loss for mechanical breakdown involves air conditioning units. Now just imagine that stretch of 5 days in a row when the temperature soars into the high nineties and the compressor on your air conditioning unit on the roof of your building goes out. Then you find out it will take 3 days to get the part ordered and installed. How many meals do you think you are going to serve over the next 3 days as the temperature inside of your restaurant creeps up into the low nineties each day? You know the answer -- None. And what is that loss of revenue going to do to your cash flow, not to mention your bottom line? And it doesn’t matter if you don’t own the building and are not responsible for the air conditioning unit’s repair costs because we are talking about the consequential losses as a result of the mechanical failure. In fact, I would argue that if you are a tenant, then you need this coverage more than ever because now you are at the mercy of your landlord and how quickly he or she acts to get the air conditioner problem handled.

Of course this coverage doesn’t just apply to air conditioning unit breakdown, it could be your freezer or your cooler that puts you out of business for a while. Any of these types of losses could put a big crimp in your cash flow and your income. So please take a moment and review your policy and make sure that you have purchased mechanical breakdown coverage.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping restaurant owners all across North Carolina and South Carolina with their restaurant insurance policy needs. We have specialty Restaurant Insurance Programs designed for Fine Dining Insurance, Casual Dining Insurance, Fast Food Insurance, and Bar & Grill Insurance as well as Catering insurance so we can help you with your restaurant insurance no matter what type of restaurant you own. If you would like an insurance second opinion on any of your restaurant insurance issues, or if you would like a quote on your current restaurant insurance, please call us toll free at 877-687-7557, or visit us on the web at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.

The source information for this blog can be found at The Restaurant Answer Guy blog site.

Restaurant Insurance – Don’t Forget The Workers Compensation Policy

Restaurant insurance can be found in many different forms. One coverage that restaurant owner should have is workers compensation insurance. In North Carolina, the law states that if you have fewer than 3 employees you don’t have to purchase workers compensation insurance. But what this rule doesn’t tell you is that not buying a policy could put your very company at risk.

In NC, the workers compensation law does give you an out if you have less than 3 employees. In fact, there are no real teeth in the law that will catch and find employers who have 3 or more employees who also don’t purchase a workers compensation insurance policy. So, yeah, you could go years without purchasing a workers compensation policy for your restaurant. But that would be a very dangerous choice. Here’s why:

Although the law may not require that you actually purchase a workers compensation insurance policy, it will require that you pay all of the claims yourself just as if you were the insurance company. Workers compensation benefits in North Carolina are statutory. That means that exactly how much gets paid for each type of illness or injury has already been determined by state law. This means if you are paying out of your own pocket for a claim, you will not have the opportunity to determine how much you are going to pay.

So, using the loophole in the law to avoid buying a workers compensation policy only gets you out of paying the policy premium. It does not get you out of paying the costs of any and all claims. And these claim costs can be enormous. Imagine coming up with $100,000 to pay for injuries that resulted in permanent disability, then paying disability payments for years after that for one of your employees. Pretty scary huh? So even if work comp insurance seems expensive, you should realize that purchasing it is a no brainer because going bare means you are pretending to have the assets of an insurance company. For most restaurant owners, that just isn’t the case.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in both North Carolina restaurant insurance and South Carolina restaurant insurance. We want all of our clients to be informed insurance buyers and we work hard to help them understand all the ins and outs of the restaurant insurance policy. It doesn’t matter if your establishment is fine dining, casual dining, fast food, bar & grill or even catering, we understand your business and we have a program that can help you. Please call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit our Restaurant Insurance Page.

The source information for this article was pulled from articles found at the restaurant answer guy blog site.

Restaurant Insurance – Are Your Liquor Receipts Driving Higher Rates On Your Policy?

Any restaurant that sells alcohol should be carrying liquor liability insurance. This critical coverage is designed to protect you from third party claims generated by accidents caused by inebriated customers who did at least some of their drinking at your establishment. And the way that insurance companies underwrite and rate this coverage can be myopic at best. Here’s how to make sure that the insurance company’s myopia isn’t costing you extra money on your restaurant insurance policy.

