General Liability Insurance Protects the business from law suits stemming from:

1.) Bodily Injury

A Patron gets hurts as a result of your negligence. The most common situations involve slip and fall, trip and fall, burns and scalds from hot food or beverages, or assault and battery.

2.) Products and Completed Operations

Some one suffers a loss as a result of the “product” that you serve (Food/Drink). Common occurrences include chipped/broken tooth from an object in the food, and food poisoning.

3.) Personal/Advertising Injury

Personal Injury claims involve liable, slander, wrongful eviction, and wrongful arrest. Advertising Injury is a statement made in the course of advertising activities that causes loss to another person or business by defamation, violation of a right of privacy, piracy or misappropriation of ideas, or infringement of copyright, trademark, title or slogan.

YOU SIT down at the table and begin to peruse the menu while sipping your complimentary glass of ice water. After a few moments, a waiter or waitress approaches. Regardless of the style of restaurant or what’s on the menu, the first question is usually the same every time: “Would you like to hear about our specials today?” Some restaurants might even be known more for their specials than for the regular menu.

At Right Insurance Marketing, we’re known for our “special” as well, and you’ll find us serving it on menus throughout our marketing area. Since our founding by Mary L. Wright in 1985, we’ve specialized exclusively in insurance for the food and beverage industry. Today, our 20 employees and eight producers work together to write approximately $14 million in annual premium for nearly 3,000 restaurants, taverns and cocktail lounges in California. In this article, I’ll share the recipe we’ve used to succeed.

A smorgasbord of clients

About 80% of our clients are restaurants. Most of them are individually owned and operated, though we do insure some franchisees that are parts of national chains. Taverns, cocktail lounges and nightclubs are responsible for the other 20% of our book of business.

Our restaurant clients fit into one of three classifications. The first classification is the small restaurant. These establishments usually are run by owner/operators with three to five employees and have annual sales under $400,000. They are often located in shopping centers. They typically have fewer than 15 tables and may have small outdoor patios. Their annual premiums range from $750 to $2,500.

The majority of our clients fall into the second category: family-style restaurants. These clients have between six and 25 employees and provide table service for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Gross annual sales are usually between $400,000 and $1 million, and the annual insurance premium for these clients ranges from $2,500 to $7,000.

In the third category, fine dining establishments, annual gross sales are usually a minimum of $1 million and may be as high as $5 million. These establishments have anywhere from 50 to more than 100 employees, and typically serve either lunch and dinner or just dinner. The annual premium for a client in this group starts around $7,000, and in some cases might be as high as $30,000.

Farmers market

Approximately 25,000 restaurants and cocktail lounges operate within 60 miles of our offices. To market efficiently, we study what types of establishments we’ve been most successful with, then focus on those prospects that best fit our client profile.

Our prospecting efforts begin largely with in-house telemarketing and referrals from current clients. The primary source of information for our telemarketers is a database of more than 12,000 expiration dates that we’ve accumulated over the years. The database alone often results in more leads than we can respond to. We supplement it by obtaining lists of newly opened businesses, and we also find prospects in fine-dining magazines and from responses to our direct-mail and other advertising efforts.

Many of our clients send us referrals. We also ask them for referrals when we close a sale. When we visit a new client to finalize a sale, we often bring along a list of other restaurants in the area. After we’ve finished our paperwork, we explain that just like them, a lot of our business comes from word of mouth. Then we review our list with them to see if there are any nearby restaurants that they can refer to us. This usually leads to a higher-quality referral than if we just ask them to give us the names of other restaurants off the top of their heads.

Qualifying and quoting

Once we commit to quoting coverage for a prospect, a producer will visit the prospect two or three times and often invest eight to 10 hours obtaining information needed for a quote. Before we do this, we qualify a prospect to determine whether we have a realistic chance at earning the business.

Our main qualifying criteria are cooperation and eligibility. Prospects reluctant to answer our initial questions or provide information on their current policy and financial data are less likely to trust us to write their coverage, even if we have the best proposal. We look for prospects who understand that they must give us complete information to get a competitive quote. We obtain basic information about a prospect to improve our closing ratio by determining whether it is eligible for our most competitive programs. We get such information as a loss history, the age and total area of the building, the establishment’s number of employees, its closing time and whether it has live entertainment or dancing.

We find out who a prospect’s current carrier and agent are. It’s helpful to know whether the prospect is buying coverage through a brother-in-law or other close acquaintance. In these situations we’re not likely to convince the prospect to make a change. Sometimes we find that an establishment is already in a competitive program.

