Do Your Employees Drive And Talk On The Phone – How Much Could This Cost You?

Most restaurants owners need for employees to run errands or drive on their behalf from time to time.  Food delivery is the big one but in truth employees run short errands to pick up supplies or visit the bank or post office quite often.  As soon as your employee drives away, they take with them your potential liability for any damages that they cause while on that errand.  Did you know that if your employee chooses to pass the time on the phone while they drive, then they are 4 times more likely to cause an accident?  You wouldn’t let them do things inside your restaurant that are 4 times more likely to cause accidents so why should you allow this behavior when they are driving for you?

To understand just what is at risk here, take a look at a few recent high dollar settlements against companies whose employees were on the phone when they caused an accident.  When a lumber salesman crippled a a 78 year old woman in an accident, the lumber company was forced to pay $16.1 million to settle the claim.  A cable company employee rammed a stopped car at 71 mph, resulting in the death of a mother and her child  That claim was settled for a shade over $21 million.  These are just a few of the more than 1.2 million accidents each year caused by cell phone use.  It is now estimated that nearly one in four accidents are the direct result of cellphone use or texting.

The real problem for you, the restaurant owner, is that if your employee causes an accident while using their phone to talk or text, their phone records will show the time of the accident.  This is the smoking gun that the trial attorneys go after first and it leaves you with very few options as the defendant in the lawsuit.    And current trends indicate that juries are eager and willing to scold companies for letting their employees engage in phone use on the road.  Juries seem to be taking the stand that phone use just prior to an accident needs to be punished and punished severely.    It may be ok for them to use their phone while driving, but apparently not ok for everyone else.  They see it as protecting themselves by encouraging corporations to not allow their drivers to use the phones on the road, thus making the roads safer for them.

It doesn’t really matter if your employee is driving a company owned car, using a company provided phone or driving their own car with their own private cell phone.  In every case juries overwhelmingly seem to want to pin the blame on the company and punish them with a huge jury award.  Because of this, most experts now believe that out of court, pre-trial settlements are the best options for companies caught in this trap.  Facing a jury in this situation means facing a hostile group of people who hold your very livelihood in their hands.

So what should you do to protect yourself and your restaurant?  Start by making sure that you have adequate coverage limits on your business auto insurance policy if your restaurant owns any vehicles.  Next be sure that you have high enough limits to protect you on your non-owned auto insurance as well.  Make it clear, both verbally and in writing that employees will not use their cell phones to talk or text while driving on behalf of your restaurant.  You should consult your attorney for the best way to accomplish this.

At Clinard Insurance Group, we insure more than 100 restaurants all across NC, SC, Ga, TN and VA.  We want all restaurant insurance buyers to be informed consumers.    If you would like help with your restaurant insurance in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee or Virginia, please call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit our restaurant insurance web page at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.

Restaurant Insurance – How Many Of These 5 Mistakes Did You Make When You Set Up Your Insurance?

This week I want to discuss 5 common mistakes that restaurant owners slip up on when dealing with their restaurant insurance program.  I hope you haven’t fallen prey to all of them but do take a minute and think about  your own approach handling your restaurant insurance and which of these mistakes you may have made.  It will be too late to fix your mistakes after you have a loss, so I would advise that today be the day that you read this blog and take immediate action.

Mistake #1 – The Price Only Mindset.   This is the most common mistake that a restaurant owner will make.  And it can be a real trap.   Restaurant owners  are busy and running their business day to day can be a series of stomping out small fires from personnel  to supply chain to equipment issues.  Finding time to evaluate and understand the intricacies of your insurance contract just gets put by the wayside.  This can lead to the restaurant owner becoming blind to all of the moving parts and pieces in the policy rating process and just focusing on the easiest lowest common denominator: the bottom line price of the policy.  But this strategy ignores so many important variables.  There can be huge coverage and protection differences from one policy to the next.  There can also be great differences between one agent and the next in terms of how well you will be protected (and incidentally how much you pay).  Also, consider the differences from one insurance company to the next,  and last of all, remember that the insurance policy rating process has many step by step calculations that might actually cause you to pay a higher rate but have a policy that makes it appear that you are paying a lower final premium.  Often this particular problem only shows up a year later at audit, but by then it is too late, you are now going to have to pay the higher amount for your policy.  To avoid this mistake, just  remember that the cost of your insurance program is the total of three things.   The premiums you pay for the policy itself, plus the premiums you will pay at policy audit, plus the uncovered losses that you have to pay during the life of the policy.  

