If you run a pub, restaurant or hotel, you know that there are plenty of risks that can jeopardise your business. Long opening hours, late closures, overcrowding and drunk customers are all potential risks that you could face at one time or another.
Whilst you can design yourself a bespoke package for your business insurance needs, there are general liability covers that you can buy to protect your business.
Public Liability insurance covers against injury, loss and damage to customers or people visiting your premises. For example, if a customer injured themselves through a fall or slip due to your negligence, you should be covered for any claim for compensation they may make.
Product Liability covers you for the products that you serve to your customers. For example, if a customer is unwell following a drink or meal served by your business, then Product Liability will help cover the financial costs.
Employers' Liability is required in the UK by law if you have employees or casual staff working for your business. This cover will protect you for the costs from an employee injuring themselves or becoming sick through their work.
If you own your premises, you should make sure that you have buildings insurance. You should make sure that your buildings insurance is adequate enough to cover the cost of rebuilding your property in case of an insured event.
There are different types of businesses in the hospitality sector which means that the level of content may vary. For example, pubs, restaurants and hotels may all have roughly the same equipment, but a hotel is likely to have more rooms with furnishings, which could increase your insurance premium. Whatever type of establishment you run it is important to insure the furniture, carpets, computers and the like for their 'replacement as new' value.
Stock insurance will cover you in the event that your stock becomes unusable. Stock in the hospitality sector could include drinks, food and other wet and dry stock, which may become damaged in the event of a disaster.
Whilst these covers will help protect you in the event of an incident, you will most likely not be covered if you are unable to trade. Business Interruption cover will make sure that you still have a source of income for the amount of time that you need to get your business back up and running.
UK law requires a business to have a licence to be able to legally sell alcohol. Whilst restaurants and hotels may rely on the sale of alcohol as a source of income, a pub would likely close down if it lost its licence. Loss of Licence insurance will help to cover the cost of losing your licence if circumstances are beyond your control, however if you lose your licence through carelessness or because of hygiene, you will not be covered.
