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A New York restaurant usually needs a business owner's policy (property plus general liability), liquor liability if it serves alcohol, and workers' compensation plus disability and Paid Family Leave benefits, which state law requires for most employers. Most accounts also need employment practices liability, cyber and hired and non-owned auto. What sets New York apart is a dram shop law that lets injured third parties sue the seller, older mixed-use buildings and a book that skews toward quick service.

That's the short order. The rest of this guide covers what to put on a New York account, where submissions get stuck and how to keep a placement from being 86'd in underwriting.

What coverage does a New York restaurant need?

Build the account in three layers: the core package, the restaurant add-ons and the statutory lines around it.

• Business owner's policy (BOP): building (if owned), business personal property, business income and general liability in one form. Rainbow's restaurant BOP writes general liability at $1M/$2M, with $2M/$4M available by referral.
• Liquor liability: needed for any client that sells or serves alcohol, because standard general liability forms typically exclude it for businesses in the alcohol trade. Rainbow writes it at $1M/$1M.
• Workers' compensation: the New York Workers' Compensation Board says virtually all employers in New York State must provide workers' compensation coverage for their employees.
• Disability and Paid Family Leave (DBL/PFL): a New York-specific requirement many owners forget. Covered employers must carry statutory disability and Paid Family Leave benefits insurance, with coverage due four weeks after an employee's 30th day of employment. Part-time and seasonal staff count, which matters in a high-turnover kitchen.
• Employment practices liability (EPL): available to $1M with Rainbow. Restaurants hire constantly, and every hire, schedule change and termination is a potential claim.
• Cyber: available to $1M. Online ordering, POS systems and loyalty apps all hold card and customer data.
• Hired and non-owned auto (HNOA): available to $1M for incidental use, such as an employee running to the store. It doesn't cover delivery or catering driving, so ask how the client delivers before you quote.
• Excess: Rainbow offers excess limits over general liability, liquor, assault and battery and professional for clients whose leases, landlords or franchise agreements ask for more.

Whether a given loss is covered always comes down to the policy form, endorsements and exclusions, so walk clients through what's in and what's out rather than promising blanket protection. For a closer look at the package, see why Rainbow's restaurant BOP stands out.

What kinds of restaurants are New York agents quoting?

New York's book looks different from the rest of the country. Among New York restaurant quotes on Rainbow's platform with a recorded class, about 45% were quick service, 44% casual dining, 8% fine dining and 3% all other classes. Nationally, casual dining leads at 56% and quick service makes up 33%.

Based on 5,756 New York and 34,480 total restaurant quotes with a recorded class, October 2025 to October 2026; quotes with no class recorded are excluded.

That tracks with the street: delis, pizzerias, bagel shops, cafés and counter-service spots are the bread and butter of a New York book. For agents, the quick service tilt changes which questions matter most. The big one is cooking classification. Quick service with commercial cooking means grills, fryers or other equipment that produces grease-laden vapors and needs an exhaust system. Limited cooking means toasters, warming ovens, microwaves and similar equipment that doesn't. Getting that wrong at submission is one of the fastest ways to a re-rate or a referral, so confirm what's actually on the line before you quote.

How long does it take to bind a New York restaurant?

Once a New York restaurant is quoted, the median new-business policy on Rainbow's platform binds about 9.6 days later, close to the 9.1-day median across all states. The middle half of New York policies bound between roughly 3 and 24 days after the latest quote.

Median time from latest quote to bind for 1,124 New York and 6,144 total new-business restaurant policies bound October 2025 to October 2026; renewals excluded.

That window covers everything after the quote, including the client's own decision time. The surest way to shorten it is a complete submission the first time, so the quote you present is the quote that binds.

Does New York have a dram shop law?

Yes, and it's one of the reasons liquor liability is a must-have in New York. Under General Obligations Law section 11-101, anyone injured by an intoxicated person can sue whoever caused or contributed to that intoxication by unlawfully selling them alcohol, and can seek both actual and exemplary damages.

"Unlawful" is defined by Alcoholic Beverage Control Law section 65, which bars selling or giving alcohol to anyone under 21 (or who appears to be), anyone visibly intoxicated, and habitual drunkards known to the server as such. A separate section, General Obligations Law section 11-100, lets injured people sue someone who knowingly and unlawfully furnished alcohol to a person under 21.

Picture the Friday rush: a packed bar, a server who pours one more for a guest who's clearly had enough, and a car accident on the way home. The injured driver has a path to the restaurant. That's the conversation to have with the owner, and it's why server training and ID checks are worth asking about on every submission.

How does New York's dram shop law affect Rainbow's appetite?

New York isn't on Rainbow's list of favorable dram shop states, so the stricter alcohol rules apply:

• Hours: restaurants that serve alcohol generally can't be open between midnight and 5am. There are narrow exceptions for places with no bar seating and a very small alcohol share, so ask underwriting before you set expectations.
• Alcohol mix: the higher the share of sales from alcohol, the more scrutiny. Past 50% expect a referral, and past 65% the risk is outside appetite.
• Service practices: no happy hours after 8pm, no alcohol service more than two hours after food service ends, and no drink specials under $4, buy-one-get-one or all-you-can-drink offers.
• Assault and battery: New York handles assault and battery coverage differently from other states, so confirm how it applies to your account with underwriting before telling a client they're covered.

Underwriting sets the exact thresholds, so check with underwriting@userainbow.com on edge cases.

What property issues come up with New York restaurants?

New York's building stock is old, dense and often mixed use, and that's where many property questions start.