Mistake #2 – Using The Wrong Agent.  This mistake is a biggie and could even cost you your business if it results in a large enough, uncovered loss.  Insurance is an unusual business in that unlike most  professional services,  hiring a specialist to help you with your insurance will most often cost you less money than using a non-specialist.  If you dig a little deeper, the real truth is even scarier.  Unlike your family physician, who would never operate on a brain tumor, an insurance agent can take a stab at insuring just about anything that walks in the door.   And many will.   If you bought your restaurant insurance from a friend, or your brother in law, or the agent that just happens to insure your house or your cars, you may be walking into the trap of inexperience and not even know it.  And few insurance agents will tell you that they don’t really understand how to properly insure your restaurant.  Most will just muddle through and try to learn on your nickel.  This puts you at risk for a huge, uncovered loss.   Also, insurance agents with niche specialties in restaurant insurance, not only better understand the coverage ins and outs, but they also are  more likely to have access to better priced restaurant insurance programs simply because they have a high volume of restaurant business and they are more trusted by their underwriters.  This is one of the strange truths of insurance; in most cases using a more highly experienced professional will actually cost you less money.  It’s a win win for you.

Mistake #3 Skipping Insurance Reviews.  Insurance should never be a set it and leave it kind of approach to risk management for your business.  Most restaurants are constantly changing and so is the world around them.   Take the time, at least every couple of years if not every  year, to review your policies in depth with your agent.  Consider how your restaurant has changed since your last review.  Did you buy new equipment, change your hours of operation, or perhaps you began offering new services or products like home delivery?   Even the smallest change in your business, could have a big impact on your insurance protection.

Mistake #4  Cost Cutting.  The recession that we’ve been fighting through since 2008 has left many restaurant owners looking for ways to cut costs.  Be careful when you choose your insurance policy as a place to cut.  Some cuts may be justified and make sense, but don’t delete coverage if you can’t afford to actually pay for the uninsured losses that  you  might be creating.   There is a huge difference between self insuring and being uninsured.

Mistake #5  Square Hole, Meet Round Peg.   All restaurants are not the same and so you probably don’t want a restaurant insurance program that is designed as a one size fits all program.  This mistake is most likely to happen when  you don’t use an agent who insures many other restaurants as mentioned in mistake #2.   If you are a high end, fine dining restaurant, then your insurance needs will be quite different from a lunch and breakfast grill.  You can read more about this particular mistake by reading my blog on one size fits all restaurant insurance programs.

At Clinard Insurance Group , in Winston Salem NC, we are a full service, independent insurance agency.  Restaurants are one of our niche groups and we insure over 100 restaurants all across North Carolina and South Carolina.  If you own a restaurant or catering company located in NC or SC, please feel free to contact us to discuss your restaurant insurance needs.  You can reach us by phone, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or you can visit us on the web at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.

What Do Boats and Trailers Have To Do With My Restaurant Insurance?

Restaurant owners have many things to worry about.  Usually they worry about the things that they  know could go wrong in their business.  It’s tougher to worry about the things that you don’t know could go wrong, but in the end, these unkown unknowns are the kinds of things that hurt you the worst.  So what in the world do boats and trailers have to do with you saving your restaurant from a catastrophic loss?

If I haven’t lost you completely, hang in there as I give you an insurance example of an unknown unknown.  There are a number of restaurant owners out there who own personal watercraft and don’t realize that every time they pull them down the road, that they are putting their very restaurant at risk.  So how can this happen?

Well, let’s start with the vehicle pulling the boat or jet ski.  Lots of restaurant owners have found tax advantages in buying their new cars in the company name.  And doing so almost always means that the company car is insured with a commercial auto policy.  This is the right way to do it because you want to be sure that your corporation or LLC is protected from liability as a result of an accident with this vehicle.  If you don’t hang on to a personal auto policy on one of your personal cars, beware, you may need   DOC coverage.  (click here to read about DOC protection.)  But this is where it gets a bit tricky.  Many successful restaurateurs also own boats, jet skis and other personal watercraft that they move about on trailers, towed by their company vehicles.  In NC, if you tow a vehicle with your personal car which is insured by a NC personal auto policy, then coverage automatically extends to liability caused by the trailer you are towing.  But with a NC business auto policy, this is not the case.  And this little detail can get a restaurant owner with a company car and a personal boat in a lot of trouble.

