Front-of-House Coverage

What You Need to Know

Front-of-house coverage spans three distinct insurance areas:

• Property coverage – furniture (tables, chairs, booths, bar stools), fixtures (lighting, wall decorations, artwork), point-of-sale systems, dishes, glassware, and linens
• Liability coverage – customer injuries such as slip-and-fall accidents, chair or furniture collapses, and assaults or altercations between patrons
• Workers' compensation – servers, bartenders, hosts, and bussers who face repetitive strain injuries, slip-and-falls while carrying trays, burns from hot plates, cuts from broken glass, and confrontations with intoxicated customers

Why It Matters for Restaurant Owners

While kitchen operations often get the most attention due to obvious hazards like fire and burns, front-of-house operations create significant insurance exposures that cannot be ignored. The dining room is where most customer injury claims originate – slip-and-fall accidents from spilled drinks or wet floors are extremely common and can result in serious injuries and expensive lawsuits.

Your front-of-house property represents a significant investment in creating ambiance and customer experience, and damage from fire, water, or vandalism could cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair or replace.

Having adequate general liability coverage, commercial property coverage with sufficient limits for your front-of-house assets, and workers' compensation coverage for front-of-house staff ensures all aspects of your customer-facing operations are properly protected. Don't let a focus on kitchen hazards cause you to underinsure your front-of-house exposures.