Bars and other similar establishments, like most businesses, need insurance policies that are designed to protect them from the particular risks they face. If you run a bar in Massachusetts, here are some of the coverages you may want included in your establishment’s bar insurance policy.

What Bar Insurance Coverages Should My Massachusetts Establishment Have in Its Insurance Policy?

General Liability Coverage

General liability coverage is purchased by many different businesses (including many bars) to protect them from certain types of liability lawsuits and claims. While the exact protections that a policy’s general liability coverage provides can vary, this coverage typically helps protect a business from liability suits related to:

• Injuries and property damage that third parties sustain while on a business property
• Some injuries or property damage that a business’ product causes
• False advertising, slander and libel accusations

This coverage isn’t unique to bars, but it’s one that most establishments can ill-afford to be without. These are risks that almost any bar faces and, therefore, should be protected from.

Liquor Liability Coverage

Liquor liability coverage helps protect a business from liability lawsuits and claims that arise from alcohol-related incidents. Such incidents may include assault and battery cases, sexual assault cases and auto accidents that intoxicated individuals are involved in. While bars may not be directly involved in these incidents, they’re often held responsible for the incidents if they’ve let the involved individuals become intoxicated.

These kinds of incidents are typically excluded from general liability coverage, which makes liquor liability coverage an important protection for any business that serves alcohol. WIthout this coverage in your establishment’s bar insurance policy, a single alcohol-related incident could leave your business financially devastated.

Assault and Battery Coverage

Assault and battery coverage normally covers incidents where there is “expected or intended injury” from the viewpoint of the policyholder. In other words, this coverage usually protects businesses when a business’ owner or employee is involved in an assault and battery incident while working. (The business is generally regarded as the policyholder, and the actions of owners and employees are frequently seen as being from the business’ viewpoint.)

These incidents are often excluded from liquor liability coverage, which usually only covers assault and battery involving a drunk patron. Therefore, this coverage is needed in case you, a bartender or bouncer needs to take action against an unruly customer — and is held liable for injuring the customer.

Workers Compensation Coverage

General liability, liquor liability, and assault and battery coverages offer protection for third parties who are injured in various scenarios. These coverages normally don’t cover employees who are injured while working, though. For that, your business will need to include workers compensation coverage in its tavern insurance policy.

Workers compensation coverage generally covers employees who suffer work-related injuries or illnesses. Covered injuries might include anything from a repetitive motion injury caused by serving lots of drinks to a fractured bone caused by a patron who attacks an employee. Most businesses in Massachusetts that have employees are required by law to carry this coverage.

Commercial Property Coverage

Commercial property coverage helps protect the property that a business needs. This may include land, buildings, equipment, supplies and other types of property. Depending on a policy’s commercial property coverage terms and conditions, it might protect items like these from wind damage, fire, theft and other perils.

Your establishment will probably need some form of commercial property coverage included in its tavern insurance policy. If your establishment owns the building it’s in, you’ll want to make sure the building is insured. Even if there isn’t a building that needs to be insured, you’ll still want protection for the equipment and supplies your bar has.

Get Your Massachusetts Establishment the Bar Insurance Coverages It Needs

These are just some of the many coverages that may be included in a bar insurance policy and your establishment may need. For help determining all of the coverages your Massachusetts establishment needs and finding a policy that provides those coverages, contact an independent insurance agent who specializes in tavern insurance.