Café and bar insurance
You serve the public all day, in a room you do not always own. If a customer is injured or someone else's property is damaged and they hold you responsible, your cover handles the defence costs and any compensation due.
Cover for injury or damage you cause to others, on your premises or at a booking you work.
Public liability from €7.55 per month, with cover limits up to €6.5 million per claim.
Quote, buy and be covered online, without waiting on a broker to call you back. Cancel anytime.
Business insurance, done differently.
Fully online business insurance in Ireland.
A few questions and you're covered.
No lock-in, no long contracts.
Excess from €0, up to €6.5 million of cover.
Why take out business insurance as a café or bar?
A room full of customers, a service running at pace, and neighbours on the other side of the wall. Here is why dedicated cover matters:
The public is on your premises every day: a customer can slip near the service station, catch a hot plate or be hurt by furniture that gives way. Public liability takes care of your defence costs and the compensation due when they hold you responsible.
What you serve carries a risk you cannot see: a supplier's error, a break in the cold chain or a mislabelled dish can affect several customers at once. Cover responds to third-party injury claims arising from the food and drink you serve, including takeaway orders.
Other people's property is all around you: a neighbouring unit, a landlord's building, a venue you work in. If your business damages property that is not yours, public liability answers the claim. Landlords, shopping centres and local authorities in Ireland routinely ask for proof of cover before they let you trade.
Insify covers the wider sector too. See our hospitality insurance page, or the page for restaurant insurance.
What is public liability insurance?
If a third party, such as a customer, a neighbour or a landlord, holds you responsible for an injury or for damage to their property, public liability insurance takes care of your defence costs and any compensation due.
What does it cover?
Injury or property damage caused to others in the course of running your café or bar. You choose a cover limit of €1.25 million, €2.5 million or €6.5 million per claim, with twice that amount available across a policy year. Optional cover can be added: employers' liability (€13 million per claim) if you have staff, and third-party objects and sites (€5,000 per claim) for property belonging to someone else while it is in your care.
Cover that fits your business
You describe your activities fully at sign-up, and your cover matches what you actually do: table service, counter service and takeaway, on your own premises or at a booking.
Is it mandatory?
Public liability isn't required by law in Ireland. In practice, landlords, shopping centres, food halls and local-authority permits usually require proof of cover before you can trade, and a corporate client booking a private function will often ask for a certificate. Cover starts from €7.55 per month.
Who needs it?
Any café, bar or similar venue serving customers in person, whether they sit in, stand at the counter or take their order away.
What does our insurance cover for cafés and bars?
Our cover is built around public liability, with 2 optional covers you can add to match your situation.
Public liability: responds if a customer or another third party suffers an injury, or their property is damaged, in the course of your business. It takes care of your defence costs and any compensation due. You choose a cover limit of €1.25 million, €2.5 million or €6.5 million per claim, with twice that across a policy year.
Employers' liability (optional): if you employ floor or kitchen staff, this covers your liability as an employer, with a limit of €13 million per claim. It is not compulsory in Ireland.
Third-party objects and sites (optional): covers damage to premises or items belonging to someone else while they are in your care, up to €5,000 per claim.
What you pay towards a claim: your excess. If your turnover is up to €500,000, you can choose €0, €250, €500, €1,000 or €2,500. Above that the options are €500, €1,000 or €2,500.
Who can apply: cafés and bars with turnover up to €10 million and up to 30 people.
What's covered
Restaurant operations and food service
Takeaway food service
Use of land, buildings or premises for the insured activity
Participation in or execution of business trips
Public liability cover: injury or damage caused to third parties in the course of your business
Optional: employers' liability if you employ staff (€13 million per claim)
Optional: third-party objects and sites, for property in your care (€5,000 per claim)
Matters under supervision (such as matters from customers that are processed for repair work)
Cover and exclusions shown are indicative and non-contractual. Only the terms of your policy apply.
Claim examples for cafés and bars
Several customers at a private function fall ill after a service and hold your business responsible for the compensation and their medical costs. Public liability takes care of your defence costs and the compensation due. Illustrative example, not a guarantee of what a claim would pay.
A customer slips on a wet floor beside the service station and fractures a wrist. Public liability covers your defence costs and the compensation due to the customer. Illustrative example, not a guarantee of what a claim would pay.
A fire that starts in your kitchen spreads into the unit next door, and your neighbour claims against you for the damage to their property. Public liability responds to the damage to a third party's property. Illustrative example, not a guarantee of what a claim would pay.
Several customers at a private function fall ill after a service and hold your business responsible for the compensation and their medical costs. Public liability takes care of your defence costs and the compensation due. Illustrative example, not a guarantee of what a claim would pay.
A customer slips on a wet floor beside the service station and fractures a wrist. Public liability covers your defence costs and the compensation due to the customer. Illustrative example, not a guarantee of what a claim would pay.
A fire that starts in your kitchen spreads into the unit next door, and your neighbour claims against you for the damage to their property. Public liability responds to the damage to a third party's property. Illustrative example, not a guarantee of what a claim would pay.
Examples are for illustrative purposes only. Compensation depends on the exact circumstances of the claim. No rights can be derived from these examples.
Your business insurance with Insify SmartGuide
Taking out insurance can be quick. Making sure you have the right cover is another matter. With Insify SmartGuide, you don't sign a contract blindly. You ask all your questions, and get clear, immediate and personalised answers, before you take out a policy.
