Hospitality, Café, Restaurant and Takeaway Insurance

Running a café, restaurant or takeaway means long hours, tight margins and plenty that can go wrong. A fridge breakdown can wipe out your stock overnight, a slip on a wet floor can turn into a liability claim, and a fire or storm can close your doors for weeks or months.

We arrange insurance for hospitality businesses of all sizes, from single-site cafés and takeaways to restaurants, caterers and mobile food vendors. Licenced or unlicenced. We take the time to understand how your business actually runs, compare options across the market, and stand beside you if you need to make a claim.

Key covers to consider

• Property Damage: repair or replacement of your building or fit-out, contents, stock and equipment
• Business Interruption: replaces lost income and helps with ongoing costs if an insured event forces you to close
• Spoilage of Stock: food and drink lost through refrigeration breakdown or power failure
• Machinery and Electronic Breakdown: coffee machines, coolrooms, ovens, POS systems
• Glass: shopfronts, display cabinets and signage
• Theft: loss or damage of business contents, stock, and equipment resulting from forcible or violent entry onto your premises
• Money: theft of cash on the premises or in transit
• Public and Products Liability: injury to customers or the public, including claims arising from the food you serve
• Workers Compensation: compulsory cover for businesses with employees and apprentices
• Cyber Liability: online ordering, booking systems and card payments
• Management Liability: employment disputes, OH&S, and claims against the business and its owners and managers for alleged mismanagement
• Commercial Motor: delivery, catering vehicles, food trucks/trailers

Common questions

Do I need public liability insurance for my café, takeaway, or restaurant?

Public liability is usually a requirement of your lease, and many councils and venues ask for proof of it. It covers you if a customer or member of the public is injured, or their property is damaged, because of your business.

Am I covered if my fridge breaks down and I lose stock?

Only if your policy includes spoilage or machinery breakdown cover. It's often left off, so it's worth checking.

I run a food truck or market stall. Can you help?

Yes. Mobile food businesses have their own mix of risks, and we can arrange cover to suit. We can often include your liability coverage for operating a market stall within your business pack policy for no additional cost.

How Much Public & Products Liability Cover Do I Need?

It depends on the work you do and who you do it for. Many head contractors, councils, property managers and commercial sites set a minimum amount in their contracts before you can start. If you lease your premises, your lease will usually set a minimum level of public liability you must hold as a tenant, and often asks for the landlord to be noted on your policy. So check your contracts, your lease and any tender or site requirements first. Also think about the worst injury or property damage your work could realistically cause.

Cover level	When it's usually needed
$5 million	Small or hobby-sized businesses with lower-risk work, few or no visitors to their premises, and no lease or contract asking for more.
$10 million	Suits most trades and businesses working on client premises or dealing with the public. Often the minimum set by commercial leases, markets and event organisers, and many subcontract agreements.
$20 million	Suits higher-risk work such as specialist trades, construction, mining, transport operators, or working at heights. Often required by head contractors, government bodies, councils, shopping centres, mine sites and larger commercial clients.

We can look at your contracts, your lease, and your work, and help you choose a limit that fits.

Why would I choose Lake Macquarie Insurance over another broker?

Our business core value is small businesses helping small businesses. We strongly believe in supporting our clients and endeavour to visit them routinely to buy their products. We also organise other clients meetings at our hospitality client's venue where possible.

Talk to a broker who knows hospitality

Tell us about your business and we'll do the comparing, the paperwork and the advocating.

Request a quote for your hospitality business