Hospitality, Hotel, Pub and Restaurant Insurance for hospitality groups
Insurance for hotels, pubs, bars and restaurants with teams, licensed premises and guests on site, from one busy venue to a regional group. Compare cover through specialist brokers who arrange hospitality packages.
- Buildings, contents, stock and lost revenue
- Liability for guests, diners and staff
- Group schedules covering every venue
Reviewed October 2026 by the MyBusinessComparison.com editorial team
What is hospitality insurance?
Hospitality insurance is a package policy for hotels, pubs, bars and restaurants. It usually covers the building, contents, food and drink stock, the revenue lost after damage, liability to guests, diners and staff, and sector extensions such as guests' property, frozen food, loss of licence and equipment breakdown.
Hospitality groups normally insure every venue on one schedule. Each site has its own buildings, contents and stock values, while liability, money and interruption cover are written across the group. Depending on how their accounts are set out, many hotel and restaurant operators insure lost revenue rather than gross profit.
Kitchens drive much of the fire risk. Many insurers make regular professional cleaning of extract ducts a condition of cover and ask about fryer thermostats, fire suppression and staff training, so maintenance records matter at claim time as much as at renewal.
Hospitality insurance at a glance
- Typical buyers
- Hotels, managed and tenanted pubs, restaurant groups, bars and cafe chains
- Core sections
- Buildings, contents, stock, revenue, liability and money
- Compulsory part
- Employers' liability for venues with staff
- Sector extensions
- Guests' property, frozen food, loss of licence and equipment breakdown
- Common condition
- Professional cleaning of kitchen extract ducts at set intervals
- Underwriters focus on
- Kitchens, late opening, entertainment, door staff and claims
Which policies do hospitality businesses combine?
A hospitality programme is usually one package with sections matched to the way each venue trades. These are the parts a broker brings together.
Buildings and contents
Fire, flood, storm and impact damage to the building, kitchens, bars, furniture and fittings. Many pubs and hotels occupy older or listed buildings that need specialist rebuild valuations.
Read more about commercial property cover
Food, drink and cellar stock
Wine, spirits, beer and food stock, with cover for spoilage when freezers, chillers or cellar cooling break down or the power supply fails.
Loss of revenue
Income lost while a venue is closed or trading below normal after insured damage, with extensions for denial of access and utility failure. Many insurers now limit or exclude closures caused by disease outbreaks.
Read more about business interruption insurance
Public and products liability
Guest and diner injuries, from falls on stairs and wet floors to food poisoning and allergic reactions to dishes served.
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers' liability
Burns, cuts, slips and lifting injuries in kitchens, cellars and housekeeping, plus claims arising from violence towards staff. Venues with employees must carry it.
Read more about employers' liability cover
Guests' property
Loss of or damage to guests' belongings in hotels, including items left in rooms or handed in for safe keeping, within the limits set in the policy.
Loss of licence
Offered by some insurers for the fall in value of a pub or bar business if its premises licence is lost or restricted for reasons outside the operator's control. Losses caused by the operator's own breaches are excluded.
Equipment breakdown
Sudden breakdown of commercial kitchen equipment, cellar cooling, lifts and boilers, with periodic inspection of lifts and pressure plant arranged where needed.
Read more about engineering inspection and breakdown cover
Money and staff dishonesty
Cash in tills, safes and on the way to the bank, and theft by employees, which needs a fidelity section.
Cyber
Breaches of booking, payment and guest data, and outages of reservation or till systems in the middle of service.
Read more about cyber insurance
Further covers for hospitality groups
- Terrorism insurance: city centre venues and hotels where lenders or landlords ask for it
- Legal expenses: licensing hearings, employment disputes and supplier claims
- Directors' and officers' cover: claims against the board of a growing or investor-backed group
- Key person insurance: the loss of a founder, executive chef or operations director
- Fleet cover: delivery vans, guest minibuses and managers' cars
Which hospitality businesses do we cover?
Each part of the sector is underwritten on its own risks: kitchens, late opening, overnight guests or entertainment. These are the operators brokers place most often.
Own the freehold or let pubs to tenants? Owners who let hospitality premises need property owners' cover. See commercial landlord insurance or all industries.
- Hotel groups and city hotels: guests sleeping on site, lifts, spas and conference business
- Country house and boutique hotels: older or listed buildings, weddings and extensive grounds
- Pub groups and managed estates: wet-led and food-led pubs across many sites, each with its own trading pattern
- Tenanted and leased pubs: who insures the building and who insures the business depends on the lease
- Restaurant groups and chains: busy kitchens, allergen controls and standard fit-outs across several sites
- Bars and late-night venues: late licences, door staff and entertainment, all rated carefully
- Coffee shop and cafe chains: lighter cooking and high footfall across many sites
- Takeaways and delivery kitchens: fryers, delivery riders and late opening
- Contract caterers: kitchens in clients' premises, where the contract sets the liability
- Event and wedding venues: large gatherings, marquees and outside suppliers on site
- Guest houses and serviced apartments: overnight guests in smaller buildings, often with managers living in
- Food halls and street food operators: several traders under one roof with shared facilities
- Hotel spas and leisure clubs: treatments, pools and gyms, with standalone sites under leisure insurance
How much does hospitality insurance cost?