What if you were involved in an accident that is your fault that is caused by this uninsured boat trailer being towed by your company vehicle.  Doing so could lead to an uncovered loss that might be so large that it wipes out your restaurant completely.  And that would be a travesty after you had worked so hard to always keep your insurance policies current and in force.  This is a great example of what I call an unknown unknown. 

Clinard Insurance Group is a full service, independent insurance agency located in Winston Salem, NC.  We insure over 100 restaurants all across North Carolina and South Carolina.  We speak your language and understand your restaurant business.  We want to work with you to help you find those unknown unknowns for your business.  One of our partners has even owned 4 restaurants over the years.  We know that the insurance business is one business where you can save money by hiring experts and specialists over generalists and those with less experience.  We find at least one significant uninsured exposure in every restaurant account that we quote.  Don’t trust your business to an agent who only insures a handful of restaurants.    If you would like our help with your restaurant insurance program, please feel free to call us directly at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.

The Restaurant Insurance Helper – Did You Cover The Hired and Nonowned Auto Liability Exposure?

Most restaurant owners purchase their restaurant insurance program by starting with the basics – a business owners policy for the property and liability exposures  and a workers compensation insurance policy for their employees.  In some cases,  the owner of the restaurant might purchase a company car, then the business auto insurance policy is added to the restaurant insurance program.  Whether or not you have a business auto policy in place, as a restaurant owner, you need to pay close attention to the hired and nonowned auto liability exposure and how to protect against it.  Failing to do so  could cost you  everything you have worked for.

So, let’s begin with an explanation of these terms and the exposures they represent.  Hired and nonowned auto liability simply refers to the liability exposures that your restaurant will  face as a result of the  use of vehicles that you either rented or that you simply don’t own.  At first this may seem silly.  You might well wonder how you can be liable for a car you don’t own.   Now you may never rent a vehicle in the company name, but don’t overlook your liability for cars you don’t own.

Let’s start with an example to better explain the risks to you.  It is almost a given that from time to time, one of your employees runs an errand on behalf of the restaurant;  be it to the post office or the bank or to pick up supplies.  If that employee has an at fault accident while on an errand for your restaurant, then your company can very easily be dragged into the suit.  You may be included in the loss right away, or you may be held liable on an excess basis, either because your employee let his or her auto insurance run out on the car,  or because your employee simply carried such low liability limits that they were quickly exhausted by the claim in question.  In either case, your restaurant could face a nearly unlimited liability exposure that could wipe out the restaurant’s very existence.  It is clear that this is a risk you cannot take.

So how do you protect against this risk?  Fortunately, most insurance companies that provide insurance policies for  restaurants make it quite easy to solve this problem.  While the  traditional approach is to add this protection to your business auto policy, lately, a more economical opportunity exists in that most insurance companies can add this protection to your businessowners insurance policy that covers the property and liability for your restaurant.  And the costs are usually very low, often less than $100 per year for $1,000,000 in protection.

I strongly recommend that you take a few moments to review this risk exposure with your agent to be sure that you have the protection that you need against this type of loss.  A few minutes of effort here can remove a huge risk for your company.

Clinard Insurance Group is an independent insurance agency which specializes in helping restaurants all across NC and SC with their insurance needs.  We know that insurance is the exception to most businesses in that hiring a specialist is generally less costly than hiring a general agent.  If you own a restaurant in North or South Carolina, you owe it to yourself to check out our programs and our rates for restaurants.  You can reach us, toll free, by phone at 877-687-7557 or you may find us on the web by visiting www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.

Restaurant Insurance – Company Cars and Your Employees

Many restaurant owners out there have vehicles that are owned in the corporate name.  This can run the gamut from personal cars for the restaurant owner to vans used for pickups and deliveries.  These vehicles, titled in the business name should always be insured on a commercial auto policy in the same business name.  There is a wrinkle in the coverage protection in this instance that can leave an injured employee without any coverage and could perhaps, leave your restaurant vulnerable.