Ordering up coverage

If quoting just a few lines of business gets our foot in the door with a prospect, we’ll do it. But we prefer to write all of our clients’ coverage needs-and most of our clients like it that way, because it’s obviously easier for them. We write the majority of our package policies on a Business Owners Policy (BOP) form through various insurance carriers. These policies offer replacement-cost valuation and business income coverage that is 12-month, actual-loss-sustained (ALS) and generally include a host of automatic property extension coverages.

Each client’s coverage varies, depending on the type and size of establishment and whether it is a restaurant or a bar/nightclub. Among some common aspects and variations of coverage are the following:

Building coverage: About 80% of the businesses we insure lease their space, so we don’t write much building coverage. When we do, it’s important to make sure the building is adequately insured. If limits seem low, we suggest that the establishment get an appraisal or inquire with its financial institution. Another important item is ordinance or law coverage. Owners of older buildings may be required to make costly upgrades in order to meet the constantly changing building codes required by most cities in the event of a complete or partial loss.

Business personal property: Most carriers cover tables, chairs, kitchen equipment and tenants improvements and betterments under a single category, but some carriers offer separate rates for these items and offer discounts when the items are categorized correctly. This makes knowing the details of a carrier’s coverage categories important.

A tenant’s improvements and betterments usually become the landlord’s property when a tenant vacates. New occupants may incorrectly believe they own (and must insure) all fixtures and permanently installed equipment. Advise your clients to discuss this issue with the landlord and carefully review the lease to ensure proper coverage.

Theft coverage: Most insurance carriers require restaurants to have a monitored central station burglar alarm before they will offer theft coverage. Money and securities coverage provides protection for theft of cash both in and out of the premises. We ask our clients what’s the maximum amount of cash they might have on premises at the end of a busy weekend, since this is likely to be the time of greatest exposure. Employee dishonesty is also an important coverage. If a theft of contents, stock or cash involves a member of the staff, payment could be denied without this coverage.

Business income: BOPs offer business income coverage on a 12-month, actual-loss-sustained basis, whereas most package policies offer a set amount. When selecting a BI limit, it’s vital to understand the full amount of income that would be lost in a given period-especially if a client’s previous policy provided ALS and the new policy offers a specified amount.

Liability coverage: Most of our restaurant clients’ leases require them to obtain a $1 million per occurrence/$2 million aggregate liability limit. Some larger property owners are beginning to request higher limits. The most common liability claims for restaurants are slip-and-fall incidents, patrons who chip a tooth while eating, and those who claim they became ill after eating at an establishment.

Liability coverage is written differently for establishments with high alcohol sales, where assault-and-battery cases are more frequently the source of claims. Most carriers exclude coverage for assault and battery completely. Some may offer a sublimit anywhere between $25,000 and $250,000, and others may offer coverage for “patron-to-patron” incidents but exclude coverage for “employee-to-patron” incidents.

For restaurants, premiums for liability coverage are based either on square footage or gross receipts. (Insurance for alcohol-related businesses usually will be based strictly on receipts.) A small establishment doing huge sales in Beverly Hills will get a better price with a carrier that uses square footage as its premium basis. A barn-like restaurant in a rural area, with relatively less sales, would be better off in a receipts-based program.

Liquor liability and non-owned auto: Liquor liability coverage protects against claims arising out of the negligent serving of alcoholic beverages. Depending on the state in which an establishment operates, this may include “over-serving” intoxicated patrons and serving minors. Non-owned auto coverage for restaurants is increasingly difficult to obtain because of the increased exposure of food delivery. Carriers willing to offer this coverage generally apply a “food delivery” exclusion.

Submission stew

Before we make submissions to carriers, we like to collect valuable data not found on the application, including a copy of the restaurant’s menu, information about any awards it has won and favorable reviews it has received. This helps our agents and underwriters understand what type of clientele is coming in and what type of establishment they’re dealing with.

Inspecting an establishment is important in preparing the submission. With our experience in the niche, we’ve received enough suggestions from carriers to know what “hot spots” to look for during an inspection. We might also include digital photos.

Proof of service for a few items-such as flue cleaning, a fire-suppression system and fire extinguishers-is important. We also include narrative descriptions of any past losses, along with an explanation of steps taken to address issues raised by them. For instance, if a client had a slip-and-fall claim, we might demonstrate to the carrier that since the incident, the client has put non-slip strips on its steps, added handrails and improved the lighting.

