Insurance premium on a small bar / restaurant?

Question

I'm thinking of opening a small bar/pub that does not sell any food. I wanted to see if anyone had an idea how much an insurance package would be for an establishment like this. Just biz insurance, not insurance on the property. I'm leasing a space.

Thanks,

J

Answer 1

If you are in California, I say it's $1800-$2800 a year

Answer 2

Unfortunately there are way more details one would need in order to provide a guess, the least of which is: where is the bar going to be located; hours of operation; size of dance floor (if any); maximum number of occupants; your previous experience; number of employees; how much you expect to be maing in the first year; do all servers have formal alcohol service training; how many bouncers; etc.

Your biggest problem is trying to find an insurer who is going to be willing to insure a pub/bar that generates 90%-100% of it's revenue from alcohol sales, with none from food sales (assume rest of revenue from cover charges and/or non-alcoholic beverage sales). That's a huge exposure for the insurer (serving alcohol with no food is going to lead to huge amounts of drunkeness and all the associated problems).

Answer 3

You would be best served by finding yourself a LOCAL independent insurance agent in your community that specializes in small businesses.

Since you will be a pub/tavern, with no food sales - you won't have the cooking exposure but you WILL have the alcohol exposure (dram shop laws apply) and you will need to be sure to have liquor liability.  

Your local agent can expalin all of the requirements and your alcohol control board can (and WILL) explain all of the "LEGAL STUFF" to you.

Good luck and I hope this helps!