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Restaurant and Bar Insurance

A restaurant or bar runs on hot kitchens, wet floors, late nights and, often, alcohol. A standard general liability policy does not cover liquor related claims unless liquor liability is added. We go through your loss history and your renewal with you, so you see why the price moved and what each policy covers.

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Your Business, Part by Part

An illustrated kitchen and bar. No people.

  1. 1 of 5

    Your Kitchen and Bar

  2. 2 of 5

    Your Staff

    In Connecticut

    With few exceptions, every employer is required to carry workers’ compensation.

    Ask AboutWorkers’ compensation

  3. 3 of 5

    Your Delivery Drivers

    A personal auto policy generally excludes coverage for delivery work.

    Ask AboutCommercial auto

  4. 4 of 5

    Your Stock Is Stored Below Grade

    Standard business policies do not cover flood.

    Ask AboutFlood

    Coverage depends on the policy terms.

    A new flood policy usually takes 30 days to start. The main exception is when it is bought with a new or refinanced mortgage. Do not wait for a storm forecast.

  5. 5 of 5

    Your Card Reader Takes Payments

    Ask AboutCyber

Insurance for Restaurants, Bars, Cafes and Taverns

What This Means for YouThis is your claims history, and every new insurer reads it first. Your open claim’s reserve is an estimate, and it counts until the claim closes.Source: National Association of Insurance Commissioners, on loss frequency

You might run a family restaurant, a neighborhood bar, a cafe, a pizza place with delivery drivers or a tavern with a full kitchen. Each one puts customers, staff, open flames and often alcohol under one roof.

When you shop for coverage or renew, your loss runs come up. Loss frequency means how often claims were made on a policy during a premium period. Bring your loss runs and your renewal, and we read them with you, claim by claim.

A restaurant owner at her counter holding a very thick insurance policy binder, eyebrows raised.

Restaurant and Bar Operations We Insure

Tell us how your place runs on a busy night. These are a starting set.

Full service restaurants.
A dining room, a kitchen and a staff on every shift.
Bars, pubs and taverns.
Alcohol as the main business, with or without food.
Cafes, bakeries and coffee shops.
Early hours, ovens and a steady line at the counter.
Pizza, takeout and delivery.
Drivers on the road in their own cars or yours.
Catering and events.
Food and service at someone else’s place.
Food trucks.
A kitchen on wheels, parked somewhere new each day.
Don’t see yours here? Tell us what you need covered.

Restaurant and Bar Insurance Coverage

General Liability Insurance for Restaurants

A guest slips on a wet floor near the restroom, or a hot plate burns a customer’s hand. General liability pays damages your business is found liable for, up to the policy limits, plus your legal defense, and it pays medical bills for people hurt on your premises.

Liquor Liability Insurance for Restaurants and Bars

A guest you served drives away and causes a crash. Liquor liability protects your business against claims after a patron becomes intoxicated and injures themselves or others. It is sold as an add on or a policy of its own, and your general liability does not cover it without one.

Commercial Property Insurance for Restaurants

A grease fire spreads from the line to the hood and the dining room. Commercial property insurance protects your building, your kitchen equipment, your furniture and your stock against losses such as fire, smoke, wind, hail and vandalism. Tell the insurer how the space is really used.

Business Income Insurance for Restaurants

After a fire, the doors stay closed for weeks while your rent and payroll keep coming due. Business income insurance, also called business interruption insurance, pays the income you lose after a covered loss and the extra expense of operating from a temporary location.

Spoilage and Equipment Breakdown Coverage for Restaurants

A walk in cooler fails overnight, or a power outage spoils a full delivery. A spoilage endorsement covers goods kept cold that spoil from a refrigeration breakdown or an outage beyond your control. Equipment breakdown covers the machines themselves. Ask whether your policy carries both.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance for Restaurants

A line cook is burned at the fryer, or a server cuts a hand on broken glass. Workers’ compensation pays for their medical care and replaces part of their lost wages, regardless of who was at fault. Most employers are required to carry it, as the state facts below describe.

Commercial Auto Insurance for Restaurants

Your driver rear ends a car on a delivery run. A personal auto policy generally excludes delivery work. A business auto policy covers the vehicles your business owns, and hired and non owned auto coverage is the piece to ask about when drivers use their own cars.