I’m not talking about DOC protection which of course is another dangerous wrinkle when your restaurant has company owned cars.  To learn how to protect your personal assets from that particular coverage gap,  watch my DOC for restaurant owners video.

The problem that I want to address in this particular blog really relates to the risks of injuries that could occur to one of your employees.  Sure, you have workers compensation insurance in case one of them gets injured.  If not, read my blog on why you need to buy that coverage even if the law doesn’t require it.  But the problem that can occur with a company owned vehicle and your employee is best described with an example.  

Let’s say you send out an employee to make a delivery and since it is the last one of the night, you tell them to just drive the van home and bring it back when they come to work tomorrow.  Now, assume that on the way home, after the last delivery was made, they have an accident that is their fault.   Also assume that your employee is injured in this accident.   Many restaurants do not offer health insurance to their employees so now where is this employee going to get the money to pay for his or her medical bills due to this accident?  Well, the simple answer would seem to be that you just file a workers compensation claim for those injuries.  After all, the employee was on the job.  Wasn’t he?  Well, in North Carolina we are seeing that type of claim denied by insurance companies.  The argument is that when the employee is using the vehicle for personal use (in this case driving home from work), then that employee is not covered by workers compensation.

Now what are the downsides for you, the employer?  First of all, your employee may face overwhelming medical bills and may not be able to afford the help needed to get back to work as quickly as otherwise might be the case.  Also, there is some risk to you, the employer that a sharp attorney may find a way to drag you into a long, drawn out legal case due to the fact that your vehicle was involved.   The final result for you is unclear and difficult to prognosticate but suffice to say, this is a situation that you want to be aware of and avoid if possible.  I don’t have an insurance solution for you except to say that if your employee has life insurance, health insurance and disability insurance then most of the gaps will be covered.  If not, the best advice is to make sure that you don’t provide company owned vehicles for your employees’ personal use.

Clinard Insurance Group, located in Winston Salem, NC is an agency with a niche specialty in helping restaurant owners in both North Carolina and South Carolina with their restaurant insurance needs.  We have developed specialized programs for several different types of restaurants so that you don’t have to buy a one size fits all policy for your restaurant.  We have a specialized insurance program for catering companies, a fast food restaurant insurance program, a bar and grill and tavern insurance program, a unique fine dining insurance program and a casual dining restaurant insurance package.  If we can help you with your restaurant insurance questions, please feel free to call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557, or visit us online at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.  

This article was created from source material which can be found online at www.RestaurantInsuranceGuy.com.

Restaurant Insurance – Before You Buy, Qualify Your Agent

Restaurant insurance is a complex and wildly variant contract.  Each restaurant has its own quirks and operational differences from the kinds of food that may be offered to how it is prepared to how it is served.  And all of these variables make insuring a restaurant a complex and highly interactive process when it is done correctly.  These factors point out the need for a specialist.

Restaurants are not cookie cutter businesses.  They vary widely in scope and design and they have some really unique risk factors that, if overlooked, could prove catastrophic to the business itself.  So, as a restaurant owner, whether you like it or not, you are going to need to have some working knowledge of the insurance industry.  Now for someone starting a new restaurant, the path of least resistance would be to call up the insurance agent who handles your car insurance or your homeowners insurance  and ask for a quote on your restaurant.  And here’s the scary part:  This agent could give you a quote and most likely write you a policy.  Why is that scary?  Well, let me highlight that with an example.   Imagine if you had a rare disease and your family practice doctor would or could take a crack at trying to heal you instead of sending you to a specialist who understands that rare disease.  Now that’s a scary thought isn’t it?  Well, not protecting your restaurant business by hiring a specialist should be just as scary a proposition.

Doctors will give referrals to specialists, but unfortunately for you, most insurance agents wouldn’t dream of referring on business of which they are not well qualified to insure.  They don’t want to give up the commission.  So how do you, as a restaurant owner, protect yourself from this risk?  Well, start by asking your agent how many restaurants he or she currently insures.  If they give you a number under 10 you should be worried, as they can’t have accumulated the combined experience and wisdom needed to understand your business if they just insure a handful of similar businesses.  A better number would be more than 100 though.   You see, unlike the patient with the rare disease, these agents’ lack of knowledge might never be exposed unless and until there is a large loss.  So even they may not know what potential problems are lurking there for their current clients.

