Video: Alcohol Awareness Training
Referenced Documents:
Responsible Service of Alcohol Policy
Best Practices for Responsible Serving of Alcohol
Why Bars Should Keep Surveillance Footage For Insurance Claims
How To Winterproof Your Workplace
Winterproof Your Workplace
How to winterproof your workplace to avoid slip and fall insurance claims against your business during the winter months.
- Keep parking lots cleared of snow and ice, including sidewalks; have a snow & ice removal and salting schedule in place.
- Clear roofs from heavy snow to prevent ice dams and collapses.
- Ensure that building overhangs, roof edges, and canopies are cleared of snow and ice build-up to prevent potential injuries from falling ice and icicles.
- Be sure that snow is promptly cleared from the following additional areas: hydrants, stairways, ramps, entrances, emergency exits, driveways, heating & ventilation equipment.
- If you are utilizing an outside contractor for snow removal be sure to have a written contract which clearly outlines the contractor’s responsibilities and holds you harmless if someone slips and falls.
- Make sure heating is provided in uninsulated or vacant spaces.
- Thermostats should be set at 55 degrees Fahrenheit or higher to prevent freezing pipes.
- Space heaters should be PROHIBITED due to the risk of fire.
Download a PDF of this list to place at your business here.
September 2018 Liquor Liability Insurance Policies
Take a look at some of the liquor liability insurance policies Hospitality Insurance Group wrote in September 2018 including the type of coverage included, insurance discounts applied and a glimpse at the total insurance premium.
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Restaurant
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Springfield, MA
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CP $151,000 BPP and $370,000 BI; GL: 1M/2M; LL: 1M/2M
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$881,334
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39%
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Hired and Non-Owned Auto and AI on GL; GL A&B and PD on LL
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- Alcohol Awareness Training
- Member of Restaurant Association
- Elite Discount
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$9,359 Total; CP: $1,862; GL: $2,436; LL: $3,562; EL: $1,499
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Bar
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Greenville, NC
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$1M/$1M/$2M
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$1.1M
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84.6%
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No
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- Alcohol Awareness Training
- Member of Restaurant Association
-
$13,200 (LL)
If you are an Independent Insurance Agent, click here to learn more about working with Hospitality Insurance Group to provide liquor liability insurance to your customers.
If you are a business owner looking for liquor liability insurance coverage, click here to contact one of our preferred Independent Insurance Agents or find answers to some of your frequently asked questions about our insurance coverage here.
Insuring The Liquor Business
Insuring The Liquor Business
Name: Richard (Dick) Welch
Title: President and CEO, Hospitality Insurance Group
Age: 57
Experience: 30 Years
For the last three decades, Richard Welch has held a variety of roles in the insurance industry in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He spent most of his career at Travelers Insurance where he worked for 25 years, eventually rising to president and CEO of The Premiere Insurance Co. of Massachusetts, a subsidiary of Travelers. After Travelers, Welch spent a few years as an independent consultant before joining Concord Mutual Insurance Co., where he was vice president of corporate planning. Now, the Watertown, Connecticut native is the CEO of the Hospitality Insurance Group, which has offices in Southborough, Massachusetts, and Plantsville, Connecticut. The company, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, began strictly as a joint underwriting authority that sold liability insurance to entities that have liquor licenses. It then expanded its model and now sells to a variety of different kinds of insurance in other states.
Q: How did you get into the insurance business?
A: I was working for a company in another industry, which wasn’t doing very well, and I didn’t think the prospects for long-term employment there were great. So, I looked at the insurance industry. When I first interviewed with Travelers, it seemed like a great fit. They made me an offer and I spent a few years in Hartford before they transferred me to Massachusetts to manage the personal lines insurance business in the state. I became president and CEO of Travelers of Massachusetts, leading a $350 million personal lines insurance company, where we enjoyed a great deal of success, returning over $500 million in profits during my tenure.
How I ended up at Hospitality: The company’s president decided to retire last year, and the company was searching for a new CEO. I have a good relationship with a few of the board members at Hospitality, one of whom approached me about the opportunity. I liked what I heard and came on board earlier this year. It’s a great company and we have big plans!
Q: What are the challenges for insuring liquor licenses and insurance?
A: One of the biggest challenges for any business which sells liquor and holds a liquor license is to minimize their exposure and risk. Bars and restaurants encounter significant exposure if they inadvertently over-serve a customer. The potential results of such actions can lead to automobile accidents, injuries or fatalities. It’s essential for bars, restaurants and package stores to carry the appropriate amount of liquor liability insurance. As bars and restaurants are small businesses, few can afford to fund large liabilities, which could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single incident.
From the insurance company’s viewpoint, the key challenge relates to underwriting and managing claims. What are the annual sales figures? What is the company’s history? Company history is important for us to understand in assessing whether we can write a policy for an individual business.
