Insurance for fine dining restaurants

As a director of a limited company you should have Directors and Officers Insurance and CLEAR can arrange this cover. It is to protect Directors, officers and managers of the business against personal liability claims arising from the decisions and actions they make for and on behalf of the business.

Many policies will offer a standard limit of indemnity, such as £5m. However, you should consider whether this sum is adequate for your particular circumstances and CLEAR can help guide you in this regard.

There are two types of cover in particular which could be affected:

• Staff Dishonesty – if a TRONC manager misappropriates the funds then you would need to ensure you are covered
• Personal Accident – you will need to factor in TRONC payments when selecting the weekly benefit amounts

CLEAR can help you arrange cover for both of these situations.

You need to make various considerations for factors, such as seasonality, trends, growth and how long your business would be affected for following a serious event, such as a fire. CLEAR will work with you to calculate how much coverage you should arrange as it varies depending on your business’s activities.

The major warranty for restaurant insurance is the Deep Fat Frying Warranty. It usually deals with the following areas:

• The required specification of deep fat frying equipment. This includes things like the thermostat, automatic shut-off, emergency shut down requirements, the fixing arrangements of the equipment, proximity to combustible materials and connection to the power or gas supply by suitably qualified consultants.
• The required specification of the extract ducting. This includes things like the material it must be made of.
• The requirements for fire-fighting equipment. This includes things like where the fire blanket must be kept and what fire extinguishers are required.
• The required cleaning regime. This includes things like extraction hoods, canopies, filters, sumps, grease traps and so on, and how often they must be cleaned. It will also include the requirement for professional cleaning of the extract. ducting by external specialist contractors.
• The required storage and removal arrangements from the premises of oily & greasy waste and cloths.

It is vital that you comply with the requirements of a warranty. Were a claim to result, whether directly linked to the warranty or not, your insurer can refuse to pay the claim.

Espresso machines

This type of equipment is used in many different types of business. Although only used for the production of coffee based hot drinks they are found in restaurants, hotels, coffee shops and leisure facilities.

Systems generally comprise of steam boiler, separate or combined hot water boiler, pipework and protective devices e.g. safety valve, pressure gauge, water level controls and heating element cut-out device.

Under the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 (PSSR 2000), users and owners of pressure systems (which include coffee machines) are responsible for having boilers and other components on the pressure system tested and certified for safety.

This must be carried out typically every year or as otherwise indicated in the Written Scheme of examination, which is also a statutory requirement and drives the inspection periodicity and indicates what is incorporated within the examination.

If, therefore, your coffee machine were to explode, causing injury or damage to persons or property at any site you own or control and you had not had the system properly tested and certified, your insurers may possibly refuse your claim on the grounds that you were operating the equipment illegally as the machine had not been subject to a thorough examination under the PSSR 2000 regulations

Lifts

The requirements for the examination of lifts and lifting equipment are found within the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER).

LOLER prescribes the periods between thorough examinations of lifting equipment. These periods vary according to whether the lift is a passenger lift or a food lift.

If you do have a lift in your restaurant give us a call and we will be able to advise you on the requirements and can make arrangements with an insurer for an Engineering Inspection policy.