Restaurant insurance
Cover options for independent restaurants, bistros and small restaurant groups, including public and products liability, employers' liability, kitchen equipment breakdown and lost income after a fire or flood.
Restaurant insurance is a set of business covers built around running a kitchen and serving customers. Restaurants usually combine public and products liability, employers' liability, contents and kitchen equipment, stock and business interruption, with optional cover for equipment breakdown, loss of licence, deliveries and cyber.
PIB Insurance Brokers arranges cover for independent restaurants, family-run venues and small restaurant groups. A broker can be particularly helpful when your risk is more complex, for example charcoal, wood-fired or heavy frying, a late licence, takeaway and delivery, outside catering, or more than one site. If you run a café or coffee shop, see our café and coffee shop insurance; for other types of venue, our hospitality insurance.
What restaurant insurance covers
Restaurant policies usually combine a core of essential covers with optional extras, depending on your size, how you cook, whether you serve alcohol and whether you own or rent the building. The summaries below are general examples of what may be covered in each section; your policy schedule and wording decide what is and isn't covered in any claim.
Core covers
Public liability
Compensation claims from customers, delivery drivers and visitors who are hurt or whose property is damaged, such as a slip on a wet floor or a trip on the way to the toilets. Limits are often £1m to £10m.
Watch for: Claims from your own staff (covered separately), deliberate acts, liability you've taken on by contract beyond what would apply in law.
Products liability
Covers your legal liability for injury or illness arising from food or drink supplied by your business, such as food poisoning, allergic reactions or contamination.
Watch for: Food you knew was unsafe or had been recalled, deliberate breaches of food safety or allergen law.
Employers' liability
Claims from staff hurt or made ill at work, such as burns, cuts, scalds, slips and repetitive strain. Usually required by law if you employ staff, including part-time and seasonal staff. The law requires a limit of at least £5m.
Watch for: Who the policy treats as an employee can vary. Check the policy terms if you use contractors, casual, temporary or seasonal workers.
Contents and kitchen equipment
Furniture, fixtures, fit-out and commercial kitchen equipment against fire, flood, storm, theft and escape of water, and often accidental damage.
Watch for: Wear and tear, gradual deterioration, restricted cover if the restaurant is empty beyond a stated period (often 30 days).
Stock
Food and drink stock, often including spoilage when a fridge or freezer breaks down or the power fails.
Watch for: Stock kept outside stated temperatures, losses from poor stock rotation, shortages with no identifiable cause.
Business interruption
Lost profit and ongoing costs such as rent, wages and loan repayments while you can't trade after an insured event like a fire or flood. Indemnity periods often run 12 to 36 months. See our business interruption insurance page.
Watch for: Closures caused by something the policy doesn't cover. Closures from disease or a pandemic are usually excluded unless you've added a specific extension.
Optional covers to consider
Buildings
The structure of your restaurant, if you own it or your lease makes you responsible for insuring it.
Watch for: A rebuild cost that's out of date, a higher excess for subsidence, restricted cover if the building is empty beyond a stated period.
Equipment breakdown
Covers sudden mechanical or electrical failure of insured equipment, such as ovens, fryers and refrigeration. Some policies may also offer related cover for deterioration of stock or business interruption.
Watch for: Breakdowns caused by lack of servicing, wear and tear, equipment beyond a stated age.
Loss of licence
May provide cover for certain financial losses following the suspension or loss of a licence you need to trade, such as a premises licence for alcohol. Most relevant where alcohol is a big share of turnover.
Watch for: Breaches you knew about, licence conditions that weren't followed, failing to renew on time.
Goods in transit
Food, drink and equipment damaged or stolen while you're moving them, for deliveries, outside catering or events.
Watch for: Goods left unattended or not secured, goods in transit beyond a stated period.
Commercial vehicle
Delivery vans and company cars, with the cover provided depending on the level selected.
Watch for: Standard motor exclusions. Staff delivering in their own cars usually need business use on their own motor insurance.
Cyber
Costs of responding to a data breach or cyber attack, such as a compromised booking system, card payments or ordering app.
Watch for: Incidents caused by known security flaws left unfixed, fraud by your own staff (usually separate crime cover).
Money
Cash on the premises, in a locked safe overnight and on the way to the bank.
Watch for: Limits on cash left in tills out of hours, conditions on alarms and safes, unexplained shortages.
Legal expenses
Legal costs for disputes with staff, suppliers or your landlord, and some regulatory investigations.
Watch for: Disputes that began before the policy started, claims below the policy excess.
