Restaurant depot insurance
A restaurant depot or cash-and-carry warehouse usually needs six core coverages: general liability, for a customer hurt by a forklift, a falling carton or a pallet in the aisle; commercial property, for the building, racking, refrigeration and stock; inland marine, for the forklifts and other power equipment you own; equipment breakdown and spoilage, for a freezer or walk-in that fails and spoils the stock; business income, for the income lost while closed after covered damage; and workers' comp, for staff hurt on the job. Three more depend on the depot: commercial auto if you deliver with your own trucks, product liability if you sell goods under your own label, and liquor liability if you sell alcohol. An umbrella is the common add-on when a lease or a lender asks for higher limits. How much of each depends on your peak stock, your cold storage, whether you deliver and who shops on your floor.
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Who we work with — and who we don't
We work with
We write established restaurant depots and cash-and-carry warehouses, especially owners with more than one location. Cold storage, delivery fleets, and forklifts on the floor are normal for our depots — we write those too.
We're not the right fit for
We don't write a brand-new depot, or a one-person operation without a real warehouse.
Restaurant Depots insurance questions
Which coverages does a restaurant depot typically carry?
Six core coverages: general liability, for customers on the warehouse floor; commercial property, for the building, racking, refrigeration and stock; inland marine, for the forklifts and power equipment; equipment breakdown and spoilage, for refrigeration that fails and spoils the stock; business income, for lost income while you are closed; and workers' comp. Commercial auto, product liability and liquor liability are added if you deliver, sell under your own label or sell alcohol. The umbrella, an extra layer of liability on top, is the add-on when a lease or lender asks for more.
General Liability
Designed to pay when a shopper is hurt by a forklift, a falling carton or a pallet in the aisle, and sues. Customers share your floor with heavy equipment, so an underwriter asks first how the two are kept apart. A business with several locations usually shares one yearly total across all of them.
Commercial Property
Can rebuild the building, the racking and the walk-in coolers and freezers, and replace the stock after a fire or water loss. Stock should be insured at its peak value, not its average, because a policy can pay less if the limit falls short of what was on the shelves. A sprinkler system sized for the height and type of what you store is usually a condition.
Inland Marine (Equipment)
The forklifts, pallet jacks and loading equipment themselves are usually insured as property or on a policy built for movable equipment, which insurers call inland marine. List each machine with its value, since a unit missing from the schedule may not be paid for if it is stolen or damaged.
Equipment Breakdown & Spoilage
A standard property policy generally leaves out stock that spoils when a cooler breaks down or the power goes out. Two add-ons are designed for it: one for the spoiled stock, one for repairing the refrigeration equipment. Ask whether a power cut at the utility, rather than at your building, is treated the same way.
Business Income
Can replace the income you lose and keep paying rent and key staff while a covered loss has the warehouse shut. Your restaurant customers will buy elsewhere while you are closed, so the limit should reflect each location's real sales rather than an average.
Workers' Compensation
Lifting, forklift work, cold rooms and loading docks make warehouse injuries a real cost, and for most depots this is among the largest premiums. It is priced on payroll by job and trued up at an audit after the year ends, so seasonal and overtime pay belong in the estimate.
Frequently asked questions about restaurant depot insurance
A customer's injury claim goes to your liability policy, which is designed to pay the injured person's covered costs and to defend you if you are sued. Tell your agent and the insurer as soon as it happens, and keep the incident report and the operator's training records. The first thing an underwriter asks is how customers and forklifts are kept apart, so the answer helps at renewal too.
A standard property policy generally does not pay for stock that spoils when a cooler breaks down or the power goes out. Two add-on coverages are designed for this, one for the spoiled stock and one for the repair of the refrigeration equipment, and each can carry its own limit and conditions, such as temperature monitoring. Ask your agent to show you where, in the policy, a power cut at the utility is treated.
Your trucks and drivers need a commercial auto policy, because a liability policy for the warehouse generally does not cover accidents on the road. If staff use their own cars for deliveries, you also need coverage for accidents in vehicles you do not own, which insurers call hired and non-owned auto. Tell your agent before the first delivery so the insurer can price it, and ask whether the stock on the truck is covered while it moves.
Yes. The mix of business customers and walk-in shoppers is one of the first things an underwriter looks at, because it can change the class your depot is placed in and which insurers will write it. Tell your agent the rough share of each, and whether you sell alcohol (cooking wine counts) or serve food on site, since those can call for their own coverage.
Send us your peak stock, your cold storage and your delivery routes. We'll build the program around them.
Tell us how your customers buy, how many forklifts are on the floor and whether you deliver. We'll come back with the coverages that fit and the markets that actually write depots like yours.