Are you covered if you accidentally damage a client's equipment while working?
What excess should you choose?
Are you protected in the event of a dispute with a client?
Insify SmartGuide guides you step by step to understand what's covered, what isn't, and why. In just a few clicks, you build insurance that's truly tailored to your business, with complete confidence. Try Insify SmartGuide. Understand your insurance before you need it.
How to choose the right insurance as a café or bar owner?
Criteria to compare:
The cover offered: check that the policy matches how you actually trade. Table service, counter service, takeaway and off-site work are different risks, and every one of them needs to be declared. Damage cover concerns property belonging to other people, such as a neighbouring unit or a venue you work in.
The price: compare premiums, but read what sits behind an unusually low one. A policy that excludes part of how you trade is not competitive, whatever it costs.
The excess: find out what stays at your own expense when a claim happens, because it changes both your premium and what a small claim is actually worth to you.
The exclusions: read the exclusions list before you buy and check it against everything you actually do. A service you have not declared is not covered, so describe the full operation at sign-up, including anything that started recently.
The service: an accident can happen at any moment. Choose an insurer that is easy to reach and understands food and drink service. At Insify, our online support team knows the specifics of your work.
Mistakes to avoid: don't settle for a generic business policy that was never written with a kitchen and a service floor in mind, and don't leave a side of the business undeclared because it only started recently. To secure your business today, discover our public liability insurance.
More than 40,000 entrepreneurs trust us
When I had to make a claim, I was amazed how quickly and efficiently it was handled. Within a few days I had a resolution.
Very friendly, quick and thorough. It gives me real confidence in taking out the cover. The company feels genuinely transparent, exactly what I look for. You don't find that often.
Very friendly, quick and thorough. It gives me real confidence in taking out the cover. The company feels genuinely transparent, exactly what I look for. You don't find that often.
When I had to make a claim, I was amazed how quickly and efficiently it was handled. Within a few days I had a resolution.
The cover itself was sorted quickly, and when I later needed support I got that fast too.
Very friendly, quick and thorough. It gives me real confidence in taking out the cover. The company feels genuinely transparent, exactly what I look for. You don't find that often.
When I had to make a claim, I was amazed how quickly and efficiently it was handled. Within a few days I had a resolution.
The cover itself was sorted quickly, and when I later needed support I got that fast too.
Answers to your questions about our insurance for cafés and bars
Public liability cover starts from €7.55 per month with Insify. What you actually pay depends on your turnover, how many people you employ, the cover limit you pick and the excess you accept. A small counter-service café with no employees sits near the bottom of the range, and a larger room with staff and function bookings sits higher. You can see your own price online in a few minutes, and adjust the cover limit and excess to see how each one moves the premium. There is no long-term contract, so you can cancel anytime.
Public liability isn't required by law in Ireland. In practice it is close to unavoidable, because the people who let you trade tend to insist on it. Landlords usually make it a condition of the lease, shopping centres and food halls ask for proof before you open, and local authorities ask when you apply for street furniture or a market pitch. A corporate client booking a private function will often ask for a certificate too. Since your customers are on your premises every day, the practical case for cover is stronger here than in most trades.
Yes, that is the core of what it does. If a customer is injured on your premises through something your business did or failed to do, and they hold you responsible, public liability meets the compensation and the cost of defending the claim, up to the cover limit you chose. A slip near the service station and a scald from a plate or a drink are both third-party injury claims. You pay your excess and the policy covers the rest. What it does not do is cover injury to you or to your own staff: a claim brought by an employee needs employers' liability, which you can add to the policy.
If you employ anyone, including part-time and casual floor and kitchen staff, employers' liability is the cover that answers a claim from an employee injured at work. It is an optional addition to your public liability policy rather than a separate product, and it covers up to €13 million per claim. It is not compulsory in Ireland, unlike some other markets. A service floor and a kitchen concentrate exactly the hazards these claims come from: heat, glass, wet floors and long shifts under pressure. Public liability on its own will not respond to an employee's claim, so if you have anyone on the payroll this is the first thing to add.
The excess is the part of a claim you pay yourself. If a claim settles at €6,000 and your excess is €500, you pay €500 and Insify pays €5,500. If your turnover is up to €500,000, you can choose €0, €250, €500, €1,000 or €2,500. Above that the options are €500, €1,000 or €2,500. A higher excess usually lowers your monthly premium, but it leaves more out of pocket when something happens. A lower excess costs a little more each month and limits surprises.
Property belonging to someone else while it is in your care is covered by third-party objects and sites, which you can add as an optional cover of up to €5,000 per claim. Damage to a customer's property that is not in your care, for example a jacket they are wearing when a drink is spilled on it, is an ordinary third-party property claim under public liability. If cloakroom storage or holding customers' belongings is a regular part of how you operate, say so at sign-up so the cover matches.
No. Public liability covers injury and damage you cause to other people and their property, not damage to things you own. Cover for your own fit-out, kitchen equipment, stock and premises is not part of what Insify offers in Ireland today, so you would need to arrange that separately. If that is your main concern, it is worth saying so before you buy, so you are clear about what this policy does and does not do.
Takeaway food service is one of the activities included, and cover extends to the use of land, buildings or premises for your insured activity, so working a booking away from your own room is within scope once you have declared it. Participation in or execution of business trips is included as well. The important thing is to tell us when the way you trade changes. A side of the business that started after you bought the policy and was never declared is not covered, and that is the most common reason a claim runs into trouble.