DINE-AND-DASH: WILL RESTAURANT INSURANCE COVER THIS?

As a restaurant, you are providing a service to your customers. You are making them a delicious meal, offering them an inviting environment, and for this, you expect payment in return.

However, some restaurants experience what is known as dine-and-dash. This is when a customer comes in, enjoys a meal, and skips out without paying their bill, leaving the restaurant stuck with the loss.

To prevent this kind of business theft, you may want to consider restaurant insurance. In this article, we will talk about the commercial insurance restaurants should have and if it is worth it to cover the loss from a few dashers in California.

Covering Your Losses

Dining and dashing is definitely dishonest and is certainly considered theft. It is not just about the money lost either; it is also about the time lost when you could have been serving paying diners. Many restaurant insurance policies cover theft-related losses; however, dining and dashing may not always fall under this umbrella.

One of the biggest factors at play here is the deductible for your commercial insurance policy. Before the insurance pays the value of the claim you submit, you must first pay your deductible. The bill for the lost dinner will often be significantly less and will not warrant paying your deductible to submit a claim.

For example, if you have a $500 deductible, it wouldn’t be worth filing a claim over a $20 loss. However, if they also stole a place setting or an expensive bottle of wine, it might be worth claiming the losses when everything is added up.

Either way, you will still want to document the incident. Call the police and file a report, document the losses, and estimate the value of the losses. Whether or not you file a claim, it is good to have this information handy for the future.

Commercial Business Insurance for a Restaurant

Business Property Insurance

First, consider the value of business property insurance. This covers the building and the contents of the building. It often includes damages due to a sewer backup, a fire, utility interruption, and extra expenses involved if you have had to move to a temporary location due to property damage.

So, what kind of commercial business insurance should you have in place for your restaurant?

Commercial property insurance can also cover food spoilage if the cooling equipment in the restaurant breaks down and can insure against the losses resulting from the spoilage.

Most restaurants also use electronic data processing, so you may also want to have coverage for your electronic data and equipment.

Liability Insurance

Liability insurance provides you with coverage if the business is at fault for injuries sustained to others while on the property. Some of the different liability coverages that a restaurant should consider include:

1. Liquor Liability: this is required if your restaurant sells or serves alcoholic beverages. A general liability policy excludes claims for property damage or bodily injury and may hold you liable if you contributed to someone’s intoxication through a service or liquor sale.
2. Employment Practices Liability: this is coverage if an employee decides to sue the restaurant for discrimination or harassment. General liability policies don’t cover this.
3. Commercial Umbrella Insurance: this provides the restaurant with additional coverage over those already provided by the general liability policy.

Contact us

For more information on the best commercial insurance for your restaurant or business, contact the professionals at Panorama today.