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 Workers Compensation Insurance – Avoid The Small Loss Temptation

Most restaurant owners understand the basics of workers compensation insurance and most have heard of the experience modification factor. And to show how a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous, many restaurant owners even know that a lot of small losses can have a dramatically negative impact on this modification factor. But using this knowledge in the wrong way can lead to behavior that carries far too much risk for the average restaurant owner.

You see, when it comes to the NC workers compensation insurance policy, the experience modification factor calculation is broken down into two parts. One part measures small losses and attempts to account for loss frequency in an organization, while the second part measures loss severity. This first part weighs all losses under $5000 equally. So, if you have an employee who gets something in his eye and runs down to the local doc in the box for treatment, I can understand your desire to just pay the $100 to the doc in the box yourself and move on without filing the claim. But I’m here to say that although this strategy looks pretty brainy at first blush, it is not without tremendous risks.

The problem for you as the restaurant owner is that you don’t really know where any given work comp claim may lead. What at first looks like a routing eye wash claim could end up with an infection and even permanent partial disability. And if the insurance company thinks that you have made the claim worse by failing to notify them of the injury, then the can fight you on this claim and potentially leave you holding the bag for the claim. Paying a long term disability claim out of your pocket could possibly ruin your company and take from you all that you have worked so hard to build. And what you stood to save on your mod is just not worth the risk of losing your business. So please, always file each and every workers compensation claim within 5 days of the injury and resist the temptation to pay these claims out of your pocket just to protect your experience modification factor.

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 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 Insurance – Use your Medical Payments Coverage to Keep Loss Costs Down

If you own a restaurant, then you have at least a passing understanding of your restaurant insurance policy. And hopefully you have purchased general liability protection as a part of your package policy. What you may not understand fully, is how the medical payments section of your policy can help you keep loss costs lower, which in turn can save you time and money on your restaurant insurance policies in the future. Here’s how it works.

Your general liability section of your restaurant insurance policy should have two components, one called medical payments coverage – which we refer to as med pay, and a second component which is called liability coverage. The liability coverage is designed to protect you against claims filed against your business for which you are legally liable. This could run the gamut from broken teeth to food poisoning to slip and fall claims. And I probably don’t have to tell you that there are plenty of scam artists out there who visit restaurants just to set them up to demand payment for some kind of questionable claim. But your med pay coverage on your policy is your first line of defense to keeping scam claims and even legitimate ones from ballooning out of control.

Med pay will pay for the medical bills associated with injury to your patrons while they are on your premises. And here’s the best part – it pays without regard to fault. So, while you may not be sure that it is your fault that your client claims he slipped in your rest room, you can initiate a claim using your med pay coverage to cover his medical bills right away. Often by taking quick and decisive action you can mollify the feelings and emotions of an injured patron and keep the claim from escalating out of control. Med pay is the vehicle to help accomplish this goal.

If you don’t have med pay on your policy, of if you feel you might want to increase that coverage, call your agent immediately. This coverage is pretty inexpensive and could save you a bundle in time and hassle by keeping a potentially devastating liability claim under control.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping restaurants all across North Carolina and South Carolina with their restaurant insurance needs. We have developed specialized insurance programs for different types of restaurants to keep you from buying coverages you don’t need and to help you get the ones that are needed for your type of establishment. So we have an insurance program that will fit your needs, whether you are casual dining, fine dining, fast food, bar and grill, or even a caterer. For more help with your restaurant insurance, please visit us online at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com or call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557.

Much of the source data for this article can be found on line at www.restaurantanswerguy.com.

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.

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.