Carriers are interested in insureds’ financial information, especially with new ventures. Most restaurants that fail do so within their first year. In extreme cases, financial difficulty may lead to arson. Therefore, carriers request a résumé and maybe some personal financial information from owners who are new in business.

A restaurant is far easier to inspect for potential problems than a nightclub. When we interview bar and nightclub clients, we ask about key aspects of their management and operations. We want to know how they prevent underage drinking. Do they use hand-stamps or wristbands to identify those eligible to drink? Have servers and bartenders undergone any formal beverage-service training?

Security practices are especially important with these establishments. We want to know if they employ their own security staff and what their procedures are for removing a rowdy patron-do they always call the police, fill out their own incident report, etc.? If they hire an outside agency to provide security, we need to know if that agency has provided them with a certificate of insurance naming the establishment as an additional insured and demonstrating that the agency has workers comp coverage on its own employees.

Presentation is everything

Restaurant and bar owners are visual people who succeed in no small part by being sensitive to the look and presentation of everything about their business-from the overall ambience to the presentation of food. We present our proposals with this in mind. We stay away from long, overly detailed documents and keep things simple. We build our presentation on four factors: the strength of the carrier, the coverage details, the cost and the service we can provide. Before we present, we learn enough about the client to know which of these factors to emphasize.

New on the menu

At least 60 days before a policy expires, we pull the file and request loss runs. We send clients a questionnaire that asks about any changes in sales figures or the square footage of the establishment, as well as other factors that might alter the premium or change the client’s eligibility for certain programs. If you’re not careful with this at renewal, you might someday find out that the nice, quiet, family-style Italian restaurant you began insuring three years ago has added karaoke and dancing on weekends, and might not be the same risk you started out with.

We contact clients 45 days before renewal. We try to keep accounts with the same carrier, but we must get our clients the most competitive programs available, so we shop rather aggressively. We try to have renewal quotes in our clients’ hands two weeks before the current policy expires, so that we can review the quote and confirm that they want to continue with us.

Big tipper

Success in serving the food and beverage niche requires a strong understanding of the industry and of the carriers’ programs you’re offering. This leads to a better experience for the insured and a higher hit ratio with prospects. Developing expertise and knowing what your clients and prospects need and what your carriers want can lead to a successful experience and rave reviews.

THE BEST nightclubs and bars know how to serve their patrons wisely, giving them an enjoyable experience while keeping them out of trouble. The best agents and brokers active in this niche try to do much the same thing. While it may be a stretch to say they make purchasing insurance “enjoyable,” the rest of the description is pretty apt.

Right Insurance Marketing is one such agency. Since Mary L. Wright founded the agency in 1985, it has focused exclusively on insuring restaurants, nightclubs and bars. Today, we cover more than 3,000 of these establishments throughout California, putting our knowledge of products and markets at their service, and advising them on how to prevent claims. We write all this business ourselves, through our nine seasoned producers. We don’t broker business, nor have we acquired any of these accounts via acquisitions.

Bars and nightclubs make up about 15% of our clients. In terms of volume, however, they account for about 20%, reflecting the higher average premiums such establishments pay. In this article I’ll share some of the methods that have brought us success in this niche and point out some important issues to understand as you approach this class of business.

Finding the business

Eighty percent of our new business comes from working a database of more than 10,000 prospects. Some came from lists we purchased with the appropriate SIC codes. Entertainment magazines and entertainment sections of newspapers also are good sources of leads for bars and nightclubs. We also buy leads from a source that tracks all purchasers of establishments holding liquor licenses. To help promote ourselves as specialists to these prospects, we send them industry-specific newsletters on a quarterly basis.

We have three full-time telemarketers who call prospects to obtain expiration dates, if we don’t have them already. They also attempt to learn the size of an establishment, the number of employees and the name of its current insurer, among other information. The telemarketers read from a script that emphasizes that we specialize in insurance for bars and nightclubs. Prospects hear that message at least two or three times during the call.

Ninety to 120 days before prospects’ coverage expires, the telemarketers call them to ask for appointments at which we will perform complimentary coverage reviews. To persuade prospects to grant us appointments, we stress the three “S’s:”

* Specialization: Insurance for bars, nightclubs and restaurants is all we sell.

* Savings: Because we are specialized, we typically save clients 15% to 25% on their insurance.