In an effort to simplify their underwriting process to one simple question, many insurance companies that include liquor liability in their restaurant insurance package policy will simply ask you what % of your gross sales come from sales of alcohol. On the surface, this might seem like a logical way to get at the question of how much liquor liability exposure you have but, there are holes in this strategy that play against the fine dining restaurant as well as the bar and grill.

If your restaurant is a fine dining establishment, you may be especially vulnerable simply because the price of drinks and fine wines is a larger percentage of the gross receipts than a restaurant who just sells domestic beers in a can. Even some bar and grill type dining establishments with the higher end beers on tap can run into this problem. Just because you sell fine wines with your meals doesn’t mean your patrons are all a bunch of crazy drunks, pouring out of your restaurant to commit drunken mayhem on the streets. But you would never know that by talking to some of these insurance company underwriters who have exact rules about your liquor sales percentages.

Luckily, there is a better solution. At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in all types of restaurant insurance. We have developed a program with our insurance companies that takes into consideration the fact that your percentage of alcohol sales to food sales is high not because you are a bar, but because you sell fine wines and top shelf liquors. With that in mind, we are able to help you keep your liquor liability rates under control and save you money, year in and year out while still providing you with the critical liquor liability coverage you need.

If we can help you with your restaurant insurance needs, please call us. We have developed several specialized restaurant insurance programs to make sure your round peg is not jammed into a square hole. We have a fine dining restaurant insurance program, a casual dining restaurant insurance program, a fast food restaurant insurance program, a bar and grill restaurant insurance program and even a catering company insurance program. If we can help, please call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us online at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.

The source data for this article can be found at the restaurant insurance answer guy site.

When it comes to Restaurant Insurance, Watch Out for the Audit Trap

If you are restaurant owner then you probably have some working knowledge of the workers compensation insurance. At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in insuring restaurants and we have found time and again how many restaurant owners are seduced into the cash flow nightmare I call “the audit trap”.

The restaurant owner’s workers compensation insurance policy is rated based on payroll. Since the exact amount of payroll is unknown to the insurance company when the policy is first written, the policy holder has to give the insurance company an estimate of the total payroll for the coming policy year. Many restaurant owners are tempted to “low ball” this estimate to reduce the total premium on their policy. In some cases unscrupulous agents may quote the policy with reduced payrolls in order to make the premium appear smaller. While this strategy could work if the company plans ahead for it, just shooting in the dark with low estimates can create a cash flow disaster.

Here’s why. Let’s say your actual payroll on for your company is $500,000 per year. And let’s also assume your workers compensation rate is $5 per $100 of payroll. This means your policy costs would be $25,000. Now let’s assume you start your policy with a low ball estimate of $250,000. This means your new policy is issued at a cost of $12,500 instead of $25,000. Looks pretty good so far. But now jump ahead 15 months and the insurance company has now performed an audit of your payroll and found that your actual payroll during that policy term was $500,000. So they send you a bill for the additional premium due of $12,500. Now that wasn’t really unexpected, but if you didn’t budget for this, it could put a crimp in your cash flow. But here’s the kicker. The insurance company will now increase the payroll on your renewal policy and send you another bill for $12,500 due right away. Suddenly you have to come up with $25,000 to square yourself with the insurance company. And that can make for a real cash flow problem.

Again, if you plan for the audit and reserve funds to make the payment then you can gain a cash flow “float” advantage by low balling your payroll and gross receipts estimates. But more often than not, the business owner fails to implement a plan to reserve these funds and instead faces a cash flow crunch at audit time.

Restaurant Insurance is confusing at worst and complicated at best. Keeping on top of your payroll estimates and how that relates to your actual payroll is an important part of managing your business insurance policies.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping restaurant owners with their insurance policies. We have specially designed programs for your restaurant, whether you are casual dining, fine dining, fast food, bar and grill, or even a caterer. We want all of our restaurant clients to be informed insurance consumers. If you want more help with your restaurant insurance, please call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us online at http://www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.

Source material for this article was taken from the site: Restaurant Insurance Guy.