Hospitality Insurance
Insurance for pubs, hotels, taverns, bars, nightclubs, restaurants and cafés across Australia.
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Insurance for Hospitality Businesses
Hospitality insurance protects venues that serve food and drink against the risks that come with it: customers injured on the premises or made ill by what you serve, damage to your fit-out and stock, spoiled stock when refrigeration fails, broken glass, and lost income if you have to close. Most venues bundle these covers into one business package, with liability limits set to suit the size and type of venue. Workers’ compensation for your staff is compulsory and arranged separately through your state scheme.
Why Venues Use a Broker
Insurance for licensed venues has become harder to place, with higher premiums and fewer insurers willing to quote late-night and high-capacity venues. We work with specialist hospitality insurers and underwriters to find cover that fits how your venue actually trades. Timber buildings, alpine venues, northern venues and small regional pubs are hard to place, and what’s covered varies widely between insurers. We compare wordings, not just prices.
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Hospitality Businesses We Insure
We arrange cover for food and drink businesses of every size, from a single café to multi-venue hotel groups:
- Pubs, hotels and taverns: food, drink, gaming and live entertainment under one roof, with liability set to crowd size and trading hours.
- Bars and nightclubs: late trading, large crowds and security bring the highest liability exposure in hospitality.
- Restaurants: commercial kitchens, cold rooms and products liability for the food you serve.
- Cafés: liability for food and drink, plus cover for coffee machines and equipment breakdown.
- Other food businesses: bakeries, butchers and wineries with cellar doors.
Your venue type, trading hours and whether you serve alcohol shape the cover you need and which insurers will quote, so tell us about all three upfront.
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What Does Hospitality Insurance Cover?
Public and Products Liability
Covers your legal liability if a customer is injured at your venue, such as slipping on a wet floor, or becomes ill or has an allergic reaction from food or drink you served. Food and drink you serve counts as your product, so these claims fall under the products liability part of the cover. Venues commonly carry $10 million or $20 million, and councils generally require at least $20 million before approving outdoor dining.
Property Damage
Covers your building (if you own it), fit-out, furniture, kitchen equipment and stock against events such as fire, storm, water damage and accidental damage.
Business Interruption
Replaces lost profit and pays ongoing costs if insured damage forces you to close or reduce trading. Some policies also respond if a government authority closes your venue because of food poisoning.
Stock Spoilage
Covers food and drink stock that spoils when refrigeration breaks down, the public power supply fails unexpectedly, or refrigerant leaks into a cold room. It’s usually an optional cover, so check it’s included if you rely on cold rooms. Policies generally don’t cover spoilage from deliberate power cuts by the supply authority.
Machinery and Equipment Breakdown
Covers the breakdown of equipment such as coffee machines, refrigeration, cool rooms and kitchen appliances, which standard property cover usually excludes.
Glass, Theft and Money
Covers broken shopfront and fixed glass (and, under some policies, signage), theft of stock and equipment after a break-in, and cash stolen from the premises or in transit to the bank.
Management Liability
Protects owners and directors against claims about how the business is run, including unfair dismissal and harassment claims from staff, theft by employees, and defence costs for workplace health and safety prosecutions. WHS fines themselves can’t be insured in most states.
Cyber Insurance
Covers losses when booking, ordering or payment systems are hacked or taken offline, including the cost of restoring systems, notifying affected customers, and lost income while you can’t trade normally.
Other Covers to Consider
- Tax audit: pays accountants’ fees if the ATO or a state revenue office audits your business.
- Workers’ compensation: compulsory if you employ staff, arranged through your state scheme or an approved insurer.
Request a Hospitality Insurance Quote
For immediate response please give us a call.
Our team continues to work remotely but you are welcome to arrange an appointment with one of our consultants.
Get a FREE QUOTE
Complete the form to request a FREE QUOTE. Call us at 1300 900 207 for immediate response.
Licensed Venues: Your Duty of Care
Australian courts have confirmed that licensed venue operators owe patrons a duty to take reasonable care to protect them from the violent or quarrelsome behaviour of other patrons. That’s why liability is the biggest insurance cost for pubs, bars and nightclubs, and why insurers look closely at:
- Trading hours: late-night and early-morning trading carry more risk.
- Capacity and crowd type: the size of the crowd and whether there’s dancing or live entertainment.
- Security and crowd control: whether you use licensed crowd controllers, and whether they carry their own security insurance.
- Incident history: previous claims and how incidents were recorded and managed.
- Responsible service of alcohol: RSA training, incident registers and CCTV.
Specialist licensed venue policies are written for these risks. As well as standard public and products liability, they typically include liability arising from the sale or serving of alcohol, liability for guests’ property under innkeepers’ and licensing laws, and cover for assaults by patrons. Not every insurer will write every venue. Some specialist pub insurers exclude timber hotels, venues in northern Australia and pubs in small regional towns, which is where a broker’s access to other markets matters.
How Much Does Hospitality Insurance Cost?
Every venue is priced individually. The main factors are:
- Venue type: a café costs far less to insure than a nightclub.
- Liquor and trading hours: late trading increases the liability premium.
- Cooking: deep fryers and open flames increase the fire risk.
- Turnover and capacity: they set the scale of the liability and business interruption covers.
- Location and construction: natural disaster exposure and building materials. Venues in northern Australia face higher premiums and fewer insurers willing to quote.
