Restaurant Insurance for Canadians

Insurance for Calgary restaurants is a package of customized insurance policies that protects you from the specific risks that come with serving food and drinks.

An insurance package for Calgary restaurants usually includes these insurance coverages:

Product liability insurance

Product liability insurance is recommended for anyone who sells, manufactures, or distributes a product, including food products.

This type of insurance covers such things as design defects, manufacturing defects, and marketing missteps, such as improper labels. It also covers products that have insufficient warnings/information about potential harm.

Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance: This type of insurance helps protect your restaurant from a loss if you’re found legally liable for bodily injuries or property damage to a customer/supplier.

CGL can help pay legal and medical costs if a customer is injured at your restaurant; for example, they slip on wet floor or on an icy patch on your restaurant’s sidewalk.

It’s important to note that without commercial liability insurance, you would be responsible for paying any liability costs out of your own pocket.

Your CGL policy also can help protect you from libel, slander, copyright infringement, and false advertising allegations.

It’s not uncommon that your Calgary restaurant would carry at least $2 million in CGL coverage, and more depending on the size of your eatery.

The size of your restaurant, number of employees, and claims history will be factors in how much liability insurance you need.

Equipment breakdown insurance: Your Calgary restaurant business likely has expensive electrical and mechanical equipment to keep your products either frozen or refrigerated.

This type of insurance provides coverage for property damage from the sudden and accidental breakdown of insured equipment not automatically covered by a standard commercial property policy.

Equipment breakdown insurance under the Juno program offers equipment breakdown coverage to repair cooking and office equipment when it stops working for sudden reasons. Starting around $5 a month, it’s an affordable add-on.

Liquor liability

For Calgary restaurants that serve alcohol, liquor liability coverage under the Juno program protects your establishment from losses, damages, or other expenses arising from the injury or death caused by an intoxicated customer.

Product liability insurance: If a customer gets sick after eating your food, product liability insurance can help cover the cost of the customer’s medical expenses and your legal and court-related costs to defend yourself.

Premium business interruption insurance

Under Western’s Juno restaurant program, business interruption insurance covers you if you need to close your Calgary restaurant for an incident like a fire, flood or break-in. You’ll get paid while you’re rebuilding, even if that takes up to 12 months. We also have additional options to extend to 24 or 36 months for added security.

Commercial building and contents insurance

Commercial property insurance acts as a safety net, guarding your Calgary eatery from unexpected events like fire, theft, or vandalism. It's not just the physical structure that's protected, but everything inside and out that keeps your restaurant running smoothly.

Cyber insurance: If you process debit and credit card transactions, online or in person, you need cyber insurance. Your system could be vulnerable to cyberthieves.

Without cyber insurance, you will have to pay out of your pocket for the cost of restoring your system if it’s hacked.

You may also be liable for damages to third parties whose information has been stolen and you may have to pay for notification expenses to inform customers affected by a breach.

Commercial auto insurance: If you have a business car, van, or truck that you use for your restaurant business, it won’t be covered by your personal car insurance policy. You will need commercial coverage as part of your insurance package.

• Contact your broker immediately after any business-related mishap. Waiting to file a claim can confuse insurers about the severity of the damages to your business.
• Know your policy so that when you contact your broker you are familiar with what will be covered or not.
• Document the damage. Take photos right away and write down what happened.
• Do not throw away damaged goods after taking photos. Keep the physical evidence so that your adjustor can see it.
• Do not invite lawsuits. Don’t say anything that could be used against you, especially if you aren’t sure what happened.
• Be honest about what your damaged property is worth. Damaged commercial property is generally valued according to its actual cash value or replacement value.

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all price for Calgary restaurant insurance.

Factors that will determine the cost of your restaurant insurance are:

• Years of experience
• Location(s) of your restaurant
• Equipment on premises
• Do you serve alcohol?
• Annual revenues
• Number of employees
• Any past insurance claims