The restaurant insurance quote folder: what to gather before you ask for a quote or renewal

A restaurant insurance quote is only as accurate as the information behind it. The California Department of Insurance tells business owners that the more credible information they provide in the application process, the better a broker-agent can assess their insurance needs and present options. Sales, payroll, square footage, and claims history are the inputs an underwriter uses to rate the account. When one of them is missing or estimated, the quote is slower to arrive or has to be reissued after the real number shows up.

The checklist below is organized as six folders: current policies and contracts, loss history, sales and operations, payroll and people, building and equipment, and vehicles. Each folder says what to gather and why an underwriter asks for it. You do not need every item to start a conversation with an agent. You do need them before a carrier will commit to terms, so collecting them early keeps the renewal from running up against the expiration date.

Start with what you have now. Save the declarations pages, endorsements, and schedules for every current policy: property, general liability, liquor liability, workers' compensation, commercial auto, and umbrella. The California Department of Insurance says a broker-agent will ask to review your current policy to compare limits, exposure bases, business classifications, exclusions, and endorsements, and to find gaps, errors, or overlaps. The department also notes that it is not necessary to share the premiums you have paid, though you should be forthcoming with other information that affects your operations.

Add the contracts that dictate your coverage. Copy the insurance clause from your lease, the insurance conditions from your loan documents, and, for a franchise, the insurance sections of the franchise agreement. Note who must be named as an additional insured and who must receive a certificate. Then put every date on one cover sheet: each policy's expiration date, the lease's deadline for proof of insurance, and any lender deadline. Our article on California restaurant insurance requirements explains where each of those requirements comes from.

Loss runs come from your insurers, not from your own files, so request them first. California law gives you a right to them. Under Insurance Code section 679.7, a commercial insurer that receives a written request from the insured must provide a premium and loss history report within 10 business days when the request is made within 60 days before the renewal date, or when the policy is canceled or nonrenewed. Section 11663.5 sets the same rule for workers' compensation policies. Your agent or broker of record can make the request if you authorize it.

The report covers the account's tenure or the three-year period ending with the start of the current policy period, whichever is shorter, plus loss experience during the current period. The statute says a loss history report includes a list of individual claims detailed by date of claim and total incurred and paid losses. If you have changed carriers within that period, you will need a report from each one. Put the request in writing and keep a copy with the date you sent it.

For any claim on the report, write a short factual note. Say what happened, whether the claim is open or closed, and what you changed afterward, such as new floor mats, a repaired walk-in, or a revised closing procedure. Attach invoices or photos if you have them. Do not guess at amounts or leave a claim off. The underwriter will see it on the carrier's report either way, and your note is the only place your side of it appears.

Sales figures matter because they are a rating basis. The California Department of Insurance explains that general liability premium is calculated as rate times exposure, and that the exposure can be square footage, payroll, or gross sales depending on the classification. Bring gross sales for the last full year and a projection for the coming year. If you serve alcohol, show alcohol sales as a separate figure from food sales. The department lists liquor liability among the major exclusions under a commercial general liability policy, so alcohol exposure is underwritten as its own coverage.

Include your alcohol license and server training records. The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control describes a Type 41 license as beer and wine for an eating place, a Type 47 as beer, wine, and distilled spirits for an eating place, and a Type 48 as a general license for bars and night clubs where food service is not required. The license type tells an underwriter what kind of operation it is. The department also requires Responsible Beverage Service certification for servers and managers within 60 days of their first date of employment, valid for three years, so keep a current roster.

Describe the operation in plain terms. List the hours you are open, the closing time on your latest night, seating capacity, and whether you offer delivery, catering, a banquet room, live entertainment, or a patio. Say who makes deliveries and in whose vehicles. Mention anything that changed in the last year, such as a remodel, a new fryer line, a liquor license upgrade, or a second location. An underwriter who learns about a change from an inspection report instead of from you has a reason to recheck the rest of the application.

Workers' compensation premium depends on payroll and job duties, so the payroll records need to be organized that way. The Department of Industrial Relations lists industry classification, experience modification, and payroll among the factors that determine the annual premium. The California Department of Insurance explains that classification is based on the specific duties employees perform, that the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau develops and assigns the classifications in most cases, and that each classification carries its own rate. Bring annual payroll broken out by what people do, the number of employees, and your payroll reports for recent quarters so the totals can be checked against each other.

Add your experience modification and your decision on owners. The department notes that the rating bureau generates the experience modification that must be applied to the policy, calculated from loss information insurers submit each year. Bring the current worksheet if you have one. The Department of Industrial Relations says officers and directors who fully own a corporation may elect to be excluded from coverage, so write down who is included and who is excluded. Our post on California restaurant workers' comp in 2026 covers the restaurant class codes and how to review a modification.

Property coverage is rated on the building's physical facts. The California Department of Insurance lists the factors in the building rating formula as including square footage, type of construction, whether the building is sprinklered, and the fire protection classification. Gather the address, year built, construction type, square footage, and number of stories. Note whether you own the building or lease it, and if you lease, what the lease makes you responsible for insuring. A lease can make the tenant responsible for insuring the tenant improvements.

Document the kitchen's fire protection and the equipment you would have to replace. Underwriters commonly ask for the service records on the hood, duct, and fire suppression system, the alarm and sprinkler monitoring details, and dates of updates to electrical, plumbing, heating, and roof. Add a list of major equipment with replacement values and the value of your furniture, fixtures, and inventory. Use what it would cost to replace each item today, not what you paid. Photos of the cook line and the suppression system tag help a reviewer who cannot visit.

Bring the numbers behind a business income limit. The California Department of Insurance describes business interruption coverage as replacing lost business income after a covered loss. To set that limit, an underwriter needs to see what the restaurant earns and what expenses would continue during a closure. Monthly sales for the last year, your profit and loss statement, and your rent and loan payments are the usual starting point. Seasonal swings are worth pointing out, because a loss in your busiest month costs more than one in your slowest.

If the restaurant owns a vehicle, list it with its year, make, model, and vehicle identification number, along with every driver. The DMV requires insurance on all vehicles operated or parked on California roads. If employees use their own cars for deliveries, bank runs, or supply pickups, say so even though those cars are not yours. The California Department of Insurance explains that a business auto policy can be written to cover non-owned or hired autos, and an underwriter cannot offer that coverage for a use nobody mentioned.

Three habits move a restaurant quote along. First, start early. Insurance Code section 679.7 lets you request loss history within 60 days before renewal and gives the insurer 10 business days to respond, so put the request on your calendar for the day that window opens. Second, make the numbers agree. Sales on the application should match your tax and point-of-sale records, and payroll should match your payroll reports. Third, name one person who answers underwriting questions, so a request does not sit in a shared inbox.

The delays are just as predictable. Missing loss runs, payroll that is not broken out by duties, an old square footage figure, and a lease nobody has read for its insurance clause each send the file back for another round. So does a change the application left out. None of this guarantees a particular price or that a given carrier will offer terms. It does mean the quote you receive reflects the restaurant you run, and that a second quote can be compared with the first on the same facts.