Café public and product liability insurance

In case you or your employees injure someone or damage their property.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• damage caused by you or your employee to a customer’s belongings in your café
• accidental injury to a customer

For example:

• a customer slips on some food on the floor and hurts themselves
• a waiter accidentally spills coffee on a child and they get first-degree burns
• a customer sues you after getting an allergic reaction to something they’ve eaten
• you accidentally spill coffee on a customer’s laptop

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Legal and medical costs relating to claims against your business for:

• employees who fall ill or are injured while carrying out their work for you

**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

For example:

• a waiter injures his leg after a fall in the kitchen, then sues you for damages
• a trainee chef injures themselves after not receiving the right level of health and safety training

Building insurance

In case something happens to the premises where you run your café.

What’s typically covered by building insurance for cafés?

• the cost of repairing damage to the structure of your building (or rebuilding it from scratch)
• damage to fixtures and fittings in or on your premises
• damage to underground pipes and cables you’re responsible for

For example:

• there’s a fire or flood at your café
• you discover that graffiti has been sprayed on the shop front

What you’ll need additional cover for

• tenants’ improvements – these are changes to the structure of the property that you’ve organised and paid for yourself, such as partition walls or wooden flooring

Read more about buildings insurance

Contents insurance

In case something happens to the business equipment or fixtures and fittings in your café.

What’s typically covered by contents insurance?

• accidental damage to the business equipment or fixtures and fittings you use in the running of your café
• theft of your business equipment
• flood and fire damage to your business equipment

For example:

• your front-of-house kit, such as a coffee brewer, cake display, oven or toaster, is stolen or damaged
• your office laptop suffers from water damage due to a burst pipe

Read more about contents insurance

Stock insurance

In case something happens to the items you sell at your café.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

• the cost of replacing your products and raw materials if they’re lost, stolen or damaged

For example:

• a faulty fridge results in your prepared food (e.g. sandwiches, pastries) going off, and you have to throw it all away
• your ingredients (e.g. flour, rice) are destroyed by water in a flood and you can’t use them any more

Read more about stock insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you’re faced with legal costs from running your business.

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

• legal expenses resulting from your day-to-day business activities, such as disputes with employees
• the cost of legal claims relating to property damage, nuisance or trespass
• HMRC investigations, and tax and compliance disputes
• includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline, and crisis PR support to help you protect your business’s reputation

For example:

• if you’re investigated by HMRC (or selected at random for an audit), this cover could help with the tax enquiries – for you and any other directors, as well as for the business
• you need to defend your legal rights following the dismissal of an employee

Read more about legal expenses insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, inside or outside of work.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

• injury or death, whether at work or elsewhere, for anyone covered on the policy
• lost income, medical costs and hospitalisation benefit

For example:

• you trip over a chair that a customer has left out and break your arm
• you burn your hand on the deep fat fryer at your café
• a barista you’ve employed suffers a slipped disc on the walk home after work

Read more about personal accident insurance

Business interruption insurance

In case you’re unable to trade for a period of time.

What’s typically covered by business interruption insurance?

• loss of income due to being out of action following a fire, flood, theft or accidental damage

For example:

• a flood at your café leaves your business equipment and raw materials unusable, and you have to close up for a fortnight

Read more about business interruption insurance

Is public liability enough for third party property damage?

In some situations you may need more than public liability to cover certain kinds of property damage. Learn about buildings and contents.

Which type of workers do I need insurance for?

Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.

If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.

Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.

Does café insurance cover my work correctly?

Make sure you’re picking the right cover to protect you properly. It’s important to know that if you have another trade or job, you’ll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider cake business insurance or electrical contractors insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:

• Coffee shop insurance
• Sandwich shop insurance
• Takeaway insurance
• Restaurant insurance
• Pub insurance
• Fast food insurance
• Shisha lounge/restaurant

Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.