Restaurant Insurance Claims

When it comes to running a restaurant, it’s essential to protect yourself and your business by investing in insurance. Most restaurants have liability and commercial property insurance to offset the many risks they face daily.

Restaurant closures can impact your livelihood as a restaurant owner. During COVID-19 alone, more than 110,000 restaurants closed down, affecting the jobs of over 2.5 million restaurant workers. Many restaurants saw losses of $240 billion in 2020. 

You may already know that restaurants run on very tight margins already. Any kind of loss in revenue can be devastating for even veteran owners. We have seen how many restaurants have had to shut their doors forever due to the pandemic. 

Many restaurant owners have had to turn to their insurance coverage to file business interruption claims to keep their business operations afloat during these turbulent times. They use an insurance policy meant to protect them from financial losses so they can run their eateries as usual. 

Sadly, for many who have filed these risk management claims, their policies have been denied or underpaid, which has led to an influx of insurance policy lawsuits. 

If you have had an interruption in your daily operations and have filed a claim, here’s what you need to know to hold fraudulent insurance companies liable and keep your operations running.

General Liability

General liability insurance protects restaurants by covering property damage and bodily injury claims from accidents like slips and falls. The coverage also extends to product liability, which protects you from food-borne related illnesses.

Any structure, especially one that involves cooking, is vulnerable to damage from fire. On top of that, unless you own the building, your landlord could sue you for property damage if a fire accidentally happens. In this case, liability insurance includes a damage to premises rented to you policy that covers such events. 

Owning a restaurant comes with many risks. You may need food liability insurance if you serve food or drinks, for example. If your restaurant offers valet parking, you can purchase a garage keepers liability policy to cover customers’ cars if any of them are accidentally damaged.

Additional Restaurant Liability Coverages

There are additional liability coverages that you may want to consider if you operate a restaurant, including:

• Liquor liability: If you serve alcoholic beverages, you’ll need to purchase this type of insurance since general liability does not cover property damage or bodily injury due to intoxication
• Employment practices liability: An employee suing a restaurant for harassment, discrimination, or other workplace issues is not covered by general liability. 
• Umbrella: Commercial umbrella coverage covers claims that aren’t covered by general liability insurance

Commercial Property Insurance

Commercial property insurance protects your restaurant’s assets from theft, fire, water damage, storms, and vandalism. Natural disasters like floods or earthquakes are not typically insured by commercial property insurance unless you specifically add them to your policy. 

Some insurance providers only offer commercial property insurance, while others only offer personal insurance. However, many offer both but keep personal and commercial insurance separate. 

For many coverages, business insurance can be more complex than personal insurance. They typically require more policy forms and confirmations. Commercial insurance covers the building your restaurant utilizes in the case of losses from any kind of damage. 

The Importance of Restaurant Insurance

If you have a restaurant business, you have likely worked very hard to develop it. Still, despite how hard you work towards keeping the ball rolling, it’s almost guaranteed that issues will develop. 

That’s when your insurance policy can come in handy. All restaurant owners have unique needs, which is why their coverage options should reflect their business needs. Restaurant owners, for example, may want to consider restaurant insurance and food insurance. 

The most common restaurant insurance claim involves fire damage. This is unsurprising, considering open flames and high-temperature broilers are common cooking tools that can potentially turn into a recipe for disaster.

Additionally, many restaurant insurance claims include injuries to restaurant staff or their patrons. Any accident is a potential lawsuit, so it’s critical to have insurance to protect yourself. 

Restaurant insurance policies also protect you from a slip and fall on the sidewalk outside of your business. Accidents could also involve a kitchen employee burning or cutting themselves while cooking. With liquor liability coverage, you protect yourself in the event a patron drunkenly gets in an accident on their way home. 

If the power goes out to your restaurant and you have to throw all your food out, or if your latest batch of delivered food is spoiled, food spoilage coverage can reimburse you for the expense of having to replace any contaminated food so you can get back to work. 

Restaurants also face theft and vandalism, which specific insurance policies can cover. It’s also a good idea to install cameras throughout your restaurant. 

Business owner’s insurance is essential for small business owners, but in order to truly protect yourself, you may need additional policies to cover added risks, such as:

• General liability insurance
• Business interruption insurance
• Property insurance
• Food contamination insurance
• Liquor liability insurance
• Workers’ compensation insurance
• Theft insurance
• Data breach insurance

Did Your Insurance Company Deny Your Claim?

If you have had a mishap, there is a sense of relief from filing restaurant insurance claims. However, this relief can be short-lived. 

Even if you pay your premiums regularly and on time, your insurance company can deny your claim for many reasons, including legitimate grounds or human error. 

Even worse, insurance companies may try to undervalue or deny your claim to avoid monetary losses unjustly. This is called operating in bad faith and can be grounds for legal recourse. 

There are legitimate reasons your insurance provider may deny restaurant insurance claims, including:

• Missing your premium payments
• Misunderstanding your coverage conditions
• Filing for uninsured damage
• Not supplying adequate evidence to portray the extent of damage
• Fraud
• Not filing your claim on time
• You have already exceeded your coverage limits

As a restaurant and small business owner, you have the right to expect your insurance claims to be upheld when it comes to covering your losses.

Still, mistakes can happen. If you have a restaurant insurance claim that has been refused, consider contacting a restaurant insurance claims attorney to file a formal dispute. 

Protect Your Restaurant

Restaurant owners know that it’s only a matter of time before one fatal accident closes their doors for good. With the right business insurance coverage, you can financially recover any losses so yo. 

When you file a claim, the correct type of restaurant insurance coverage should act as a safety net when you need it. The last thing you need during a stressful event is to have an insurance claim denied. 

When you contact insurance claims attorneys, you can avoid a devastating business interruption. Your attorney can determine what the best kind of coverage may be for restaurant owners so you can keep your dream alive even after a catastrophic mishap. Call Florida Home Claim, P.A. if you are ready to sign an insurance policy; we will make sure it fits your benefits needs.

If your insurance has been rejected or underpaid, we will fight on your behalf against insurance companies to get the financial compensation you deserve. Call us today for a free consultation. 

Businesses face many potential catastrophes, but you can protect yourself in advance. 

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but you can’t predict or prevent damage from an accident whenever it occurs. At some point, you will need to file a claim to recover any business setbacks.