Owning a café or restaurant is about more than just serving great food and coffee. it’s about creating an experience your customers love. But behind the scenes, running a hospitality business comes with serious risks: fire, equipment breakdowns, injuries, and even food contamination can all disrupt operations and cost thousands. That’s where café and restaurant insurance comes in. The right policy protects your livelihood, your staff, and your customers, giving you peace of mind to focus on what you do best.

What the policy usually covers

For a business such as a café or restaurant (or an “unlicensed venue” vs licensed), typical covers include:

Core covers

• Public (and Products) Liability – covers you if a member of the public is injured on your premises or their property is damaged, and you are legally liable.
• Property / Contents Insurance – covers your building or fit-out (if you own it), and contents such as furniture, fixtures, equipment (coffee machines, ovens, deep fryers etc) from damage (fire, storm, vandalism) or theft.
• Machinery / Equipment Breakdown – covers specialised equipment breakdown (e.g., refrigeration, ovens, deep-fryer systems) and potentially spoilage of stock due to equipment failure.
• Business Interruption / Loss of Income – if an insured event (fire, storm, equipment breakdown) forces you to shut or reduces your trade, this cover helps you by compensating for lost income or increased costs while trading is impacted.
• Product Liability – especially for businesses preparing/supplying food: if someone is made ill (e.g., food poisoning) because of your product/service, this cover kicks in.
• Workers’ Compensation (if you have employees) – mandatory in Australia; covers injuries/illnesses suffered by employees while working.
• Optional/Additional covers might include glass breakage (shopfront, display cabinets) theft, employee dishonesty, management liability, cyber risk etc.

Special considerations for food-businesses / hospitality

• Because you have cooking equipment (ovens, hobs, deep fryers, extraction/ventilation systems) you may have higher risks of fire, equipment breakdown, grease fires, ventilation failure etc. So insurers will often ask extra questions about kitchen setup, extraction systems, deep-fryer maintenance etc.
• If you serve alcohol (i.e., you are a licensed venue) or late-night trading, you may have additional risk (liquor liability, higher foot-traffic, more risk of customer injury) which can push premium up.
• “Unlicensed venue” (no alcohol) vs “licensed” (with alcohol) makes a difference: fewer risks associated with alcohol means lower risk rating.
• If you have deep-fryers, the presence of high-risk equipment may increase your premiums or require stricter maintenance standards.
• If you’re a café (lighter menu, maybe no late-night trading, smaller footprint) vs a full-service restaurant (larger kitchen, more staff, bigger turnover) the risk footprint is different (and so the premium will tend to differ).
• Location, size (turnover, number of seats/staff), trading hours, past claims history will all influence the cost.

How much does it cost?

While every business is different, here are some indicative figures and how you can estimate.

Public Liability cost

• For hospitality / restaurant businesses in Australia the average public liability premium is less than $100 a month.
• Many smaller operations pay less: than $75 a month for smaller businesses.
• Note: These are only for the Public Liability portion; full business insurance packages cost more.

Business Insurance Package / Full Cover

The actual premium will vary widely depending on business size, turnover, equipment value, risk controls, location etc.

Example: breaking down by different scenarios

Here’s how variables affect cost:

• A small café, no alcohol, limited kitchen (maybe just coffee + light meals), moderate turnover, minimal deep-fryer equipment → lower premium (could be under A$1,500-2,500/year for basic covers)
• A full-service restaurant, maybe licensed (alcohol), large kitchen, deep-fryers, multiple staff, high turnover, late-night trading → premium might be several thousand dollars/year (or many tens of thousands, depending on size and risk).
• If you add high-risk equipment (deep fryers, heavy extraction, full commercial kitchen) you’ll pay more, potentially higher excesses or tighter conditions.

Specific factors: Unlicensed venues, deep fryers, café vs restaurant

Here’s how those specific factors influence your insurance.

Unlicensed vs Licensed

• Unlicensed (no alcohol): Generally lower liability risk related to alcohol-related incidents, so insurer risk is lower → lower premium or better terms.
• Licensed (serves/holds liquor licence): Higher risk (alcohol related injury, late hours, maybe more public liability claims) → higher premiums, perhaps need for liquor liability extension.
• You should check with your insurer if your business has a liquor licence or serves drinks—this matters.

Presence of Deep Fryers / Commercial Kitchen

• Deep fryers add risk: grease fires, higher fire load, ventilation/extraction failure, hot oil injuries.
• Insurers will likely ask about kitchen extraction, fire suppression (hoods, sprinklers), deep-fryer maintenance, staff training. If you have good risk controls (fire suppression system, maintenance logs), the effect on premium may be moderated.
• If your equipment is high value (deep-fryer systems, large ovens, refrigeration) this boosts the asset value and risk of breakdown/spoilage → increases premium for the machinery breakdown + contents cover.

Café vs Restaurant

• Café: Typically smaller scale, lighter menu (coffee + snacks/food), earlier trading hours, possibly less large-scale kitchen equipment. Risk is lower, so premiums tend to be lower.
• Restaurant: Larger scale, more complex kitchen, higher turnover, possibly alcohol, later trading hours, more staff → higher risk → higher premiums.

Recommended “what to include” checklist

When you’re arranging insurance for your café/restaurant, you should consider ensuring your policy covers (or you add) these:

• Public & Products Liability (if someone is injured or suffers food poisoning for example)
• Contents & Equipment Insurance (covering your kitchen equipment, furniture, fit-out)
• Machinery Breakdown/Equipment Failure (especially for refrigeration, deep fryers, ovens)
• Business Interruption / Loss of Income (so that if you are shut for an insured event you have cover)
• Product Liability (especially food businesses) – this is automatically included in public liability insurance.
• Glass & Signage (if you have large glass shopfronts or display windows)
• Theft of contents/stock
• Money cover
• Workers’ Compensation (if you have employees)
• Check your lease: often landlords require minimum public liability and glass cover.

How Morgan Insurance Brokers Helps You Get the Best Deal

At Morgan Insurance Brokers, we take the time to understand your business inside and out from your kitchen setup and equipment to your staffing levels and turnover. Every café and restaurant is different, and your insurance should reflect that.

We work with a large panel of trusted Australian insurers, allowing us to compare multiple quotes on your behalf. This means you don’t just get the cheapest price you get the best value coverage restaurant insurance tailored to your venue’s unique risks.

Our brokers specialise in the hospitality and food industry, so we know what insurers look for when pricing risk (like deep-fryer safety systems, ventilation maintenance, or alcohol service). We’ll negotiate with insurers to ensure your café or restaurant gets the broadest protection at the most competitive rate.

Summary

• A small café might pay under A$1,000-2,000/year for a basic (liability + contents) cover, depending on size & risk.
• A larger restaurant with full kitchen, deep fryers, alcohol, higher turnover could pay several thousands of dollars/year — premium depends on many variables.
• Public liability for hospitality often averages less than $100 a month for most venues.
• The more “risk factors” you have (deep fryers, alcohol licence, high turnover) the higher the premium.