I have multiple restaurant locations — do I need multiple policies?
Usually not. Most restaurant groups carry one insurance program with every location listed on it. What you have to get right is whether your locations share one yearly liability limit, whether each kitchen is insured at its own value, and whether your workers' comp names every state where you have staff.
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- One program with every location listed is the norm. A separate policy makes sense when ownership, the law or a contract calls for one.
- If your locations share one yearly liability limit, one bad year at one site can leave all of them uncovered. Ask for a separate limit per location.
- Tell your agent before a new site opens, especially in a new state: workers' comp has to name that state.
Do I need a separate policy for each location?
Usually not. One program that lists every location on its liability, property, liquor and workers' comp policies is the norm, with renewals and paperwork in one place.
Insurance follows the business, not the building. If one company owns three restaurants, that company is the policyholder and each restaurant is a location on its policies. How one policy covers several locations explains the mechanics, and why the whole business is insured together explains why a location left off the list is a gap.
A separate policy is the right answer in a few cases:
- Different owners. A location owned by a separate company or with a different partner.
- A franchise unit. When the agreement sets its own requirements for that unit (see franchise restaurant insurance).
- A different business. A late-night bar can raise the price of the whole program.
- The law. Washington does not allow private workers' comp: employers there buy it from the state's Department of Labor and Industries or self-insure, so a Washington location always has its own workers' comp. (Source: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries)
How should each kitchen be insured?
Location by location. Each restaurant should be listed with its own values for equipment, build-out, furniture, stock and the hood system, so a fire at one site is paid on what that kitchen actually holds.
An estimated 5,600 restaurant fires are reported each year, 64% caused by cooking, and the average loss in the 2011 to 2013 federal data was $22,540 per fire. (Source: U.S. Fire Administration)
One combined figure can leave a newer, pricier site short. Report what each kitchen would cost to replace today, and update it when you remodel. The same goes for income lost while a location is closed: your busiest site loses the most.
The hood system at each site carries its own condition. Many policies require the fire-suppression system to be serviced and the ducts cleaned on schedule; insurers call that a protective safeguard endorsementProtective Safeguard Endorsement A policy add-on requiring you to keep named safety systems, such as sprinklers or a monitored alarm, working, or the insurer may deny a related claim. Insurers call it a protective safeguard endorsement., and a lapse at one location can give the insurer grounds to deny the fire claim there. Check your own policy wording and ask your agent, keep each site's records, and make sure each kitchen is listed on your property policy.
How does workers' comp work across locations?
One workers' comp policy can cover every location, with payroll reported by job type across all of them. What changes is the year-end check: the insurer compares your actual payroll at every site with the estimate you started from.
Food services and drinking places recorded 2.4 injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers in 2024. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
After the policy year the insurer runs a premium audit: it checks your actual payroll and bills or credits the difference. Open a location mid-year without reporting it and the audit finds that payroll, billed all at once. Insurers can also charge up to twice the estimated premium if you don't cooperate with the audit. (Source: Missouri Employers Mutual) More in what a premium audit is, workers' comp for restaurants and workers' comp coverage.
Does a location in a new state need its own policy?
Sometimes. Liability and property usually stretch to the new site if your insurer is licensed in that state, and if it isn't, that location may need a different insurer. Workers' comp has to name the new state either way.
Liability and property. An insurer licensed and regulated in a state is an admitted carrierAdmitted Carrier An insurance company licensed by your state, with its rates filed there and a state safety-net fund behind it if it fails. Insurers call it an admitted carrier.. If yours is licensed in the new state, it can usually add the location with a change to your policy.
Workers' comp. The new state has to be listed on your policy as a state where it applies in full. New York, for example, requires out-of-state employers with employees working in New York to carry a full New York policy, meaning New York is listed on the policy's information page. (Source: New York Workers' Compensation Board)
Contracts and licenses. The lease for the new site, and the franchise agreement if there is one, set their own insurance requirements, and liquor rules change with the state. See opening a location in a new state and restaurant insurance requirements by state.
What does my agent need to add a new location to my policy?
Everything that describes the new site, sent well before opening, so it joins your program instead of being left off. Some policies cover a new location automatically for a short time, but the amounts are capped, and workers' comp in a new state may not apply at all.
- The site: address, opening date, size, and whether you own or lease.
- The values: build-out cost and the equipment going in.
- The hood system: who installed it, who services it, and the cleaning schedule. Under the national fire-safety standard for commercial kitchens, exhaust systems over high-volume cooking such as charbroiling or wok cooking are inspected quarterly, and moderate-volume systems twice a year. (Source: summary of NFPA 96, 2017 edition)
- The business: projected sales, alcohol share, closing time, and payroll by job.
- The contracts: the lease's insurance section and, for a franchise, the agreement's insurance requirements.
The full list is in what to prepare for a restaurant insurance quote, and what insurance a restaurant needs covers each policy.
Common questions about insuring several restaurants
Often, though not always. One program avoids paying minimum premiums and fees on several separate policies, but every location is still priced on its own sales, payroll, alcohol and claims. A location with a poor claims record can raise the price of the whole program.
Usually, yes. Each landlord, and the franchisor if there is one, will want proof of insurance that names them for their own address. One program can issue a separate certificate for each location.
Usually, yes. One liquor liability policy can list each location that serves alcohol, with alcohol sales reported for each. Check that every location that pours is on it, including one that just opened.
Opening another location? Get it on your program before the doors open
Send us the details of the new site and your current policies, and we will show you how it fits on your program and which limits your locations share.