Commercial · Restaurants · Connecticut

The fryer is the #1 claim.
The lawsuit is the #1 close.

Restaurant insurance is more than GL and a BOP. Liquor liability, food spoilage, equipment breakdown on a Saturday night: we write policies that match the menu, not a generic small-business template.

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Three claims that put places out of business.

The claims that close restaurants are rarely the ones owners expect. These three come up over and over.

The line cook left the fryer on overnight.

Property damage, business interruption, food contamination. Standard BOP responds, but only if you've got business interruption coverage with enough revenue substantiation. We size the BI limit to your actual P&L, not a default off the application.

A regular has one too many, drives off, hits someone.

Liquor liability is what stands between you and a six-figure plaintiff's judgment. Connecticut's dram-shop laws are real. A standard GL doesn't cover it; a separate liquor liability policy does. We size it to the actual liquor revenue.

The walk-in dies on a Saturday morning.

Equipment breakdown plus food spoilage covers the repair AND the inventory loss. Most restaurant operators carry one or the other. We write both, because losing a Saturday's prep to a power surge isn't a hypothetical.

Eight components of a real
restaurant policy.

Most cheap online restaurant quotes are missing 3-4 of these. We build the policy around the actual menu and operations, and tell you which lines you can skip.

Business Owner's Policy (BOP)

Bundles general liability and property in one policy. Covers slips, falls, fire, theft, vandalism. The foundation, but only the foundation.

Liquor Liability

Required by Connecticut dram-shop law if you serve alcohol. Separate policy from the BOP. We size it based on liquor revenue percentage and shop carriers that price restaurants fairly versus bars.

Workers' Compensation

Required in Connecticut once you have employees. Restaurants are a high-frequency WC class. We write through carriers with hospitality appetite, not generic small-business carriers.

Equipment Breakdown

Walk-ins, line equipment, POS systems, HVAC. Standard property coverage often excludes mechanical breakdown. This rider fills the gap and is cheap relative to a single repair.

Food Spoilage

Inventory loss when the freezer or walk-in fails. Often a small endorsement on the BOP. We push the limit higher than the default. Most restaurants underestimate what they actually have on hand.

Business Interruption

Pays lost revenue if a covered loss closes you down. Sized to your actual P&L. Often the single most important coverage for keeping the business alive after a fire.

Cyber / Data Breach

POS breaches happen. PCI fines, customer notifications, and forensics costs are real. Cheap rider, big downside if you skip it.

Hired & Non-Owned Auto

If staff makes deliveries in their own cars, or you rent a van for a catering job, your BOP doesn't cover it. This rider does.

What restaurant
owners ask first.

If yours isn't here, the phone is faster than a contact form.

Before the first paying customer, ideally before construction wraps. Workers' comp is required from the first hire; GL and property should bind the day equipment shows up; liquor liability lines up with your liquor license effective date. Call us 30 days out; we'll sequence it.

Usually it's missing one of: liquor liability sized to your actual sales mix, business interruption sized to your actual P&L, equipment breakdown, or food spoilage. We do the apples-to-apples comparison and tell you exactly what's missing. Sometimes the cheap policy is fine for your operation; we'll say so.

Your physical location. Make sure there are no fire code violations, that there is adequate protection against accidental fire, and that the wiring and plumbing in the building are up to date. Those are the things that decide whether a carrier wants the risk at all.

General liability. If the venue gets sued over a slip and fall, or over food poisoning, that is the policy that responds. Every venue serving alcohol needs both.

Connecticut's Dram Shop Act caps damages at $250,000, but that cap is not the whole picture. Claims alleging reckless service, or service to a minor, fall outside it, and defense costs sit on top of any judgment. Our advice is to carry the highest limit of liquor liability you can afford. The higher your alcohol receipts, the greater the chance of a liquor liability lawsuit, but even the smallest venue with low liquor receipts can be sued just as easily.

No. You need a hired-and-non-owned auto endorsement. Cheap, often forgotten, frequently the cause of the worst phone call we ever make to a restaurant client.

Food trucks need everything a brick-and-mortar needs plus commercial auto on the truck itself. We write food trucks separately because the carrier appetite and pricing are very different. Worth a 20-minute call.

No alcohol, no delivery, under-$500K revenue: a tightly-scoped BOP plus WC will get you legal and adequately covered, and it's usually the cheapest commercial policy we write. We'll tell you when there's a smaller policy that actually fits, not every restaurant needs the full stack.

The fryer is the #1 claim. The lawsuit is the #1 close.