* Solutions: Coming up with solutions to insurance problems, like adverse claims histories, can be more important to prospects than saving money. Again, because we’re specialists, we can help. For example, I had a client who had experienced 10 slip-and-fall claims within two years. As a result, their coverage was nonrenewed. Before we came along, no one had shown the prospect the importance of such fundamental procedures as checking handrails and lighting around stairs, or ensuring that nonslip strips were applied to steps. With our help, the client improved their loss experience, and we placed the account with the best available market.

Some prospects immediately accept our offer of a coverage review; others ask us to first fax or e-mail them information. About 30 days after sending it, the telemarketers follow up to confirm their interest in a coverage review. Those leads that are confirmed are turned over to producers, who set the appointments. After doing so, the producers send their prospects letters confirming the meetings and listing the materials the prospects will need to have on hand when the producers call.

Sending this letter is crucial. Owners of nightclubs and bars typically have the workload of two people. They may not keep appointments-not necessarily because they don’t want to, but because they are extremely busy and don’t always write things down. Therefore, we time the mailing of the appointment letter to arrive at the prospect’s establishment a few days before the appointment and thus serve as a reminder. Then we fax the same letter to the prospect the day before the appointment.

The letter stresses that we will need to see the prospect’s general liability, liquor liability, property and workers compensation policies, regardless of which is about to expire. We also want a copy of the menu and any written loss-control procedures the prospect has.

When meeting with prospects, producers show them a list of our current clients. Rarely does a prospect not know one of the establishments on the extensive list. Thus, it helps qualify us in the eyes of prospects. Of course, we also qualify them-even before we pay them a visit. In fact, our No. 1 qualifier is a prospect’s willingness to meet with us for 20 or 30 minutes. Phones, faxes and e-mails are no substitute for a face-to-face meeting. To work with prospects we also must have their trust, because they will have to share sensitive information with us. If we get the impression that’s going to be a problem, we walk away. Concerned about their public image, owners of bars and nightclubs by nature tend to be tight-lipped about their insurance, finances and other aspects of their operations. But if they will not show us their current policies, there is no point in proceeding. We also need basic information about sales and insurance history. As the relationship develops, we must be satisfied that prospects will be cooperative, that they will do such things as return our calls and implement recommended loss-control procedures-before we write the policy.

Surveying the risk

When producers call on prospects, they bring a survey form we created to ensure they collect all necessary data. They also bring forms on which prospects can request loss runs from their current insurers.

In inspecting the premises, we look at the kitchen to ensure it is clean, and that Ansul systems and other fire protection equipment are well-maintained and have up-to-date inspection tags. We determine the square footage of the facility, both the total area and the part that is open to the public. We examine dance floors. We want to make sure they are in good condition and free of slip, trip and fall hazards. Raised dance floors are of particular concern. For obvious reasons, they should have railings around them.

We review prospects’ operations. We need a breakdown of gross sales showing the percentages attributable to food, to alcohol and to door admissions (cover charges). When completing apps, owners of bars and nightclubs often don’t think to provide information about cover charges, because they don’t think of them as income. Typically, they go to the band or venue. But underwriters definitely count cover charges in gross sales. If an insured doesn’t provide the figures initially, they will be picked up in an audit-leading to an additional premium and an extremely unhappy client.

Other important information to obtain includes the average price of a drink and the age of the clientele. One way to estimate patrons’ age is by noting the type of music the club or bar offers. Establishments that feature “classic rock” or music from the 1970s draw an older crowd than those that feature pop, rap or alternative rock. Sometimes, we see a mixture of entertainment, as a club tries to pull an audience from one demographic on one night and from another on the next.

We also ask about the type of entertainment an establishment offers. Just because it has a dance floor doesn’t mean there is dancing every night. Rather, a club might offer karaoke a couple of times a week, or have a weekly comedy night.

The business hours are an important underwriting criterion. A place with daytime hours has a quite different environment from one open from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., the typical nightclub hours.

We also examine prospects’ procedures for checking identification. If an establishment permits a mix of adults and minors, we ask how it differentiates between them-typically they use wristbands or different colored cups.

We ask about security personnel, if the prospect has any. Does the establishment hire its own security people, or does it contract for them from a security service? Some establishments do both. We need to make sure the facility obtains certificates of insurance from any third-party security service it is using. The bar or nightclub also should be named an additional insured on the security service’s liability policy. The same arrangements should be made with any independent contractor handling the insured’s valet parking.