- Claims history: previous claims and incidents at the venue.
As a guide, liability cover for a restaurant starts from around $1,300 a year, and for a pub from around $4,500 a year. A full package with property, stock and business interruption cover costs more, and bars and nightclubs with late trading generally pay more again.
Hospitality Insurance Gaps to Check
| Common gap | What can happen | Check with your broker |
|---|---|---|
| Assault claims | General business packs can exclude or limit assault claims. Specialist pub and hotel wordings generally cover your liability for assaults by patrons and for staff using reasonable force | Whether your policy is a specialist licensed venue wording, and how it treats assault |
| Stock spoilage | Spoiled stock after a refrigeration breakdown or power failure isn’t covered | Whether stock spoilage is included, and its limit |
| Equipment breakdown | Breakdown of coffee machines and refrigeration is excluded from property cover | Whether machinery breakdown cover is included |
| Theft by staff | Standard theft cover needs a forced break-in, and employee theft is often limited to a few thousand dollars | Whether you need crime cover under management liability |
| Forced closure | Lost income after a health authority closure isn’t covered | Whether business interruption includes closure by a public authority |
| Kitchen maintenance | A fire claim can be affected if exhaust canopies and ducts aren’t cleaned, or fire equipment isn’t serviced | Your cleaning and servicing records |
| Uninsured security contractors | Claims about your crowd controllers fall back on your policy | Your security provider’s certificate of currency |
| Sum insured too low | An underinsurance clause can reduce your claim | Your fit-out and stock values, using our guide to the average clause |
| Venue closed for renovations | Cover can be restricted once premises are unoccupied | Tell us before any extended closure |
Hospitality Insurance FAQs
Does public liability insurance cover food poisoning?
Yes, through the products liability part of the cover. Food and drink you serve counts as your product, so a claim from a customer made ill by it is generally a products liability claim. Check your policy includes products liability, as some public liability policies don’t.
Does hospitality insurance cover an assault at my venue?
It depends heavily on the wording. Specialist pub and hotel liability policies generally cover your liability when a patron assaults another patron and the injured person claims you failed to prevent it, and when your staff use reasonable force to protect people or property. They don’t cover assaults committed by you or at your direction. General business packs can be narrower, and some exclude any claim involving sexual assault. For a licensed venue, it’s worth making sure your cover is written on a specialist hospitality wording.
Does business interruption cover a closure by the health department?
Some policies do. Business interruption is usually triggered by physical damage, but certain covers extend to closure by a government authority because of food poisoning or problems with drains and sanitation. Most policies exclude closures caused by communicable diseases, such as a pandemic. Check whether your policy includes a public authority closure extension.
Is a commercial kitchen fire covered?
Yes, under the property damage and business interruption sections, and under liability if the fire spreads to neighbouring properties. Policies require you to maintain the premises and keep fire safety equipment serviced, so keep records of exhaust canopy and duct cleaning and fire equipment checks. Failing to maintain them can affect a claim.
Does hospitality insurance cover theft by staff?
Only to a limited extent. Standard theft cover generally requires a forced break-in, and cover for theft by employees is often limited to a few thousand dollars and must be discovered quickly. For larger amounts, some hospitality packages offer optional fidelity cover for theft by staff, and crime cover under a management liability policy covers employee theft and fraud.
Do I need workers' compensation?
Yes, if you employ staff. Workers’ compensation is compulsory for employers in every state and territory, and it’s arranged separately from your business package, through your state scheme or an approved insurer.
Is public liability insurance compulsory for a café or restaurant?
It isn’t generally required by law, but in practice most venues need it. Councils commonly require at least $20 million public liability before approving outdoor or footpath dining, often with the council noted on your policy as an interested party. Most commercial leases and shopping centres also set a minimum. You’ll usually need to show a certificate of currency as proof.
What Hospitality Insurance Generally Doesn't Cover
Every policy has its own exclusions, but most hospitality policies don’t cover:
- Wear and tear: gradual deterioration, rust, mould, vermin and lack of maintenance.
- Equipment breakdown: unless you add machinery breakdown cover.
- Flood: unless it’s added to the policy.
- Some assault claims: depending on the wording, as explained above.
- Employment disputes: unfair dismissal, harassment and discrimination claims need management liability cover.
- Cyber attacks and data loss: these need a separate cyber policy.
- Vehicles on public roads: delivery cars and vans need motor and CTP insurance.
- Intentional damage: damage caused deliberately by you or someone acting with your consent.
Why Hospitality Businesses Choose Coverscope
- Access to specialist hospitality insurers and underwriters through the Steadfast network
- Experience with licensed venues, late-night trading and hard-to-place risks, including alpine hotels and pubs above the snow line
- Cover explained in plain language, including how your policy treats assault and stock spoilage
- Claims support from lodgement through to settlement
Call 1300 900 207 or request a quote online to see what your cover could look like.
Get in Touch
Simply fill in the form below and we’ll be in touch shortly, or feel free to call and tell us about your specific requirements.
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Suite 10B, Level 10, 2 Corporate Court, Bundall QLD 4217
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PO Box 7005, Mount Crosby QLD 4306
Our team continues to work remotely but you are welcome to arrange an appointment with one of our consultants.
Please complete the form to submit an enquiry.
