Commercial liquor liability and host liquor exposure are different, and the insured's actual activity determines the treatment.
Casualty and Excess
Liquor Liability.
Alcohol sales are only the first number. Hours, service model, security, and incident control tell the rest of the risk.
Liquor liability can respond to covered claims arising from the sale, service, or furnishing of alcohol. State law, license type, alcohol receipts, hours, entertainment, security, server practices, transportation, prior incidents, and assault or battery treatment materially affect the placement.
Placement context
Facts to confirm before applying.
A bar at 6 p.m. and the same bar at 1:30 a.m. are different risks. Tell us who checks IDs, who stops service, who handles conflict, whether patrons dance, how they leave, and what happened in prior incidents. The operating rhythm matters more than the menu description.
Coverage scope
What the coverage may address.
Assault and battery, security, entertainment, special events, and off-premises service may be excluded or separately limited.
Defense, aggregate, common-cause language, additional insureds, and state law can alter the practical protection.
Placement factors
Facts that affect placement.
- Bars, taverns, nightclubs, restaurants, events, breweries, or mobile alcohol service
- Late hours, entertainment, security, high alcohol receipts, or difficult jurisdictions
- Assault and battery exposure, prior incidents, or adverse loss history
- Special events, new ventures, or coverage not available with the general liability placement
Coverage and access are separate questions
Coverage guidance does not confirm a current market route, quote, policy terms, or bind authority for a particular account.
Submission preparation
Prepare a consistent underwriting file.
Account narrative
Describe a busy night from opening through last call: licenses, sales mix, service, training, security, entertainment, transport, incidents, and the exact assault or battery terms requested.
Include these facts
- Alcohol, food, and total receipts with operating hours and service model
- Licenses, server training, ID checks, security, transportation, and incident controls
- Entertainment, dancing, promotions, events, and occupancy information
- Currently valued losses, incidents, violations, and requested assault and battery terms
Resolve these questions before market review
- Who sells or serves alcohol, where, and under which license?
- What portion of receipts comes from alcohol?
- What training, ID, security, and incident controls operate?
- What entertainment, hours, events, or prior incidents increase exposure?
Submission errors
Avoid these three issues.
- Quoting liquor receipts without food receipts, hours, or service details
- Saying no entertainment when there are DJs, dancing, karaoke, promoters, or ticketed events
- Sending loss runs without incident logs or an explanation of corrective action
Hedge resources
Forms and class guidance for this coverage.
Hedge-owned form
Hedge Liquor Liability Supplemental
A fillable Hedge supplemental for liquor liability exposures.
Read and downloadHedge-owned form
Hedge Restaurant, Bar and Tavern Supplemental
A fillable Hedge supplemental for restaurants, bars, taverns, and related hospitality risks.
Read and downloadHedge-owned form
Hedge Loss and Claims Supplement
A fillable Hedge supplement for organizing prior losses, claims, and open-claim detail for wholesale review.
Read and downloadClass appetite
Bars & nightclubs
Read the public, directional class guidance and prepare for account-specific review.
Review class guidanceClass appetite
Restaurants
Read the public, directional class guidance and prepare for account-specific review.
Review class guidanceClass appetite
Breweries & distilleries
Read the public, directional class guidance and prepare for account-specific review.
Review class guidanceClass appetite
Food trucks & mobile food
Read the public, directional class guidance and prepare for account-specific review.
Review class guidanceRelated coverage
Review related exposures.
Casualty and Excess
Commercial General Liability
The class code gets the file opened. The operations narrative gets it quoted.
Open coverageCasualty and Excess
Commercial Umbrella and Excess Liability
More limit is not the same as more coverage.
Open coverageProperty and Package
Commercial Property
A property file is a story about what can burn, break, blow away, or stop the business.
Open coverageHedge review
Send the account for review.
You do not need a perfect packet to start. Send the account, requested line, effective date, current applications, available loss information, and the fact making the placement difficult. Hedge will separate missing information from market-ready information before any account-specific route is confirmed.