When you open restaurant startup, you need to make sure that your restaurant has adequate insurance. The state will require you to be insured, but it is up to you to make sure that you have good coverage that will protect you and your restaurant from lawsuits and from damage caused by others. One Fat Frog has seen bad insurance hurt companies before, in the restaurant industry and beyond.
There are a lot of different kinds of insurance you can get, but the two types of protection we’re focusing on right now are protection from lawsuits and protection from destruction caused by others. To protect against lawsuits, you want your insurance to cover you if someone slips and falls in the restroom or gets sick after the food enflames their allergies. Any good liability insurance will cover you there.
But what about destruction caused by others. Let’s say a drunk customer knocks over a wine display. Or let’s get a little more extreme. Check out this video.
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That’s right. That was right here in Orlando. People were minding their own business at that Popeye’s restaurant when all of the sudden a van come crashing through the building. It turns out that the driver ran a red light, collided with another car, and then hit the restaurant. You’re probably thinking that you’re okay, because the driver’s auto insurance will pay for the repairs. That’s only the case if the driver has property damage coverage. In the state of Florida, drivers are only required to have Personal Injury Protection (PIP), so that driver may not be adequately covered. In that case, you’re thinking that you could just sue the driver. That’s true, but even after winning the suit, you would only get paid if the defendant actually has money for you to recover. If not, you’re out of luck. That’s why you need good business property damage insurance.
One Fat Frog advises that you assume that anyone who causes damage to your property is uninsured or underinsured. So make sure you have your own protection in place. If you have these two types of insurance protection for your restaurant startup, that’s a good way to make sure lawsuits or damage doesn’t hurt your business.