Rest easy knowing you have the proper coverage
Patron injury in the dining room — slips, spills, and falls.
Restaurant general liability responds when a guest is hurt on the premises — a wet floor, a hot plate, or a fall on the way to the restroom. Illinois restaurants start here, then layer kitchen, liquor, and delivery exposures a storefront office policy never contemplated.
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The base restaurant policy is the printed form. An endorsement is a taped-on change — adding coverage, taking it away, or renaming who is insured. Optional coverages ride along with the policy. Separate policies sit beside it.
Form names and availability vary by carrier. This is a map of add-ons we commonly shop in Illinois — not a promise that every company offers every item.
Base policy
Restaurant policy
Hover an add-on to read it, then click to pin it here — a review list for your next conversation with an advisor.
Send this list to an advisor →We’ll open the contact form for this coverage so an advisor can help you decide which add-ons belong on the policy.
Kitchen-loss guidance and coverage terms for Illinois restaurants.
Hood cleaning, walk-in habits, and the endorsements that keep a grease fire or dumped cooler from closing the room.
Open resource →Hover highlighted policy terms for a short definition, or browse endorsements, business interruption, and property coverage.
Open resource →Restaurants carry a very unique set of risks. We can customize a menu of insurance solutions to meet your specific needs. Reviewing the options and developing a plan for restaurant insurance coverage is the perfect recipe.
As a restaurant owner, you know the amount of work it takes to run your business on a day-to-day basis. You might also know the statistics about how tough it is to survive and thrive in the business. But did you know that getting adequate insurance at least gives you a fighting chance by mitigating some of the risks involved in the food industry?
On top of traditional business insurance, it is well worth considering a custom-built restaurant insurance policy, as this will not only make life simpler but may even cover some risks you hadn't considered. There are unique aspects of running a restaurant that make it different than other types of businesses, which means different coverage is required.
One of the most important parts of most restaurants is the property it is located on. For that reason, most restaurants will usually cover risks to property, such as the building and equipment, along with liability to customers and staff.
Aside from property liability coverage, there's an important difference to note between general liability (such as a customer slipping on a spilled drink) and professional liability (such as a bout of food poisoning from bad food or inadequate preparation). General liability primarily covers patrons who are injured on your property, as well as property damage, and can protect you from potential lawsuits. Professional liability, on the other hand, protects your restaurant if someone gets sick from spoiled food products.
Other elements that are easy to overlook include the risks of fraud and data theft that come with handling cash and card payments, the risks of spoiled food you have to throw away if there's a power outage or refrigeration failure, and the risk of lost business if you close for repairs after a fire.
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The same restaurant policy add-ons from the explorer above, listed out. Form names and availability vary by carrier.
Endorsement
Landlord, franchisor, or mall named on liability.
Restaurant leases are endorsement-heavy. Additional insured, waiver of subrogation, and primary wording need to match the contract — and they live on the policy, not just the certificate. We read the insurance exhibit instead of guessing.
Endorsement
Restores some liability the form otherwise excludes.
Many restaurant liability forms exclude assault and battery. A limited buyback can restore coverage with a sublimit, often with security warranties. Full-service rooms with a bar still see parking-lot and late-night claims even if they are not nightclubs.
Separate policy
POS, online ordering, and payment cards.
POS terminals and online ordering hold guest data. Cyber is almost always a separate policy or a dedicated endorsement with its own application. A ransomware event on the register is not a fire claim.
Endorsement
Theft of money, liquor, or inventory by an employee.
Cash drawers, liquor, and food inventory walk out the door more often than break-ins. Employee dishonesty is a crime endorsement (or a crime policy), not general liability. Limits should reflect how much cash and high-value inventory sit on site.
Endorsement
Sudden mechanical or electrical failure of hoods, coolers, and HVAC.
Kitchen equipment fails in ways property insurance treats as mechanical breakdown, not a named peril. Equipment breakdown (boiler and machinery) is the buyback for a compressor, a hood fan, or a sudden electrical failure. Pair it with spoilage if the cooler is the business.
Endorsement
Limited extra expense after a food-borne illness event.
Food contamination coverage can help with lost income, extra advertising, and medical testing after a documented contamination incident. It is not a substitute for kitchen procedures or health-department compliance. Carriers underwrite it tightly, and it is not the same as premises general liability for a slip-and-fall.
Endorsement
Liability for catering runs and employees in personal cars.
Catering drops, Sysco runs, and managers in personal cars create auto liability the GL form does not cover. Hired and non-owned auto is the usual endorsement on a BOP or restaurant package. A true delivery fleet may need commercial auto instead.
Separate policy
Dram-shop coverage — usually its own policy, not a GL extra.
General liability typically excludes liquor. Restaurants that sell drinks need liquor liability, often a separate policy. Host liquor for incidental serving is not the same as a bar program. Illinois dram-shop exposure is the reason we split this out.
Learn more →Endorsement
Code upgrades after a partial loss to an older restaurant building.
Older storefronts and converted spaces often need sprinkler, accessibility, or electrical upgrades after a fire. Ordinance or law coverage is how you pay for that increment. The base building limit rebuilds what was there, not what the village now requires for a commercial kitchen.
Endorsement
Food loss after a refrigeration or power failure.
A walk-in that dies on a July weekend is a spoilage claim, not a typical property fire claim. Spoilage endorsements set a limit and often require working refrigeration maintenance. Independent restaurants in the western suburbs feel this as often as any other kitchen loss.
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