Insurance for hospitality businesses

In Australia, we’re blessed by a truly vibrant food scene. Our hospitality industry has a reputation for being as diverse as it is wildly inventive. And as anyone that has worked in hospitality can tell you, every day brings something new and different that will always keep you on your toes. So as a hospitality business owner, how do you manage the challenges and risks that the industry might throw your way?

Why should hospitality businesses consider insurance?

Working in hospitality, you’ve probably learned to expect the unexpected. Just about anything can happen during a 24-hour period – from a customer slipping on a wet floor, to your fridge breaking down right in the middle of service, or a cyberattack taking your online reservation system down.

This is why many hospitality businesses choose to take out insurance.

What is hospitality insurance?

When we say “hospitality insurance”, we use this term to describe the different types of insurance policies that are commonly purchased by hospitality businesses. These may include Public Liability insurance and Business Insurance.

Who needs hospitality business insurance?

If you run a business that prepares food, delivers perishable stock, cooks meals, or serves drinks to customers, then there are inherent risks that are all part of your day-to-day. Even if you run a hospitality business that doesn’t interact with people face to face, insurance is still something you may wish to consider. Accidents can still occur, no matter how carefully you run your business.

Whether you operate a food truck, sandwich shop or Michelin-star restaurant, investing in the right insurance could save you time, money and stress if the worst should happen. Hospitality insurance is available to small businesses, including:

• Small businesses with a fixed location such as restaurants, cafes, takeaway shops and home-based businesses. Other types of food and beverage businesses, like juice bars, may also be eligible for hospitality insurance.
• Mobile businesses that operate on the roads, such as caterers, food trucks, coffee vans and ice cream vans. These types of hospitality businesses are generally covered based on the type of vehicle they use.

What types of insurance might hospitality businesses need?

If you’re a hospitality business owner, then these are just some of the types of insurance you might want to consider.

Public Liability insurance

This type of insurance is designed to cover your business if someone is injured or their property damaged due to your negligent business activities. For example, if someone walked into your cafe and slipped in a pool of water that had not been cleaned up properly, they could potentially make a claim against you. Public Liability insurance* covers you for these kind of claims as well as defence costs.

Business Insurance

At BizCover, we offer Business Insurance Packs that allow you to pick and choose the cover that suits your needs. Some of the different types of business insurance that might be helpful for someone in hospitality include Business Interruption, Contents, and Glass, to name a few.

Machinery Breakdown insurance

Things always seem to break down when you need them the most. In the case of a hospitality business, the machinery you rely on could include a walk-in fridge, an industrial pastry mixer or beer fermentation tanks. What would happen if this machinery you relied on suddenly broke down? Machinery Breakdown insurance* (an optional cover available through a Business Insurance Pack) can cover you for the cost of repair or replacement of your machinery following an unexpected failure.

Theft insurance

A kitchen is often full of expensive, high-quality items that may be hard to replace quickly. Theft insurance* (also offered in Business Insurance Packs) covers you against loss of contents and stock as well as damage to your business premises due to theft or attempted theft. Many business owners mistakenly believe that robberies are covered by their Contents insurance, but this is typically not the case. Without Theft cover, you could find yourself out of pocket replacing items following a burglary.

Management Liability insurance

There are many different kinds of risks that come with running your own hospitality business and employing workers. Management Liability insurance* covers claims of wrongful acts in the management of the business and can include employment practices liability and statutory liability.

Reduce your hospitality risk with BizCover

At BizCover, we make it easy for you to reduce your risk with insurance that addresses common challenges faced by hospitality business owners.

Visit our website to compare insurance quotes online and find out how much you could save. There are a range of different cover options you may wish to consider, and you can get covered in just 10 minutes.