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.