Florida Restaurant Insurance

Generally, restaurants offer a full menu of food items and may or may not also offer alcoholic beverages. A restaurant may specialize in a specific type of cuisine or may serve a general menu. Additional exposures may develop from music or entertainment, various promotions, and events. Some may have small dance areas. Overall, these various exposures make Florida Restaurant Insurance crucial to protect your business.

In most Florida restaurant insurance programs, property exposure is substantial. In fact, the major hazards come from cooking. The more grease-laden vapor you produce, the greater the exposure to fire. Furthermore, all grills and deep fat fryers must have fire extinguishing protection, hoods and filters. There should be fuel shut-offs and adequate hand-held fire extinguishers.

Also, keep the kitchen grease free to prevent the spread of fire and to protect Florida employees. Kitchen cleanliness is the best prevention against fire.

Most restaurants are tenants, so Business Personal Property is the major exposure. Depending on the restaurant insurance program, an alternative location can minimize business income losses. As a result, it lets you continue operations and keep your customers. In fact, returning to normal operations after a loss is difficult. Income can lag substantially after you reopen if regular customers have moved to a new "favorite" restaurant.

There's no single price, because insurers rate each restaurant on its own details. Specifically, the biggest factors are the ones our quote form asks about:

• The type of restaurant
• Annual sales
• Square footage and seating capacity
• How late you're open
• Whether you serve alcohol
• How much of your sales come from catering
• Whether you deliver or have live entertainment
• Your number of employees and payroll
• The liability limits you want
• Your years of experience
• Your claims history

Fill in the form above, and then we'll compare options from the insurance companies we represent.

First, Florida requires workers' compensation once a restaurant has four or more employees. Owners who are corporate officers or LLC members count toward that number. Sole proprietors and partners don't, unless they elect coverage (Florida Division of Workers' Compensation).

In addition, the coverage you need usually comes from your lease, your lender or the venues you cater for. They often require general liability and property insurance with specific limits. So, check those contracts before you open.

Insurers write Workers Compensation in Florida with “Statutory Limits,” and the policy lists no real limit. However, insurers write a separate part of the policy, called Employers Liability, with minimum limits. Those limits are $100,000 each accident, $500,000 disease policy limit and $100,000 disease each employee. Employers Liability is for rare occurrences. In those cases the Workers Compensation Statutes may not apply directly, so you need liability coverage.

Also, in Florida, non-construction businesses must carry workers compensation coverage once they have four or more employees. Corporate officers and LLC member-owners count as employees. So do statutory employees, who are individuals not paid as employees but who qualify as employees under the workers compensation statutes.

Commercial Property, Employee Dishonesty, Money and Securities, General Liability, Liquor Liability, Employee Benefits, Umbrella, Commercial Auto, Workers Compensation