Café insurance

Realising your dream of opening up your own café, coffee shop or tearoom is incredibly rewarding. But it’s also essential that your small food and drinks business is protected from the very start.

Café insurance can cover claims for damages and legal costs made against you if a customer is hurt or their property is damaged at your café. If you employ staff, then you’re legally required to have employers’ liability insurance, which protects your café against claims if an employee is injured or becomes ill as a result of working in your café.

Cafés can have a number of insurance needs that you’ll want to cover to ensure your business is protected in the event of unforeseen loss or damage.

You may have stock and kitchen equipment that you’ll want to protect against theft and damage, which will also need replacing quickly to keep the business running smoothly.

You'll also need to consider what cover is required to protect against claims from members of the public who visit the café.

And what would happen if you had to close for a period, for whatever reason? Any disruption to your business could be especially damaging if your loyal customers go and find a new favourite hang-out.

Here are a few different types of insurance that could help keep your café running smoothly:

• Buildings insurance Do you own the building where your café is located? If so, then you’ll need buildings insurance to cover the cost of repairing any damage to the structure of your building or rebuilding it, if necessary. If you rent the building, you won’t need buildings cover, as this will be the responsibility of your commercial landlord.

• Contents insurance You’re likely to have plenty of stock on site to keep hungry customers fed. You may also have expensive kitchen kit, furniture, pots, pans and crockery, all of which are essential for the day-to-day running of your business. Contents insurance will cover you against theft, fire or damage.

• Employers’ liability insurance This cover is a legal requirement if you have one or more employees (who aren’t direct family members) and offers protection if your employees are injured or become ill as a result of working for you.

• Public liability insurance If someone is injured on your premises or their property is damaged, public liability insurance could cover the cost of repaying them or any legal costs if a customer takes you to court.

• Business interruption insurance Having to close your café for a few days or even weeks is never ideal. But business interruption insurance can help cover loss of income while you get things up and running again.

To get a quote, just send us some information about yourself and the type of business you run, including:

• how long you’ve been trading

• how many employees you have

• your claims history

• forecasted turnover for the next year.

You’ll also be able to choose the types of business insurance you want and tailor your quote to suit your needs. Once we have the information, we can send you a list of suitable quotes to compare.