Café Case Study

A day in the life of Accidental Anna

Anna is our case study character and her day of disasters will illustrate how having the right insurance cover is essential to your particular business. Fortunately, Anna does not exist. Her experiences are a compilation of the typical claims we receive from café operators.

Last year, Anna finally bought her dream business – a small café in a nice neighbourhood. Working hard, she’s built the café into a local institution. However, Wednesday turns out to be a day that Anna would sooner forget.

When she arrives at the café, she is shocked to find the front door has been smashed. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like the café has been broken into, but the door will have to be replaced. Anna’s business insurance includes coverage for malicious damage. Her cover will take care of replacing the door, and her glass breakage cover will meet the cost of replacing the neon sign Anna had just had installed above the door.

Anna arranges for temporary shutters to be installed – the cost of that will also be met under her insurance – and starts to get ready for the day. But when she gets into the kitchen, she discovers that one of the refrigerators has broken down overnight.

It will need to be replaced, as will all the food Anna had stored inside. Fortunately, the business will be covered for these costs under Anna’s machinery breakdown and loss of refrigerated stock cover.

When the mail arrives, Anna receives a letter she’s been dreading. A customer who slipped on a wet floor in the café a few months ago has started legal action.

But Anna has already looked into it and knows that she is covered against litigation under her public liability and personal injury cover.

Later, on the way back to the café from the bank, she stops in at the newsagent to pay the café’s weekly account. After chatting with the newsagent for a few moments, Anna turns around to find her bag has been stolen – along with another $2,000 cash. Luckily, the cash is insured under Anna’s business money coverage.

In the middle of the lunchtime rush, a huge storm hits. Within ten minutes, storm water has overflowed from the gutters and into the storeroom. It’s ankle-deep by the time Anna gets in there, so she’s relieved to know that she’ll be able to make a claim against her fire, storm and other defined events coverage.

When she finally closes the café, Anna just wants to get home. But her car is not where she left it – it’s been stolen. It’s a good thing that its replacement will be covered under her motor vehicle insurance – she uses the car to deliver catering orders.

It’s all taken its toll on Anna. When she visits her doctor a few days later he diagnoses hypertension. Fortunately, Anna can take the time she needs to get back to full health because her personal accident and illness cover will provide her with a wage while she’s unable to work.

The above scenarios sketch the broad outlines of some of the cover options suitable to your particular business. For further details on the cover, additional benefits and exclusions for each cover option, as well as further cover options, please consult the Product Disclosure Statement or call us on 132 818.

As a café owner, you may want to consider such cover options as:

• Liability for personal injury and property damage
• Fire, storm and other defined events (includes malicious damage)
• Burglary
• Property in transit
• Money
• Personal accident and illness
• Machinery Breakdown and loss of refrigerated stock as a result of breakdown.

Taking the next step

Call us on 132 818 to request a quote or to discuss your needs with a Business Insurance Specialist.