Cyber Liability Insurance for Restaurants

Every card you take runs through your payment system. A business can be held liable if the data it holds is compromised. A business owners policy may cover some cyber incidents, and a fuller range needs a cyber liability policy of its own.

Coverage Restaurants and Bars Can Be Missing

Gaps often show up after the loss, when the exclusions are read for the first time. A restaurant can carry a package policy and still have holes in it, because each policy names what it covers and leaves the rest out. These are the places to look before your next renewal, and each one is a fair question to bring to your quote.

Liquor liability.
Serving beer and wine counts. Without liquor liability, a standard general liability policy does not cover liquor related claims.
Drivers in their own cars.
The business owners policy does not cover vehicles at all, and a driver’s personal policy generally excludes delivery work.
Water in the storeroom.
Standard business policies do not cover flood, and flood is a separate policy.
Your sign.
An outdoor sign is not covered by a business owners policy unless coverage for it is added.
Claims from your own staff.
General liability excludes employment practices claims, such as a complaint about how someone was let go. That is a separate policy.
Food in the cooler.
Spoilage is an endorsement you add.
A claim bigger than your limits.
An umbrella sits over your general liability and auto limits and responds once they are used up.

If an Insurer Has Said No

That is one insurer’s answer, not the last one. Insurers have different underwriting standards, and a decision by one company does not mean another will not offer coverage.

Hard to Place InsuranceNonrenewed or Cancelled Policies

State Facts

In Connecticut

  • With few exceptions, every Connecticut employer must carry workers’ compensation insurance.
  • Under the Dram Shop Act, a seller who sells alcohol to an intoxicated person can be made to pay damages to people that person then injures, up to $250,000 for one injured person or $250,000 in total for all of them.
  • A person bringing a claim under the Dram Shop Act must give the seller written notice within 120 days of the injury, or 180 days in the case of death or incapacity, and must sue within one year.
  • Inland flooding, sewer backup, groundwater seepage and sump pump failure are named Connecticut flood risks, not only coastal storms.

Source: Connecticut General Statutes section 30-102, Connecticut Insurance Department and Workers’ Compensation Commission.

Insurance in Connecticut

Frequently Asked Questions

What insurance does my restaurant or bar need?

A common starting point is general liability, commercial property with business income, workers’ compensation, commercial auto for delivery and cyber liability for card payments. A place that serves alcohol will likely need liquor liability.

Do I need liquor liability if I only serve beer and wine?

Beer and wine are alcohol. A business that sells or serves alcohol will likely need liquor liability, because a standard general liability policy does not protect against liquor related claims.

Does my business policy cover a flooded storeroom?

Standard business policies do not cover flood. Flood insurance is a separate policy available from the National Flood Insurance Program or a private insurer.

Is the food covered if my walk in cooler breaks down?

Only if your policy has spoilage coverage. It covers goods kept cold that spoil from a refrigeration breakdown or a power outage beyond your control.

Does a personal auto policy cover my delivery driver?

A personal auto policy generally excludes business use such as delivery work. Commercial auto, and hired and non owned auto coverage for drivers using their own cars, are the coverages to ask about.

My renewal went up after a claim that was settled. What can I do?

Ask for your loss runs and for the reasons for the increase in writing. Bring both with your quote request, and we go through them with you, claim by claim.

What if no insurer will write my liquor liability?

Tell us where it stands. Your file can go to the specialty market through licensed surplus lines brokers. No agency can promise a placement.

If a standard insurer says no, your policy may be placed this way, and it works a little differently. Some hard to place risks are insured by surplus lines carriers. These carriers are not licensed by the state as admitted insurers. Their policies can cost more, cover less or differently, and follow different cancellation and nonrenewal notice rules. They are generally not covered by the state insurance guaranty fund if the carrier fails. Surplus lines coverage is placed through a licensed surplus lines broker. We explain the differences to you in writing before you decide.

Can food trucks, taverns and nightclubs be insured?

Tell us what you operate. Your account can be reviewed, and no agency can promise a placement.

Related Resources

In ConnecticutPublished July 30, 2026, updated November 12, 2026Flooded Basement: Why Homeowners Insurance Does Not Cover ItWater is in your basement. A homeowners policy does not cover flood.

Bring Your Loss History and Your Renewal.

Send both with your quote request, and see why the price moved.

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