As the owner of a deli, you face several types of risks in your day-to-day business. With the proper type of deli insurance you can help to limit these risks. For instance, you have customers entering the physical location of your delicatessen, you serve customers food, you probably have employees working, and you have kitchen equipment and food storage devices that are essential to your business. Any number of things could potentially happen on any given day that could result in a claim or lawsuit against your business, not to mention additional risks such as fire, flood, theft or robbery.
A basic Business Owners Policy provides the proper basic deli insurance coverage for your delicatessen because it will include what we call “slip and fall” coverage in the event someone suffers an injury at your place of business, as well as your Business Personal Property. Business Personal Property coverage would cover all your property used to run your deli, such as your booths, tables and chairs, as well as your kitchen equipment and will also include coverage for your inventory, which is food, so you would have special coverage for spoilage. You would also have additional insurance for many types of exposures that are included in a policy specifically designed for food service, such as your books and records, and other built-in coverage for property such as outdoor signs, which is important if you have damage and need to replace your sign immediately.
Another policy you need to purchase if you have employees working at your deli is Workers Compensation coverage. This policy will provide coverage for your employees if they suffer a loss while they are working for you. In almost all States you are required to carry this coverage and it is not an option. This is especially important in your deli business due to the nature of food preparation and the tools involved. A simple cut on a finger requiring stitches could be very costly if you had to pay out of pocket for the hospital or clinic and also for the lost wages the cook would incur from taking off time to let the injury heal. As another example, an employee could suffer a back injury if they are not properly trained in lifting techniques and are unloading boxes of frozen food, for instance. There are requirements for Workers Compensation coverage and many of the requirements will be easily attained with free training from an organization called OSHA. With the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.
Many of these coverage’s are included in package policies designed specifically for your business. And with the proper deli insurance package you can be more prepared in the likely event that something will happen during the course of owning your business, whether it’s a legitimate claim against you or not, or damage due to circumstances outside of your control.
Talk to a bolt insurance agent today about the right deli insurance package for your delicatessen.