Every venue is priced on how it trades, then combined across the group. These factors make the largest difference.
Kitchen and cooking methods
Deep fat frying, wood-fired and charcoal ovens, and the condition of extraction systems are central to the fire rating.
Building type and age
Listed, thatched or timber-framed buildings and those with letting rooms cost more to rebuild and to insure.
Opening hours and entertainment
Late licences, live music, dance floors and door staff change the liability and malicious damage exposure.
Revenue and wage roll
Liability is rated on turnover and wages, and the revenue figure sets the interruption sum insured.
Protection and security
Fire detection, suppression over cooking ranges, alarms, cash handling and CCTV at each venue.
Claims history
Fires, food poisoning claims, injuries to guests and staff, and what changed after each one.
Exclusions hospitality operators run into
These are the gaps that most often come up after a hospitality claim. Check them venue by venue.
- Kitchen fires where duct cleaning or other fire conditions were not met
- Closures caused by disease outbreaks, which many policies now exclude or cap tightly
- Licence loss caused by your own deliberate breach of licence conditions
- Guests' property above the policy limits, or valuables not handed in for safe keeping
- Venues closed beyond the period allowed, which may need unoccupied property insurance
- Food stock spoiled by a planned power cut or equipment switched off deliberately
- Cyber incidents and card data breaches, unless cyber cover is in place
One group policy or a policy for each venue?
As hospitality businesses grow, most bring their venues together. This is how a group policy compares with insuring sites one by one.
| Feature | Group hospitality policy | Policy per venue |
|---|---|---|
| Renewals | One date across the estate | A renewal for every site through the year |
| Liability limits | One limit set for the group | Limits can vary from venue to venue |
| Openings and acquisitions | Added to the schedule during the year | A new policy arranged each time |
| Claims record | Judged across the whole group | Each venue judged on its own history |
| Consistency | Same extensions and conditions everywhere | Gaps and differences can creep in |
| Usually suits | Several venues under common ownership | Very different venues or a single site |
How to arrange hospitality insurance
Insurers want to understand how each venue trades. Gathering this before you ask for terms saves time.
List every venue
Address, building type, listed status, letting rooms, covers, opening hours and licence type.
Describe the kitchens
Cooking methods, fryers, suppression systems, duct cleaning records and who carries out the work.
Confirm values
Rebuild costs, contents, stock levels, revenue and wage roll, venue by venue and for the group.
Explain how you manage guests
Door staff, entertainment, allergen procedures, incident logs and staff training.
Check conditions and extensions
Disease, denial of access, loss of licence, guests' property and fire conditions, before comparing price.
Speak to a hospitality specialist
Tell us about your venues and a broker who arranges hospitality cover will compare options for you.
Compare quotesHospitality insurance FAQs
How much does hospitality insurance cost?
It depends on each venue's building, kitchen, opening hours, entertainment, revenue, wage roll, protection and claims record. Hotels, wet-led pubs and busy restaurants are rated very differently, so a group premium is built venue by venue. A broker can show which sites drive the total.
Is food poisoning covered by hospitality insurance?
Claims from guests made ill by food you serve usually fall under the products liability section. Revenue lost when a venue is closed after an outbreak is a separate matter, and many policies now limit or exclude it, so the interruption extensions are worth checking.
Why does my insurer care about kitchen extract cleaning?
Grease builds up in kitchen extraction and is a common cause of serious fires. Many insurers require ducts to be professionally cleaned at set intervals and certificates kept. If a fire starts in an uncleaned system, the claim can be reduced or declined.
What is loss of licence cover?
It pays for the fall in value of a licensed business if its premises licence is revoked, refused or restricted for reasons outside the holder's control. Losses caused by the holder's own breaches or misconduct are excluded, and not every insurer offers it. It matters most to pubs, bars and venues whose value rests on the licence.
Does hospitality insurance cover guests' belongings?
Hotel policies can include a guests' property section covering items lost or damaged on the premises, with limits for each guest and for valuables. Items deposited in a safe or with reception are often treated differently, so the limits are worth checking.
Should a hotel insure lost revenue or gross profit?
It depends on how the accounts are set out. Many hotel and restaurant groups insure revenue because most of their costs carry on during a closure, which makes the figure simpler to set and check. A broker or accountant can confirm which basis fits. Licensed estates have their own points, covered on our pub insurance page.
Can a hospitality group insure all its venues together?
Yes. A group policy lists each venue with its own property values while liability, money and interruption are written once. New sites can usually be added during the year, keeping one renewal date and consistent terms across the estate.
Does the policy cover kitchen equipment breakdown?
Not under the standard property section, which responds to events such as fire and flood. Breakdown of ovens, refrigeration, cellar cooling and dishwashers needs an equipment breakdown extension or engineering policy, which can include spoiled stock.
How do I get a hospitality insurance quote?
Ask for terms through this page and a broker who places hotel, pub and restaurant risks will follow up. For each venue they will want the building and kitchen details, values, revenue, wage roll and any claims.
Ready to compare hospitality insurance?
Cover for every venue, its kitchen and its guests, arranged by a broker who knows how hospitality is underwritten.