Evaluating the coverage

Our typical sale to a bar or nightclub includes general liability, liquor liability, property (including business income) and workers compensation insurance, although other coverages may be added. Unlike states with “dram shop” acts, California has a favorable liquor-liability law. Generally, businesses can be found liable for losses arising from a patron’s consumption of alcohol only if they serve a minor. Consequently, we often write the general liability and liquor liability in one policy. Then we write monoline policies for property and workers compensation. For accounts of above-average size or risk, however, all coverages may have to be written separately. 

Insurance for assault and battery claims is perhaps the most important coverage issue facing bars and nightclubs. Assault is a threat by word or deed; battery is physical contact that produces injury. About 60% of claims against bars and nightclubs result from assault or battery. Either patrons get into fights with one another, or they claim the insured’s security people used unreasonable force in dealing with them. Such claims can be expensive. Claims for even minor scuffles rarely are resolved for less than $30,000-and then only if the bar or nightclub has a carrier that knows how to adjust the claim.

Insurers vary greatly in how they address the assault and battery exposure. The worst-case scenario (from an insured’s viewpoint) is a carrier that excludes such claims altogether-for defense as well as indemnity, and for claims alleging injuries caused by security as well as those alleging harm inflicted by other patrons. Most GL policies written for bars and nightclubs have this complete exclusion.

Some insurers, however, grant general liability coverage with only a partial exclusion for assault and battery. For instance, they may cover claims arising from the actions of patrons, but not from employees or contracted agents, because they don’t want the security guard exposure. Such partial exclusions often are granted to small neighborhood taverns, which generally don’t have security guards anyway.

Some insurers grant coverage for either type of assault and battery claim described above-but with a sublimit. It may be as low as $25,000 per claim and $50,000 aggregate. On the other hand, I have seen submits as high as $250,000/$300,000.

The best general liability coverage, of course, has neither exclusions nor sublimits for assault and battery claims. But an important thing to remember is that under all scenarios, even this one, defense is typically included within the coverage limit. So if a bar has a $50,000 limit for assault and battery, and a carrier runs up $40,000 in defense bills fighting a claim, only $10,000 will be left to pay any judgment. Of course, the fact that defense is included in limits sometimes leads plaintiffs to settle quickly, rather than see defense costs eat up whatever is available to pay a claim.

There is no ISO exclusion for assault-and-battery claims. Rather, most insurers active in this market start with an ISO CGL policy to which they add manuscript exclusions, including for assault and battery. This is a big reason we insist on seeing a prospect’s current policies, so we can determine the scope of a prospect’s coverage. The prospect’s current agent, if not a specialist, may not even understand the complexities of assault-and-battery coverage and insist that the client has full coverage. If such assertions are incorrect, we cannot refute them unless we can point to the gap in the prospect’s current CGL policy and exclusions.

Agents also should be aware of how deductibles are written for bars and nightclubs. They generally run from $1,000 for small taverns to $10,000 minimum deductibles for large nightclubs. Usually, these deductibles apply not only to indemnity but also to loss adjustment expenses. So shortly after submitting a claim, an insured may get billed for LAE.

Agents also should review prospects’ property insurance. Rarely does it include an adequate amount of business income coverage. As a rough rule of thumb, it should equal at least 40% to 50% of their annual gross sales. Also, it is often necessary to explain the implications of replacement-cost coverage and coinsurance provisions. 

Getting agreement on loss control

Nightclubs and bars usually are receptive to our loss-control suggestions-particularly those that have seen their premiums shoot up after a serious claim. One thing we recommend is that insureds keep incident logs. (This is even more important for bars and nightclubs operating in states with dram shop laws than it is here in California.) In the log, bartenders and other employees briefly write down the date, time and nature of any incident, as well as a description on the patron involved. Bartenders may note, for example, that they stopped serving a patron and asked him to leave. Later, if the patron is involved in an auto accident, the log can show that the establishment acted responsibly. The log notation might simply say: “Stopped serving patron in red shirt and leather jacket at 10 p.m. on Dec. 2.” The key is to train employees to write down such notations immediately. It may be two or three months after an accident before an insured even hears from an investigator. Meanwhile, the bartender who wrote the note might not even work any longer at the establishment. (Employee turnover tends to be high in bars and nightclubs.) So a notation like the one above could make the difference in keeping an insured out of a claim that could be for $300,000 or more, if a death were involved.

