PRODUCT: Premier Business Owners—Food Service Policies
COMPANY: Allied Insurance (admitted)
BEST RATING: A+
AVAILABILITY: To inquire about a possible company appointment, independent agents and brokers should contact Lisa Gobber, vice president of commercial lines operations.
FOCUS: Allied shows its growing underwriting appetite for restaurant business by serving a wide range of accounts and sending word through its network of 5,220 independent agents that the carrier offers restaurant-specific coverages. The company is counting on restaurant accounts to help it grow its “entire commercial book,” confirms Lisa Gobber, vice president of commercial lines operations. Underwriters welcome submissions involving family style, fast food, fine dining, limited cooking, microbreweries and take-out only restaurants. Gobber points out that producers can select restaurant specific coverage at an additional cost for credit card forgery; automatic extinguishing system protecting cooking equipment (which includes recharge expenses, clean-up expenses and loss of income from discharge); food contamination—loss of income (which includes restoration expenses, additional advertising expense and inoculation expense reimbursement); and food spoilage from power outage. The restaurant add-on sublimits and deductibles vary by coverage.
UNDERWRITING: The basic premier business owners policy consists of commercial general liability and property coverages. CGL per-occurrence and aggregate limits range from $300,000/$600,000 to $2 million/$4 million. Per-location property limits usually don’t exceed $5 million, although higher limits can be arranged on a case-by-case basis. The company offers a number of additional coverages and coverage extensions, such as: business income (provided on an actual loss sustained basis, equipment breakdown), which includes coverage for perishable goods, and outdoor signs. Underwriters also sell employment practices liability protection and liquor liability. Liquor liability limits can reach $2 million, but insureds’ liquor-to-food-sales receipts generally cannot exceed 25%, with the exception of white table cloth restaurants. To round out restaurant and other BOP accounts, Allied also markets commercial auto with combined single limits reaching $1 million, workers comp (depending on location) and follow-form umbrella of as much as $10 million.
MINIMUM PREMIUM: Varies by risk and liability limit.
TARGET: Single or multiple-location restaurants.
COVERAGE TERRITORY: AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, MD, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NM, NV, OH, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA and WY.
CONTACT: Lisa Gobber, vice president of commercial lines operations, 1100 Locust Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50391, 515-508-4445; gobberl@nationwide.com; nationwide.com.
Ron Lent is an IA contributor.