Do your research online.  Take a look at their website.  Do they seem to specialize in restaurants or do they look more like a generalist?  Have they been blogging about restaurant insurance issues?  Do they o present themselves to the public as a specialist that can really help you uncover the root issues that you may have with your insurance program?

Restaurants are a unique and interesting niche out there for insurance agents.  As a result, there are many who do specialize in helping restaurants manage their risks in the most effective ways.  You can find them without having to do hours and hours of research and in this case Google can be your friend.  Take a moment to check up on your current agent and make sure that you are dealing with a specialist.  It won’t cost you more to hire the best to help you and in fact the irony is that, unlike most professions, with insurance you can hire the specialist for your business and pay less at the same time.  It’s a real win win for restaurant owners and you can take advantage of this situation with less than an hour’s worth of research.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC  we are one of those agencies with a specialty in restaurant insurance.  We insure more than 50 different restaurants all across North Carolina and South Carolina.  We know that each restaurant is different from the others and so we have developed 5 different restaurant insurance programs to help make a better custom fit for our clients.  We have a bar and grill and tavern insurance program, a casual dining restaurant insurance program, a fine dining restaurant insurance program, a dynamite insurance package for fast food restaurants and even a specialized insurance program for caterers.  If we can help you with restaurant insurance questions, 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 in full at the blog located at http://www.restaurantinsuranceguy.com/.

Restaurant Insurance – UL 300 System Part 2

In part one of this two part series we discussed ways to identify if your current system is a UL 300 system or not.  If you have discovered that you are using an older system, then what should you do about it?  Well our advice is to replace your old system with a new one that is UL 300 approved.

Before we get to the replacement question, here is a list of situations where most local governments will require the use of a UL 300 system.

Use of vegetable based oils in frying.

Any addition or change or any appliance from the original installation.

Any change to the hood or duct system.

The suppression system can no longer be maintained as required for 6 month maintenance due to the lack of available replacement parts or the servicing company refusing to service the out of date unit.

In addition, it is important to note that all dry chemical units are non-compliant as are the following wet chemical units unless modifications have been made:

Ansul R-102, all sizes 1988- 1995,

Ansul Steel tanks (red in color), all sizes 1988 – 2001,

Kidde Aqua Blue, all sizes 1988 – 1995,

Range Guard, all sizes 1977 – 1995.

Many of these UL 300 wet units can be upgraded, but the difference in cost between a new one and a retrofitted one is rarely more than 15% so most restaurants opt for the new system.

One last note about changing your system:  If you do so, please remove any dry chemical fire extinguisher from the kitchen area as their interaction with the UL 300 liquid agents will serve to spread the fire rather than extinguish it.  NFPA 10 requires that only K rate fire extinguishers be kept in your kitchen area.

In part 1 of this blog I mentioned that you there are ways to have someone else pay for the cost of replacing your old, noncompliant system with a newer UL 300 system.  So how does that work?  It’s simple really.  There are many insurance companies out there that understand the value of the UL 300 system and as such will provide huge discounts for restaurants utilizing this newer system.  We have seen these discounts more than pay for the upgrade of systems in our work.  If your agent isn’t currently giving you the full discounts for your UL 300 system, you should choose an insurance company that values this safety feature and is willing to cut your insurance costs because you have it installed.

Clinard Insurance Group, Inc., is an independent insurance agency, located in Winston Salem, NC.  We specialize in helping all kinds of restaurants all across NC and SC.  If you need help with your restaurant insurance questions, or if you would like to see how much money you can save with our specialized restaurant insurance programs, please call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.  We have several specialized insurance programs for the different types of restaurants out there so we should be able to find a solution that best suits your needs.  Our special programs include our fine dining insurance package, our casual dining insurance package, our fast food insurance package, our bar and grill insurance package and our special insurance program for caterers.

The source information for this article was pulled from articles found at www.RestaurantInsuranceGuy.com.

Restaurant Insurance – UL 300 System And Your Restaurant – Part 1

Older fire suppression systems for restaurants may no longer be enough to extinguish restaurant fires today.  That is because of new cooking media and newer cooking methodologies that can generate higher temperatures and lower flash points.   This 2 part series will look at the new UL300 standards and help you understand what you have now and what you may want in the future.