What restaurant insurance does not cover
Typical limits across restaurant policies:
- Problems that existed before the policy started: known damage and ongoing disputes are usually excluded.
- Wear and tear: equipment and buildings wearing out over time isn't insurable damage.
- Poor maintenance: damage caused by equipment that wasn't serviced or cleaned as required, such as a fryer fire from a greasy extraction system, may be excluded.
- Closures from disease: policies usually exclude lost income from disease or a pandemic unless you've added a specific extension.
- Staff dishonesty: usually covered under separate crime cover, not within a standard restaurant package.
- An excess on most claims: most covers carry an excess (the amount you pay before the insurer contributes), which varies by cover.
Conditions matter too: claims may also be reduced or declined if policy conditions aren't met. Common examples: kitchen extract ducts not cleaned to the frequency the policy sets (insurers often refer to the TR19 Grease standard), alarm not set, or cash left in the till overnight above the stated amount.
How much does restaurant insurance cost?
There is no standard price. What you pay depends on your turnover, the number of staff, whether you own or rent the building, the value of your kitchen equipment and stock, how you cook, whether you serve alcohol, and your claims history. Heavy frying, charcoal or wood-fired cooking and multi-site operations usually cost more to insure.
What affects the cost
- A clean claims record: insurers usually look at the last three to five years.
- Kitchen fire safety: regular extract cleaning with certificates kept, and fire suppression over the cooking line, may lower the cost of property cover.
- Security: an intruder alarm, good locks and CCTV may lower the cost of contents and money cover.
- Accurate values: setting sums insured for equipment, fit-out and stock at an accurate value can help reduce the risk of underinsurance or paying for cover you don't need.
- Your excess: choosing a higher excess (the amount you pay towards each claim) may lower the premium, the price of your cover.
Why work with PIB Insurance Brokers
We explore your options
We can approach insurers that cover restaurants and hospitality businesses and set out the differences in cover, not just price.
We look at how you trade
Takeaway and delivery, outside catering and events, a late licence or open-flame cooking may each change what you need to tell your insurer.
We look for common gaps
Business interruption set too short to cover a kitchen refit, stock covered for less than a weekend delivery, or no loss of licence cover where alcohol drives your turnover.
Here when things change
Our team is on hand throughout the policy year for advice, whether your circumstances change or you're not sure what to do next.
What our clients say
Reviews from PIB Insurance Brokers clients across the sectors we work with, collected by Reviews.io.
Opening a restaurant, switching insurer, or not sure your cover fits?
Get a quoteFrequently asked questions
What insurance does a restaurant need?
The main insurance required by law is employers' liability, which most restaurants need once they employ staff, including part-time and seasonal staff. The minimum is £5m, and you must display the certificate or make it available to staff electronically. Public liability isn't required by law, but you'll usually need it in practice, as landlords often make it a condition of the lease. Beyond that, the covers worth considering are contents, kitchen equipment, stock and lost income.
Am I covered if a kitchen fire closes my restaurant?
Usually, if your policy includes business interruption. Property cover pays to repair the damage, and business interruption pays lost profit and ongoing costs such as rent and wages while you can't trade, up to the indemnity period you chose. Insurers often make cleaning of kitchen extract ducts a condition, and a fire that starts in extraction that wasn't cleaned as required may not be covered. If the restaurant is closed for another reason and left empty, cover is usually restricted after a stated period, often 30 days, so tell your insurer.
Is kitchen equipment covered if it breaks down or is stolen?
Theft, and damage from events such as fire or flood, fall under contents cover. Breakdown is different: sudden mechanical or electrical failure of ovens, fryers and fridges needs equipment breakdown cover, usually on condition that the equipment is serviced regularly. Food spoiled when a fridge or freezer fails is often covered under stock or equipment breakdown cover, up to a stated limit.
What happens if I don't have restaurant insurance?
In England, Scotland and Wales, if you employ staff without employers' liability insurance, you can be fined £2,500 for every day you're not properly insured, and £1,000 if you don't display the certificate or make it available to staff. Some employers are exempt, such as businesses that only employ close family members. Without other cover, you'd pay any compensation claims, repairs and lost income yourself, and many landlords make public liability a condition of the lease.
Do I need to tell my insurer about takeaway and delivery?
Yes. Tell your insurer what share of turnover comes from takeaway and whether you deliver yourself or use a third-party app. Your own delivery vehicles need commercial vehicle cover, and staff using their own cars usually need business use on their motor insurance. Food and equipment you move for outside catering or events may need goods in transit cover.