Restaurant Insurance Renewal Checklist: What Changed Since Last Year

Renewal is a useful checkpoint for comparing your policy with the restaurant you run today. If the menu, the hours, the bar, the delivery setup or the lease changed, the policy may still describe last year's business, and a change such as adding catering or alcohol is worth reporting when it happens, not only at renewal. Use this checklist a few weeks before your renewal date, or after a big change during the year, to find those changes, gather what an insurance professional will ask for, and write down the questions you want answered.

How to use this checklist

1. Start well before the renewal date, so there is time to ask questions and compare options before anything has to be signed.
2. Work through sections 1 to 8. Tick each item that changed during the year, or that you are not sure about.
3. Print the checklist and write the details in the summary table near the end by hand.
4. Bring the checklist, your current policies and their declarations pages to the review, and ask for written answers to the questions at the end. Keep those answers with your policy.

What to gather before you start

• Current policies and declarations pages: property, general liability, liquor liability, auto, umbrella and any others
• A list of claims and incidents from the past few years (your insurer or broker can provide loss runs)
• Your liquor license and endorsements
• Your lease, including its insurance and indemnity sections
• A list of kitchen equipment with approximate replacement values
• Sales for the past year, by month if you have it
• Headcount and payroll by role, including seasonal and part-time staff
• Delivery, catering, event and franchise contracts that mention insurance

1. Changes in the operation

A policy is written around the operation the insurer was told about. Changes made mid-year are the ones most often missed at renewal.

• New, moved or expanded location, including patio or outdoor seating
• Longer or later hours
• New cooking equipment or methods, such as added fryers, smokers or open flame
• Remodeling or improvements you paid for
• Private events, live entertainment or classes
• A large rise or fall in sales

2. Alcohol service

In Washington, the Liquor and Cannabis Board licenses alcohol sales and issues endorsements, including a caterer's endorsement for serving at event locations and endorsements for takeout and off-premises sales. [1] A MAST permit is required for people who serve, mix, sell or supervise the sale of alcohol for on-premises consumption, and a permit is good for five years. [2]

• License type or endorsements added or changed this year (catering, takeout cocktails, off-premises sales)
• Alcohol's share of total sales changed
• New bar area, happy hour or events with alcohol
• MAST permits current for everyone who needs one, with expiry dates tracked
• Liquor liability on the current policy: whether it is there, its limit and who it protects

Ask, rather than assume, whether your general liability policy excludes alcohol-related claims for your business, and how any liquor liability coverage fills that gap.

3. Delivery and catering

Washington's insurance commissioner notes that many personal auto policies do not automatically include coverage for paid food delivery, and that some insurers offer an endorsement for it. [3] When employees deliver in their own cars, the restaurant's protection is a separate question from the driver's. Our hired and non-owned auto guide explains the difference.

• Who delivers: employees in their own cars, a vehicle the restaurant owns or leases, or a third-party platform
• Delivery hours, radius and roughly how many deliveries a week
• Platform, catering or venue contracts that require insurance or ask to be named as additional insured
• Catering or off-site events, and whether alcohol is served there
• Equipment, food or cash taken away from the restaurant

4. Kitchen equipment

Commercial property coverage is meant to protect the buildings, inventory and equipment where you operate. [4] Equipment breakdown is a different question from fire or theft, so ask about it separately.

• Equipment added or replaced this year, with values
• Equipment that is leased or financed, and what the lease or lender requires you to insure
• Service contracts and maintenance records
• Whether equipment breakdown coverage is included, and what it excludes

5. Spoilage

• The usual and the highest value of refrigerated and frozen stock
• The spoilage limit and deductible on the current policy, if there is one
• Which causes of spoilage are covered: equipment breakdown, a utility power outage, or a power problem on your premises
• How you record temperatures and document stock you throw away

Our guide to when the walk-in cooler fails separates a cooler loss into equipment, stock, extra costs and lost income.

6. Business interruption

Business interruption (business income) insurance helps replace lost income and pay fixed expenses while operations are suspended after a covered event causes physical damage. It typically does not cover flood or earthquake unless you add that coverage, and it excludes losses unrelated to property damage. Optional additions can address a supplier's shutdown (contingent business interruption) or the period after you reopen while sales recover (extended business interruption). [5]

• Average monthly sales and fixed costs such as rent, loan payments and key payroll
• A realistic estimate of how long a serious fire or equipment loss would close you
• Suppliers you could not easily replace
• The current business income limit and waiting period
• Whether extended or contingent business interruption is included

Our business interruption guide covers the terms in more detail.

7. Staffing and workers' compensation

In Washington, employers buy workers' compensation from the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) or become certified self-insurers; private workers' compensation coverage is not allowed. [6] Idaho, Oregon and Arizona have different systems, so ask which rules apply where your staff work.

• Headcount and payroll by role: kitchen, front of house, delivery and management
• Seasonal and part-time staff
• Anyone paid as an independent contractor (L&I explains when contractors may still need coverage) [6]
• Staff who work in more than one state
• Any employment-related complaints or claims, and whether employment practices liability is part of your coverage

8. Lease and contract requirements

• Coverages, limits and additional insured wording the lease requires
• Whether the lease requires a waiver of subrogation or notice of cancellation
• Who insures the building, its systems and the improvements you paid for
• Which certificates you must provide, to whom and when
• Other contracts with insurance terms: platforms, venues, franchisor

The commercial lease insurance guide explains these terms.

Summary: changes to report

Questions to discuss with your insurance professional

1. Does the renewal describe our current operation: locations, hours, menu, sales and services?
2. Does our general liability exclude alcohol-related claims? What liquor liability do we have, at what limit, and does it apply at catered events?
3. When an employee delivers in their own car, who is protected: the restaurant, the driver, both or neither?
4. Is equipment breakdown included? Which causes of spoilage are covered, and what are the limits and deductibles?
5. What are our business income limit and waiting period, and do we have extended or contingent business interruption?
6. Do our limits and additional insured wording meet the lease and our other contracts?
7. What does this proposal not cover that we should decide about now?
8. What changes should we report during the year, before the next renewal?

An illustrative example, and what it does not decide

During the year, a café added a beer and wine catering endorsement and began delivering with two employees' cars. Neither change was reported. The checklist flags both. At the review, the owner asks whether alcohol served at catered events is covered, and who is protected if a delivery driver causes an accident. The answers depend on the policy wording and the insurer. The example shows which questions to ask; it is not a coverage determination.

Next step

Bring the completed checklist to a renewal review. NRG is an independent brokerage licensed in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Arizona. We can go through your current policies and the changes you found, and compare suitable options from the insurers and programs we can access. Discuss your restaurant's renewal with NRG, or call 206 · 363 · 1110. Sending a request does not bind or change any coverage.

For the wider picture, see NRG's restaurant insurance page and our guide to restaurant coverage beyond the basic policy.

Sources

[1] Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board: retail liquor licenses and endorsements. Accessed October 30, 2026.

[2] Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board: Mandatory Alcohol Server Training (MAST). Accessed October 30, 2026.

[3] Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner: auto coverage for home health care workers and volunteers. Accessed October 30, 2026.

[4] Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner: learn how business insurance works. Accessed October 30, 2026.

[5] National Association of Insurance Commissioners: business interruption and business owner's policy (last updated June 25, 2026). Accessed October 30, 2026.

[6] Washington State Department of Labor & Industries: do I need a workers' comp account?. Accessed October 30, 2026.

Examples are illustrative. Policy wording, exclusions, limits, underwriting and applicable law determine coverage. This checklist is general information, not a coverage determination.