Insured

What You Need to Know

Named Insured vs. Additional Insured:

• Named Insured – the specific legal entity listed on the declarations page who owns the policy, pays premiums, and has full rights to make policy changes
• Additional Insureds – other parties added to your policy through endorsements who receive some level of coverage for specific purposes

The Named Insured could be your personal name (if you operate as a sole proprietor), your corporation name, your LLC name, or your partnership name – the key is that it must match your actual legal business structure. Only the named insured, or authorized representatives they designate, can make changes to the policy, request endorsements, or cancel coverage.

When landlords, vendors, or clients require you to add them as "additional insureds" on your general liability policy, they're asking to become insureds under your policy for specific purposes – typically so they have coverage if they're sued for something arising from your operations.

Why It Matters for Restaurant Owners

Understanding who exactly is "the insured" on your restaurant's policies is crucial for ensuring proper coverage. The named insured must be the correct legal entity that actually owns and operates the restaurant – if your restaurant operates as "ABC Restaurant, LLC" but your policy lists you as an individual, you may have coverage gaps. The entity sued must match the entity insured, or coverage won't respond.

If you have multiple business entities or operate under different DBAs, you need to ensure all relevant entities are listed as named insureds or additional insureds on your policies. Insurance only responds to protect the parties listed in the policy – if the wrong entity is sued and isn't an insured under your policy, there would be no coverage, even if the claim is otherwise valid.

Work with your agent to ensure the named insured matches your actual business structure exactly, and notify them immediately whenever you change your business structure, add locations, or create new entities.