The other consideration is for us to counsel our clients on how to reduce risk of exposure to loss, so that there are fewer bad situations and if there is one, to be certain that clients don’t do anything to make a bad situation worse. When lawsuits are filed against bars and restaurants, they are often frivolous. We work with our clients to educate them through loss control how to deal with those frivolous lawsuits.
Loss control is beneficial for bars, package stores and restaurants because it keeps our costs down, which allows us to charge our customers less. We are a mutual company, which means we are owned by policyholders. Everything we do is ultimately in their collective interest.
Q: Has the cost of liquor licenses changed?
A: The cost of licenses is regulated by communities and changes from place to place, and there hasn’t been a significant change in the cost for a restaurant or bar to obtain a license to sell alcohol. As far as the cost to obtain liability coverage, that is dependent in large part on the customer’s history – a mixture of frequency of claims and risk factors.
Hospitality Insurance Group is a niche writer within the insurance business. While there are standard insurance companies that will write liquor liability policies for restaurants, the number of agencies who will write similar policies for bars or taverns is much less. It’s a risky line of business unless you really know the specifics of this type of insurance. Our expertise translates into knowing how to assess risk, how to handle insurance claims and how to help keep costs down for the customer.
Q: What is the different between this type of insurance in Connecticut versus Massachusetts?
A: The potential liability of establishments that serve liquor is defined by something called “Dram Shop Laws.” Connecticut’s Dram Shop Law is somewhat unique in that it limits the liability to $250,000 for any single incident except in a case of the reckless service of alcohol. This limit helps keep insurance more affordable for Connecticut bars and restaurants.
Welch’s Five Favorite Writers:
- Jon Krakauer
- Michael Lewis
- Charles Mann
- Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Levitt & Dubner
August 2018 Liquor Liability Insurance Policies
Take a look at some of the liquor liability insurance policies Hospitality Insurance Group wrote in August 2018 including the type of coverage included, insurance discounts applied and a glimpse at the total insurance premium.
- Restaurant
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Cumberland RI
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250,000 per person /$500,000 Per Occ/$500,000 Agg
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$250,000
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40%
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Optional GL A&B
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- Alcohol Awareness Training
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$1,199.00
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Type of Establishment: Restaurant
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Orwigsburg, PA
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1,000,000/1,000,000/2,000,000
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254,138
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41%
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GL A&B
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- Alcohol Awareness Training
- Elite Discount
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$6,458
- Bar
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Charlotte, North Carolina
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$1M/$2M
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$1,901,233
-
100%
-
GL A&B, Property Damage
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- Alcohol Awareness Training
- Member of Restaurant Association
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GL – $26,899 LL- $60,583
If you are an Independent Insurance Agent, click here to learn more about working with Hospitality Insurance Group to provide liquor liability insurance to your customers.
If you are a business owner looking for liquor liability insurance coverage, click here to contact one of our preferred Independent Insurance Agents or find answers to some of your frequently asked questions about our insurance coverage here.
Meet Our Administrative Assistant, Christine!
In August, we welcomed Christine to Hospitality Insurance Group as an Administrative Assistant at our headquarters in Southborough, Massachusetts. Get to know Christine in our latest Q&A interview below.
What is your full name?
Christine
Where do you live?
Sutton MA.
Tell us a little bit about your background.
Retired from the Massachusetts Department of Correction after 32 years of service. Began my career as a Correction Officer at the women’s facility in MCI Framingham and transferred to North Central Correctional Institution in Gardner MA. which is a male facility. During my tenure with the DOC I held numerous positions to include investigator and ascended to the rank of Superintendent.
Since we’re in the hospitality business, what is your favorite drink of choice to order when out with friends? (cocktail, beer, wine, etc.)
DiSaronno on the rocks.
What is your favorite restaurant in your area?
Mare Y Monte in Worcester
What do you enjoy doing most in your spare time?
Golf and anything outdoors, Working out at the gym.
If you could go to any Boston sporting event, what would it be? (Boston Bruins, Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics)
Patriots
Tell us something that makes you unique or something wacky, yet interesting about you? I enjoy riding a motorcycle.
How can people contact you?
Christine Verdini
Administrative Assistant
Hospitality Insurance Group
Office: 774-512-9258
Cverdini@hmic.com
Excess Liability – Expanded Guidelines and Reduced Pricing
Excess Liability – Expanded Guidelines and Reduced Pricing
Hospitality Insurance Group’s new expanded guidelines and reduced pricing for independent insurance agents who write an excess liability policy are effective immediately!
When writing an excess liability policy with us in the past we required that the Liquor Liability and General Liability coverages be written with us. Our new expanded guidelines allow you to also write an Excess Liability policy with us when we write the Liquor Liability and the General Liability is written as part of a BOP with an A. M. Best A rated or better carrier. This should provide you with additional opportunities to write Excess Liability policies with us.
