Sometimes you don’t feel like going to a bartender or a night club for a drink and what you want to do instead is head to the liquor store for some beverage that will gather friends for a fun night.
Liquor store owners seem to have it easy, but have you ever thought about the effort that goes into running it?
There are considerations when running a liquor business, but insurance is one of the most crucial parts of ensuring that it runs smoothly for a long time. We’re going to cover different kinds of insurance policies that you may want to take out when running an established or startup liquor business. We’ll also explain what goes into determining the cost of your insurance and we’ll cover three of the top liquor store insurance companies out there.
The first thing to do to protect your liquor store and ascertain that it stays operating in the future is to get general liability insurance. General liability insurance for liquor stores will take care of all personal injury claims that customers, food vendors, and other third parties will file against your business.
It’s uncertain whether it’s caused by alcoholic drinks or not, but numerous research has proved that the presence of liquor stores increases the risk of pedestrian injuries in an area. For example, the research published at the Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research states that “ each additional off-premise alcohol outlet was associated with a 12.3% increase in the rate of neighborhood pedestrian injury when controlling for convenience and corner stores and other confounders' ' .
Other researchers also explored the relationship between customer and employee injuries and violent crimes. One good example is the research published at the American Journal of Public Health, which showed that customer injuries are 31% more likely to happen when a violent crime happens at a liquor store and similar establishments.
Before showing you some real troublesome situations where general liability insurance can help, let’s first understand how alcoholic drinks can contribute to violent crimes. The disinhibition hypothesis explains why alcohol makes people aggressive. According to it, alcoholic drinks disrupt brain functions. In effect, the person might easily misunderstand social cues and interpret them as a threat, thereby leading to aggression.
At this point, let’s take a look at some situations where liquor stores found themselves at a sticky spot:
| What Happened? | Result |
|---|---|
| A liquor store in Tulsa, Oklahoma sold an alcoholic drink to a minor. The minor then got involved in a car wreck and died. Authorities didn’t report whether or not the minor was drunk when the accident happened. | The minor’s family filed a civil lawsuit against the liquor store demanding $1.5 million in compensation. |
| A man entered a liquor store to steal two bottles of booze. Much to his surprise, the owner takes notice of this and shoots the thief as he was going out. | The thief filed a lawsuit against the liquor store asking for $2.7 million in compensation for personal injuries. |
| Chong Ho Yi, shot a man in the face after he tried stealing some booze from the liquor shop. | The man suffered jaw injuries and filed a lawsuit against the owner demanding $100,000 compensation for pain and suffering. |
| A bar/liquor store customer got into a fight with a customer and sustained injuries as a result. | The man in question filed a lawsuit against the bar/liquor store accusing it of overserving alcohol and demanding $5.5 million compensation. |
| A customer knocked over a display. In response to this behavior, the owners of the liquor store tackled and handcuffed the customer to subdue him. | Residents of the community where the liquor store is operating filed a petition to revoke the selling rights of the liquor store. |
Business interruption and commercial property coverage are also useful for a liquor store and are usually part of liquor business insurance. These policies provide the money to cover lost profits and repair costs of damaged structures. One situation where these insurance policies become very helpful is when someone crashes their car into your liquor store. In fact, this happens commonly. Here are some examples:
A 58-year old woman crashed into a liquor store after trying to run over her partner with who she was not on good terms. Reports state that the damage to the liquor store amounts to $25,000.
A car crashed into a liquor store at West Kelowna damaging the glass panel and a metal beam, which is possibly one of the structures holding the door or the panel frame of the building.
A car rammed into a Burso Liquor Store destroying $10,000 worth of stocks.
A liquor store in Clarksville was beyond recognition after a car bulldozed it. Reports state that the driver of the vehicle was an old man suffering from a medical crisis while driving.
Kirch Liquor Store sustained damage amounting to $25,000 - $30,000 after one car in a collision accident rammed into it.
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The cost for liquor liability insurance for liquor stores varies per state and is also determined by the percentage of revenues. A store that is operating from liquor sales will pay more for liquor liability insurance than a business that only sells a small amount of liquor.
We don't want to leave you in the dark. And so, we went ahead and gathered the pricing of numerous insurance companies offering the best liquor store insurance. Using the data we gathered, the average cost of liquor store insurance is $84.67 per month or $1,016 per year for a $1 million general liability coverage.
| Company | Cost per month | Cost per year | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive | $81 | $972 | Managing your policy online |
| The Hartford | $82 | $984 | Medium-sized liquor stores |
| Feingold | $91 | $1,092 | Larger liquor stores |
| Average Cost | $84.67 | $1,016 |
If you want to find the best insurance companies for a liquor store quickly, then you’re in luck. We’ve gone ahead and found three of the best companies that you turn to.
But we don’t expect you to simply take our word for it without any proof, and to give you a better idea of what each company has to offer, we’ve created in-depth reviews of each that will allow you to see what they can do for you. We’ve even included a list of their pros and cons and rate for a $1 million general liability coverage.
Progressive is one of the oldest insurance companies in the USA, and while they may not match the longevity of companies like The Hartford, they still have plenty of experience. What makes Progressive unique is that they stay true to their name by being one of the most ever-evolving companies in the field.
Progressive offers insurance to liquor stores under its Liquor Liability program, and they offer either separate liquor liability coverage or as an add-on to their general liability insurance. This coverage can be coupled with other insurance policies from Progressive like their commercial property coverage.
Affordable
Easy to get a quote online
Quick to respond to claims
No bundled insurance with liquor liability
Average cost : $81
Best for : Managing your policy online
Our rating : 5/5
The Hartford is one of the oldest insurance companies in the United States, established in the early- to mid-1800s, and the company has made it through some of the toughest times in the nation’s history. As you would expect from the company’s name, they are based in Hartford, Connecticut.
Just like Progressive, The Hartford offers liquor liability insurance separate from its other policies but that doesn’t mean that you can’t get their other coverage, as well. Unfortunately, you can’t implement liquor liability into a traditional BOP, so you may end up spending a bit more for your coverage.
Reasonable price
Custom coverage limits
Quotes available online
Doesn't offer BOP with liquor liability
Average cost : $82
Best for : Medium-sized liquor stores
Our rating : 5/5
While Feingold Insurance has existed since 1935, in its current incarnation as The Feingold Companies, the business has been running since 2002. This agency mainly does business in Massachusetts, and they still benefit immensely from their near-century of being in the insurance industry.
Unlike the previous two companies, Feingold offers bundles to liquor stores that include liquor liability coverage, building coverage, crime coverage, and business personal property coverage. Feingold’s specialists are also willing to work with you to determine what kind of insurance you need most.
Bundle deals cut down the price
Experienced agents
Feingold specializes in working with liquor stores
Expensive
Average cost : $91
Best for : Larger liquor stores
Our rating : 5/5
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This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
As long as they cover your line of business, you're literally covered! best rates, best coverage, best online experience, best professionals, can't be happier that I chose them!
It really can't get any better than this... wow
Not all those who wander are lost.
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