Video cameras also are great loss-control devices. A mounted system that continuously monitors all public areas of a facility, including its parking lot, is best. At a minimum, establishments that have had assault and battery claims should keep a handheld video camera around. It should be used, for example, if a patron has to be escorted out of the facility. Such a person may later contend security personnel used unreasonable force in removing him from the premises. A hand-held video recorder can help refute such a charge.

ID checking devices also are helpful. When a driver’s license is swiped through such a device, it can read the magnetic strip on the back and determine the patron’s age and whether the ID is a fake.

We also advise clients to have all employees serving alcohol undergo appropriate training. We provide handouts to clients to make them aware of this issue and urge them to obtain such training, whether their insurers require it or not. Free classes are sometimes offered by the local alcoholic beverage control authorities.

Approaching the markets

Except for some small neighborhood bars and for restaurants that derive 50% or less of their revenue from alcohol sales, almost all of our clients must obtain coverage from the E&S marketplace. We approach the markets through about 10 wholesalers, who collectively can help us find a market for just about any bar or nightclub, regardless of its characteristics.

To obtain the best quotes, we fully complete applications and any supplemental applications a market requires. Loss information is also crucial. Underwriters often want to see a five-year history of gross sales, as well. Besides all of this, we provide a narrative that, among other things, gets into the type of clientele the establishment draws, and the owner’s experience and attitude toward loss control. The most crucial part of the narrative deals with past losses. We explain how any losses came about and what the client is doing to prevent a recurrence.

We always obtain two quotes: one with assault-and-battery coverage, and one without. While we stress the advisability of assault-and-battery coverage, at the end of the day, it’s the client’s decision. If the difference in price is $20,000, as it well could be for larger establishments, a client might decide to forgo coverage-but at least we still have a sale.

Annual premiums for bars and nightclubs vary greatly. Small bars and restaurants with high alcohol sales may pay from $3,500 to $15,000. Larger risks, those with up to 5,000 square feet of space and security personnel, probably are looking at $15,000 to $25,000. Full-blown nightclubs-businesses with more than 5,000 square feet and/or more than $1 million in annual sales-may pay $25,000 to $100,000.

In our presentations, we attempt to highlight the difference between the prospect’s current insurance and the coverage we propose. For instance, in regard to assault-and-battery coverage, we break out the differences in exclusions, sublimits and dductibles. Our objective is to give prospects the information they need to make an educated decision.

If we have done a good job of qualifying the account-that is, if the initial interview went well, and if the prospect has a problem and wants us to solve it-the sale usually is closed even before we present the quote. Our average closing ratio is 50%; for our best producers, it’s 80%.

Helping clients stay covered

The close of the sale is just the beginning of our relationship with clients. Now that we have the bar or nightclub as an account, the last thing we want is to see them canceled midterm or not renewed.

First, we talk to them about their finance agreement. Just about all bars and nightclubs use premium financing, and we stress the importance of making payments on time. Many carriers will not reinstate coverage for a client who has been late with payments two or three times.

We also explain to clients that they will be visited by company loss-control inspectors, and that it’s important to cooperate with them. While we try to get a client’s loss prevention program in good shape before we take them to the markets, inspectors may make additional recommendations, and clients will need to comply with them.

We again stress the importance of obtaining certificates from security and valet services and to request new ones when their contractors’ coverage renews. Of course, going over claims reporting procedures is vital. Clients may fail to report a claim promptly because they get busy or just think it will go away. Then eight months later, the client gets a summons, and the insurer denies coverage for failure to report a claim in a timely manner.

Finally, we discuss premium audits, which usually are conducted for both general liability and liquor liability insurance. We explain that a premium auditor will come around to see how current actual sales compare with the previous year’s sales, on which the initial premium was based, and to adjust the premium if necessary. We fully explain this process, not only so clients will understand they may get billed for additional premium, but also so they realize the importance of giving us accurate sales information in the first place, to improve the odds that

any subsequent premium adjustment will be minimal.

I’ll drink to that

In this article I’ve outlined our procedures for prospecting and writing insurance for nightclubs and bars. Now grab a stool, and I’ll give you the recap. First, make sure your patrons qualify to be served in your establishment. Like any good bartender, listen attentively to their stories. Then mix equal parts of insurance knowledge, loss control advice and market access. Pour into a tall glass-no rocks or surprises-and garnish liberally with service.

Cheers!