We have also REDUCED minimum premiums on our excess policies. The $1MM Excess minimum premium has been reduced to $750 from $1,000 and $2MM minimum premiums have been reduced to $500 from $750.
Thank you for your business and continued support.
Be sure to sign up for our email list here to be notified of more changes and new products as we continue to expand our offerings to earn more of your business.
July 2018 Liquor Liability Insurance Policies
Take a look at some of the liquor liability insurance policies Hospitality Insurance Group wrote in July 2018 including the type of coverage included, insurance discounts applied and a glimpse at the total insurance premium.
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Tavern
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Bethlehem, PA
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1,000,000/1,000,000/2,000,000
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$527,000
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62% Liquor
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GL A&B
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- Alcohol Awareness Training
- Member of Restaurant Association
- $14,074
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Social Club
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New Haven, CT
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500,000 Per Person /$1,000,000 Per Occ/$1,000,000 Agg Limit
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$120,000
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41%
-
Optional A&B
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- Alcohol Awareness Training
- $919.00
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Restaurant
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Bedford, NH
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1M/1M/2M
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3,500,000
-
21
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None
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- Alcohol Awareness Training
- Member of Restaurant Association
- $5,922
If you are an Independent Insurance Agent, click here to learn more about working with Hospitality Insurance Group to provide liquor liability insurance to your customers.
If you are a business owner looking for liquor liability insurance coverage, click here to contact one of our preferred Independent Insurance Agents or find answers to some of your frequently asked questions about our insurance coverage here.
June 2018 Liquor Liability Insurance Policies
June 2018 Liquor Liability Insurance Policies
Take a look at some of the liquor liability insurance policies Hospitality Insurance Group wrote in June 2018 including the type of coverage included, insurance discounts applied and a glimpse at the total insurance premium.
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Private Bar
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Wake Forest, NC
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$1M/$2M
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144,000
-
100%
-
GL A & B, Property Damage
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- Alcohol Awareness Training
- Member of Restaurant Association
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$4641 (LL – $2584 , GL – $825, CP – $1222)
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Social Club
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Pawtucket, RI
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$1,000,000 pp/1,000,000 per occ/2,000,000 Agg
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$40,000
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80%
-
Optional GL A&B
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- Alcohol Awareness Training
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$1032
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Wine Bar
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North Andover, MA
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$1000000
-
318912
-
71%
-
N/A
-
- Alcohol Awareness Training
- Member of Restaurant Association
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$6876
If you are an Independent Insurance Agent, click here to learn more about working with Hospitality Insurance Group to provide liquor liability insurance to your customers.
If you are a business owner looking for liquor liability insurance coverage, click here to contact one of our preferred Independent Insurance Agents or find answers to some of your frequently asked questions about our insurance coverage here.
Agent Update: Verification Of Restaurant Sales
We are pleased to announce the following changes to our current audit procedures to simplify our liquor liability insurance renewal and new hospitality insurance submissions, increase the accuracy of pricing, and eliminate the unpopular audit process.
Our current process requires two steps, one for completing the renewal application and a request for the insured to complete a self-audit. Over the years this process has been confusing to policyholders and compliance on self-audits has been very low.
Billing additional premium for an expired policy term is confusing and upsetting to insureds. To enhance our ease of doing business we are combining these steps into a new one-step process described below.
Effective October 1, 2018, we will discontinue the practice of sending self-liquor-audit requests to policyholders. Sales verification information of the restaurant (see options to choose from) will now be submitted with new and renewal business applications and will provide us with the ability to accurately price business on the new or renewal date for the upcoming policy period with no further action required.
Verification will eliminate the need to process audit premium invoices for additional and return premiums as we’ll only look to make policy sales figure changes prospectively.
To provide you with additional time to gather the sales verification information, we will be increasing the lead time for receiving your agency’s policy expiration list from 60 days to 90 days.
You may find a listing of the options for sales verification below.
For new restaurant ventures, we’ll accept a pro forma business plan with estimates for sales and base our quotes on that estimate. You may review sales transactions after six months and endorse the policy to reduce/increase sales based on actual supported sales results.
Sales verification is a critical item in developing and maintaining a competitive rate structure, and we appreciate the input we received from many of you while we were developing this new process.
Thank you in advance for your help in making this a more efficient and policyholder friendly experience.
*Sales Verification Documentation Options
- Print out of the insured’s POS system for the past 12 months
- MassTaxConnect – Mass online Sales Tax form for the past 12 months (Massachusetts Only)
- Accounting statement for the past 12 months (signed by a licensed accountant)
- Pro Forma business plan (new ventures only)
You can find the new liquor liability application form here and the renewal application here.
Disclaimer: While we intend to replace the majority of premium audits with this new procedure, Liquor Liability policies remain auditable, and the company reserves the right to audit any insurance policy.