Coverage, in plain English
Every line and term you'll see in a hospitality program, explained in a sentence or two. The same definitions appear when you hover over a term anywhere on this site.
Liability
General liability
Covers injuries to guests and damage to other people's property that your business causes: the slip in the dining room, the burn from a hot plate, the foreign object in a dish.
Liquor liability
Covers claims that you served someone who then hurt themselves or others. Any place that sells alcohol needs it, and leases and liquor licences usually require it.
Assault and battery
Fights, bouncer incidents and attacks on your premises. Many bar and nightclub policies cap this at a small sublimit or exclude it, so it is one of the first things we check.
Umbrella and excess
Extra liability limits that sit on top of your general liability, liquor and auto policies. Landlords and franchisors often require them.
Hired and non-owned auto
Covers accidents when employees drive their own cars for your business, such as deliveries and bank runs.
Employment practices liability
Covers claims by employees and applicants: wage and hour disputes, harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination and ADA claims.
Cyber liability
Covers data breaches, including stolen card data from your point of sale, and the fines and notification costs that follow.
Firearms exclusion
An exclusion that removes coverage for any claim involving a gun. Common on bar and nightclub policies, and worth knowing about before you need it.
Host liquor liability
Covers serving alcohol where it is not sold, such as a hosted event. Caterers and venues need the full liquor liability form when they sell it.
Property
Business income
Replaces the income you lose while a covered loss keeps you closed, such as after a kitchen fire. Also called business interruption.
Spoilage
Pays for food that spoils when power or refrigeration fails. Often a small add-on that is easy to miss.
Equipment breakdown
Covers sudden failure of walk-ins, ovens, HVAC and electrical systems, which standard property coverage treats as wear and tear.
Named storm deductible
The deductible that applies when a named hurricane or tropical storm causes the loss. In Florida it is often a percentage of the building value, which can mean tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
Flood
Water that rises from outside, which property policies exclude. Covered by a separate flood policy, through the national program or a private carrier.
Replacement cost
Pays to replace damaged property with new, instead of paying its depreciated value.
Coinsurance
A requirement to insure property to a set share of its value. Insure for less and the carrier reduces every claim payment in proportion.
Ordinance or law
Pays the extra cost of rebuilding to today's building code after a loss, which an older building almost always faces.
Utility services
Covers losses when a power, water or gas outage away from your property shuts you down.
Food contamination
Covers the costs of a food borne illness outbreak: closing to clean, replacing stock, and lost income.
People and money
Workers' compensation
Covers medical bills and lost wages when an employee is hurt at work. Florida requires it once a restaurant has four or more employees.
Experience mod
A number that raises or lowers your workers' comp premium based on your claims history compared with similar restaurants. A 1.20 mod means you pay 20% more than average. Worth checking every year.
Crime and employee dishonesty
Covers theft by employees and others, including cash skimming and fake vendor schemes.
Paperwork your lease and franchisor ask for
Additional insured
A landlord, franchisor or event host added to your policy so it protects them too. Leases and franchise agreements usually require it.
Waiver of subrogation
Your carrier agrees not to go after a landlord or franchisor to recover what it paid on a claim. Another common lease and franchise requirement.
Certificate of insurance
The one-page proof of coverage a landlord, franchisor or vendor asks for. We issue them quickly, often the same day.
Broker of record letter
A short letter that moves your existing policies to a new broker without canceling them or changing coverage.
Loss runs
The claims history report from your current carriers. We use it to benchmark your program and get the best terms.
Franchise insurance requirements
The coverage and limits your franchise agreement says you must carry, usually with the franchisor as an additional insured.
Market terms
Admitted carrier
An insurer licensed by Florida, with rates and forms approved by the state and backed by the state guaranty fund.
Excess and surplus lines
Specialty insurers that write risks admitted carriers avoid, such as nightclubs and late-night venues. More flexible, with their own forms and no guaranty fund.
Captive
An insurance company owned by the businesses it insures. Larger groups with a good claims history can use one to control cost over time.
Total cost of risk
Premiums plus deductibles, uninsured losses and the time spent managing claims. The number we aim to lower, not just this year's premium.
Benchmarking
Comparing your limits, deductibles and premiums with similar restaurant groups, so you know whether you are over or under insured.
Sublimit
A lower limit inside a policy for one kind of claim. A $1 million policy can pay only $100,000 for assault and battery if that sublimit applies.
Exclusion
Something the policy says it will not pay for. Exclusions sit deep in the forms, which is why we read every page and not just the summary.
Deductible
The amount you pay on each claim before the policy pays.
Not sure what you have?
Send us your policies and we'll tell you, in plain English, what each one does and doesn't cover.
Joey Anderton, Hospitality Insurance Advisor · 305-518-1208 · joey.anderton@usihp.com