So what is UL300?  UL 300 is the standard for testing of fire extinguishing systems for protection of restaurant cooking areas.  Underwriters Laboratories, Inc, referred to as UL, is an independent, not for profit product safety testing and certification organization.  How do you know if your current system is UL 300?  According to Underwriters Laboratories, the only way to know is to check that the model number on your fire suppression system is UL 300 compliant.  If so, then you must verify that all components have been installed as specified by the manufacturer’s manual.

The best place to start is to look for the UL300 label on the systems extinguishing chemical tank.  Another indicator is the type of discharge nozzle located over each cooking surface.  All UL 300 compliant systems use a wet extinguishing agent.  Discharge nozzles for the older, dry chemical systems are fairly large, usually around 2 inches in diameter.  Wet system nozzles are narrow, typically ¾ inch to 1 inch in diameter and are typically covered with red, orange or yellow plastic caps to keep them clean.

You may have to ask the fire protection company that is offering the ongoing service and inspections on your system.  You can identify them by finding the service record tag.  This tag is normally attached to the manual pull box for the system.

Here are some red flag indicators that your system is not UL 300 compliant:

Installed prior to 11/21/1994.

No UL label on the cylinder.

Dry chemical extinguishing media.

Dry chemical discharge nozzles – large size – 2 inches in diameter

System uses water spray to protect appliances.

System uses a single nozzle to protect multiple appliances or multiple cooking surfaces.

So what if your current system is not UL 300 compliant?  In that case I would recommend that you replace it with a UL 300 system.  In part 2 of this 2 part series I will show you how to go about that and how to get someone else to pay for it.

Clinard Insurance Group, located in Winston Salem, NC, is an insurance agency that specializes in insuring restaurants all across North Carolina and South Carolina.  If you have a restaurant in NC or SC and would like our help answering your restaurant insurance questions, please call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.   We know that not every restaurant is the same, so we have developed 5 specialized restaurant programs to meet your specific needs.  We have a fine dining restaurant insurance plan, a casual dining restaurant insurance plan, a fast food restaurant insurance plan, a bar and grill and tavern insurance plan and a special insurance program for caterers.

The source information for this article was pulled from other articles which can be found at www.RestaurantInsuranceGuy.com.

Restaurant Insurance – Part 10 Liquor Liability

This is the final installment of our 10 part series on buying restaurant insurance for NC and SC restaurants.  This installment covers the often overlooked but almost always needed protection for liquor liability.  Now if your restaurant doesn’t sell any alcohol, then you will not need to purchase this protection.  But if you do sell alcohol, then this is a coverage that you can’t afford to do without.  Skipping this protection could force you to sell your restaurant and lose most of what you have worked for all of your life.  Yeah, it’s that important.

Liquor liability protects your restaurant against 3^rd party claims for those injured by an inebriated person who consumed some or all of their alcohol at your restaurant prior to the loss.  The loss most often comes in the form of a car accident.  Hold on you say, you would never serve someone who is drunk, or let a drunk leave your bar with his car keys in hand.   But the liability issue doesn’t work that way.  Here’s a real world example.  One of our clients had a claim several years ago that cost their insurance company over $750,000 and that was less than 1/3 of the total damages.  You see, they had served a customer a couple of drinks with dinner.  This customer left their restaurant about 8:30 pm and then visited two bars before finally killing another person in an auto accident around 2 am.  This customer was not drunk when he left our client’s restaurant, but because they had served him alcohol, our client was dragged into the lawsuit and forced to defend themselves and ultimately forced to share in the damages.

Hopefully now I have your attention and you understand how important it is to have this protection.  Now let’s talk about buying this coverage.  There are two ways liquor liability insurance is sold.  One is as a standalone policy and the other is ad an add on to your businessowners or package policy for your restaurant.  Stand alone policies are generally more expensive and are most often used for true bars and night clubs as opposed to restaurants.  If you own a restaurant and your liquor liability is a standalone policy, then this should be an immediate red flag that you need to evaluate your current policy and your insurance agent as you may not be using a true restaurant insurance specialist. 

