Running a seafood restaurant can be a rewarding experience, especially when seafood is your passion. You will sell a variety of seafood dishes including clams, oysters, mussels, lobster, crab, salmon, soups, sandwiches, pastas, salads, and various types of fish.. However while it can be a successful business, you also run the risk of contamination with raw fish which could carry hepatitis A as well as a number of other illnesses and injuries. These and other business risks should always be covered with seafood restaurant insurance.
Types of Seafood Restaurant Insurance
Since you have different risks as the owner of a seafood restaurant, you also need different types of insurance policies. The following types of business insurance policies are essential for your restaurant:
Seafood Restaurant General Liability Insurance
One of the most important insurance policies to have for your seafood restaurant is general liability. This will offer protection from customer injuries or illness on your property or due to the food you serve. For example, if a customer burns their mouth on butter that was too hot when it was served, you could be liable. Another common risk with seafood is contamination with shellfish for those allergic but ordered something without shellfish. General liability will cover these types of liabilities.
Seafood Restaurant Spoilage Insurance
All restaurants need to have a spoilage insurance policy. This policy offers coverage if you lose power or deal with equipment breakdown, and your refrigerated food spoils. It could also mean the death of seafood you keep alive until you’re ready to cook it, such as lobsters. The loss with a small power outage could be extensive but spoilage insurance will help replace food items that spoiled.
Seafood Restaurant Equipment Breakdown Insurance
Equipment breakdown coverage will provide you with a means to repair or replace equipment if it breaks down. In a seafood restaurant, this could mean cash registers, refrigerators or freezers, ovens, stoves or even fish tanks that malfunction and need to be replaced. Your business could suffer a big loss from equipment breaking down, so it helps to have this extra coverage.
Seafood Restaurant Commercial Auto Insurance
If you or an employee uses their own vehicle for business purposes, it should be covered by business auto insurance. For example, your employee might be running a business errand, such as picking up fresh salmon for the restaurant, and get into an accident on the way. Any bodily injuries or property damage caused during the collision would be covered by business auto.
Seafood Restaurant Business Property Insurance
Business property insurance is a great policy to have for protecting your business structure and contents. Any unexpected event could cause damage to your business property, but with a seafood restaurant, fire is a significant risk. Your kitchen poses the risk of fire from oil splatter and other risks and should be protected with a business property insurance policy so you don’t face the loss of income.
Seafood Restaurant Cyber Liability Insurance
If your seafood restaurant has an online website where you sell things like spice rubs or special sauces, you should have protection from hackers and cyber crimes. Cyber liability insurance covers all types of cyber crimes including paying with forged payment methods, stealing your financial information, identity theft of customers and other such crimes. Legal costs or loss of income as a result will be covered by the cyber liability policy.
Seafood Restaurant Workers’ Compensation
All employees need to be covered by workers’ compensation insurance. It is a requirement in most states and with a seafood restaurant, it is especially important to have. Your employees risk falling in the kitchen from spilled food, cuts from preparing food and burns from the stove or hot oil. If they get an injury or illness while at work, their medical costs and lost income are covered by the worker’s comp policy.
Seafood Restaurant Crime Insurance
Crime insurance protects you from crimes you are exposed to, such as theft of money, employees stealing money or food from the kitchen, or vandalism to your restaurant. If these crimes occur, the crime insurance policy replaces items or money you lost.
Seafood Restaurant Business Umbrella Insurance
Not all insurance policies will cover what you need following an unexpected event which is where umbrella insurance steps in. All business insurance policies have a coverage limit, and if something happens to go over that limit, you have to cover the costs on your own. The liability policies for your Seafood Restaurant (General Liability, Commercial Auto, and Employers Liability) all have coverage limits. Umbrella liability insurance therefore is used to increase your liability limits for all of these risks under one policy to protect your business for claims that exceed your primary policy limits.
Seafood restaurants need all of these different types of insurance policies for maximum coverage. Consider your risks, both probable and unexpected, and look for seafood restaurant insurance policies to cover those risks.
