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 – 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.

Restaurant Workers Compensation Insurance – Protect Your Mod

Most restaurant owners have at least a general knowledge of workers compensation insurance. They know that they need it and they know it can cost a lot of money. But only a few really understand the experience modification factor and what it could mean for their future restaurant insurance policy costs. This little primer will help you understand just how important it is to protect your mod and how to do it.

The experience modification factor of workers compensation policies, referred to as the experience mod or just mod for short, is the insurance industry’s way of assigning higher rates to businesses with poor loss experience and lower rates to those who have had more favorable loss experience. Each business has its own unique experience modification factor and this factor is applied to the rates on their policy. For example, if you have had a lot of losses, or perhaps a few large losses, you might find yourself with a mod of say, 1.35. If this is the case, then your workers compensation insurance policy premium will be adjusted upward by 35% to reflect your bad experience. Likewise, if your restaurant hasn’t has a work comp loss for several years, your mod might drop as low as .80 and this would mean a 20% reduction in your overall workers compensation policy premium.

So how is this mod calculated? Well, the first thing you need to know is that the mod is calculated based on past experience. That means what happens today will take several years to come back and bite you. Also, the experience period for the mod in North Carolina is 3 years, so once you get some losses in your mod calculation, they will stay there a while. I want to leave a more detailed explanation of how the mod is calculated to a later blog, but for now, understand that it is not only the number of losses (called frequency) that plays a part, but also the amount paid out (called severity) that impacts the mod calculation. And a little of both, frequency and severity can really run up the mod.

So what can you, as a restaurant owner, do to protect your mod? A lot of how your mod will affect you, both good or bad will be determined by which insurance company you choose for your workers compensation policy. I say this, because, although you may be as careful as you can to avoid injuries among your workers, there is no substitute for an insurance company that is actively working for you to help you prevent claims and reduce the severity of existing claims.

Choose a workers compensation insurance company that will work with you to help you with both prevention and severity reduction. Prevention can come in the form of safety inspections, and loss control techniques that the insurance company can share with you. Reduction can come in the form of programs that help your injured workers get back to work more quickly. Some of the best workers compensation insurance companies even have their own nurses and doctors. Also, you want to purchase your workers comp coverage from a company that assigns case managers to each claim to stay on top of all the medical bills and the disability payments to keep the payout as small as possible.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping restaurant owners navigate the complex waters of insurance policy and insurance company selection. We can help you find a pro-active insurance company that will help you reduce the number of work comp claims and keep the claims that happen from spiraling out of control. Because restaurants are our specialty, we can help you with your restaurant insurance needs whether your restaurant is a fine dining establishment, a casual dining restaurant, a fast food restaurant, a bar and grill or tavern, or even a catering company. We have built special niche programs for almost every kind of restaurant out there and we encourage you to 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 taken from other articles which can be found in their entirety at www.RestaurantInsuranceGuy.com.