Rates for liquor liability vary widely from one insurance company to the next and also from one program to the next offered by the same company.  There are several factors that can drive your liquor liability rate.  First of all is the ratio of alcohol sales to food sales.  Get this ratio above 30% and you are going to start falling out of the most preferred rate plans.  Get above 50% and you may find yourself kicked out of the businessowners add on coverage and be forced to purchase a standalone liquor liability policy.   Another factor is the type of alcohol that you sell in your establishment.  If you sell only beer and wine and no hard liquor, then you should have a reduced rate.  If you are selling no hard liquor at all, then you need to check with your agent to be sure that he or she knows this and that this is reflected in your rate.  Past claims will also play a big part in what rate you pay and whether or not you are able to add this protection to your businessowners policy or if you have to purchase a standalone policy.  The last factor that can impact your rate is the type of safety training and safety programs that you are running in your restaurant to help prevent a liquor liability claim from happening.

One last tip that should be mentioned relates to bar and grill and tavern type restaurants.  Often these types of restaurants are discriminated against in their liquor liability rate and get classified as night clubs.  This is often unfair and you should know that there are a few programs out there that recognize this and have special rates for bar and grill type establishments that don’t treat them as night clubs.  For more information on the bar and grill liquor liability issue, please read my blog on this topic by clicking here.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping restaurant owners with their insurance needs.  We understand the importance of using an insurance specialist for your industry and we work hard to fill that need for our clients.  Our specialty with restaurant owners is so broad that we can usually help you with every type of policy that you buy for your business and for your family, including your family  auto insurance, your home insurance and  your life insurance and retirement planning.   We also understand that not all restaurants have the same insurance needs and as such we have developed 5 different restaurant insurance programs so that you aren’t subsidizing add on coverages that you don’t need.  We have a fine dining restaurant insurance program, a casual dining restaurant insurance program, a fast food restaurant insurance program, a bar and grill and taveren insurance program and a special insurance program for catering companies.  If we can help you with your restaurant insurance in either North Carolina or South Carolina, please feel free to call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.TheRestaurantStore.com.

The source information for this article was pulled from other articles which can be found in their entirety at www.RetaurantInsuranceGuy.com.

Restaurant Insurance – Part 9 EPLI

This is part 9 of our 10 part series on how to insure your restaurant.  This section deals with an insurance policy that is not well understood and even less often purchased.  This is the EPLI insurance policy and EPLI stands for Employment Practices Liability Insurance.  This is a coverage that every restaurant owner with employees should consider purchasing.

EPLI coverage nicely fills some gaps in coverage that your business owners policy or your commercial package policy leaves.  Specifically these have to do with some intentional actions that you take with your employees for which you may later be found liable and owe for damages.  The most common types of EPLI claims are for wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and discrimination.  Now you might say to yourself that you don’t need this coverage because you would never do any of those things.  But what you must consider is that you might be accused of doing one of these acts.  And if so, then you will have to defend yourself and the defense is not a cheap process.  So even if you didn’t want to purchase the insurance for the judgment because you think you would never commit one of these acts, consider that you might want to purchase the insurance to pay for your attorney to defend you.

EPLI can be purchased as a separate policy, or in some cases can be added to your existing package or businessowners policy.  If you purchase it as an add on, be sure that you understand if the protection has a sublimit of coverage that is lower than your general liability limit and also check in to be sure that defense costs are included.  Last of all, if defense is included, be sure to find out if that is unlimited and outside of the policy limit, or if defense costs are counted against your total liability limit.  

There is one more thing to consider.  Most EPLI policies are claims made based policies, whereas your general liability protection is usually occurrence based.  With a claims made policy, you need to report the claim within the policy period so if the claim rears its head after you have cancelled the policy, then you will find yourself without coverage.  To protect yourself from this situation, you should laundry list your potential claims at the end of each policy term and submit that list to your insurance carrier.

EPLI protection may seem like a real specialty coverage for just a few but the truth is, with the layoffs that many restaurant owners have had to resort to in the past few years, this is a must have protection.  At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we want all of our clients to be informed insurance consumers.  We encourage you to call us and ask questions regarding this or any other blog article that we have posted.  We specialize in helping restaurant owners buy insurance for their restaurants and we understand that not all restaurants are the same.  We don’t want your insurance policy to a square peg jammed into a round hole, so we have created 5 different restaurant insurance programs to help you better select the one that meets your needs.  We have a fine dining restaurant insurance program, a casual dining restaurant insurance program, a fast food restaurant insurance program, a bar and grill and tavern insurance program and a special insurance program for caterers.  If you need 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 other articles which can be found at www.RestaurantInsuranceGuy.com.