• Building systems: Rainbow looks for electrical and plumbing updated within 25 years and roofs under 20 years old (30 for metal in good repair). Get the update years from the landlord if the client leases.
• Apartments upstairs: a restaurant on the ground floor of a residential building is a classic New York setup. Expect questions about the fire separation between the restaurant and the residential space, and know that building coverage on those properties is limited. Raise it early.
• Historic buildings: properties on a historic register aren't eligible, and neither are buildings being remodeled during the policy term.
• Protection class: locations in protection class 9 or 10 are ineligible, which can rule out some rural upstate risks.
• Flood and earthquake: Rainbow's restaurant BOP doesn't include either. For waterfront and low-lying locations, discuss flood with the client and place it separately if they want it.

What makes a New York restaurant submission clean?

The fastest binds come from submissions that answer underwriting's questions before they're asked. Gather these up front:

1. Kitchen fire protection: UL 300 suppression and NFPA 96 ventilation over cooking equipment, plus hood cleaning at least semi-annually (quarterly for wok cooking or charbroiling, monthly for solid fuel). Our post on UL 300 fire suppression systems explains why this one is non-negotiable.
2. Cooking classification: commercial or limited cooking, and how many fryers. More than six deep fryers is ineligible.
3. Alcohol details: share of sales from alcohol, closing time, happy hour timing and any drink specials.
4. Entertainment: dance floors, live concerts with three or more performers and activities like mechanical bulls or ax throwing take a risk out of the admitted BOP.
5. Loss history: fewer than three property and liability claims and under $50,000 incurred over three years per location keeps you in the standard lane.
6. Delivery: who delivers, in what vehicle, and whether HNOA is the right fit. Many New York restaurants rely on third-party apps, which is a different exposure from owned delivery.
7. Building details: year built, roof age, system updates, any residential occupancy and whether the client owns or leases.

Already writing restaurants in the five boroughs or upstate? You can get appointed with Rainbow and quote these accounts online.

Which New York restaurants are out of appetite?

Knowing what not to submit saves everyone time. Rainbow's restaurant program doesn't write nightclubs, bars and taverns without food service, casinos, pool halls, adult entertainment, hookah bars or standalone mobile food vendors such as food trucks. Cash-only businesses are also out of the admitted program. Distilleries and wineries that manufacture on site are ineligible; brewpubs are the one form of alcohol manufacturing the program considers.

A food truck owned by a brick-and-mortar restaurant doesn't make the restaurant ineligible, but the program can't cover the truck's property or auto exposure, and its sales need to be included in the restaurant's reported sales. Rainbow's E&S restaurant companion isn't available in every state, so check with underwriting before you count on an E&S fallback for a New York account. See how the program compares in our California restaurant insurance guide.

Ready to write more New York restaurants?

Rainbow has written restaurants in New York since bringing its restaurant BOP to the Empire State in 2025. The accounts reward agents who know the details: the dram shop exposure, the DBL and PFL requirement, the mixed-use building questions and the kitchen classification underwriting expects. Writing New York delis, pizzerias and bistros with liquor exposure? Get appointed with Rainbow and quote in minutes.

A Florida restaurant usually needs a business owner's policy (property plus general liability), liquor liability if it serves alcohol, and workers' compensation, which Florida requires for most non-construction businesses with four or more employees. Flood is placed separately, and wind is the line item that shapes the whole property conversation. In Rainbow's book, Florida restaurant accounts are almost all placed through the E&S restaurant program, so plan for E&S terms from the first call.

That's the short order. The rest of this guide covers what to put on the account, what our Florida data says about the risks you'll quote, and how to keep a submission moving when hurricane season and happy hour both come up in underwriting.

What coverage does a Florida restaurant need?

Think of the account in three layers: the core package, the restaurant add-ons and the lines you place around the package.

• Business owner's policy (BOP): building (if owned), business personal property, business income and general liability in one form. On Rainbow's E&S restaurant BOP, property terms such as valuation and wind deductibles are set by underwriting for each location.
• Liquor liability: needed for any client that sells or serves alcohol, because general liability forms typically exclude it for businesses in the alcohol trade.
• Workers' compensation: mandatory for most restaurants. Florida's Division of Workers' Compensation says non-construction businesses with four or more employees must carry it, and corporate officers and LLC members count toward that number. Place it alongside the package.
• Optional coverages: cyber, employment practices liability, food spoilage and equipment breakdown are common add-ons. Spoilage matters more in Florida than almost anywhere, since a storm-related power outage can empty a walk-in cooler in a day.
• Hired and non-owned auto (HNOA): for incidental use only, such as an employee running to the store. It doesn't cover delivery or catering driving, so ask how the client delivers before you quote.
• Flood: not included in Rainbow's restaurant BOP. Place it separately and document the conversation if the client declines.

Whether a given loss is covered always comes down to the policy form, endorsements and exclusions, so walk clients through what's in and what's out rather than promising blanket protection.

Why do most Florida restaurant placements go E&S?

Florida is an E&S state for restaurants, at least in Rainbow's book. About 99% of the new-business restaurant policies Rainbow bound in Florida this year went through its non-admitted E&S restaurant program, compared with about 20% nationally.

Based on 351 Florida and 4,958 total new-business restaurant policies bound on Rainbow's platform from January 1 to October 9, 2026.

For agents, that's good news with a few strings. The E&S program is built for the exposures that make Florida tricky: coastal wind, older roofs and a heavier alcohol mix. It's written on Sierra Specialty Insurance Company, rated A- (Excellent) by AM Best, and it launched in Florida as part of Rainbow's E&S expansion. The strings are the terms, which differ from an admitted BOP:

• Assault and battery is always a buyback, not included by default.
• Defense costs sit inside the limits by default.
• Business income is sublimited by default.
• Property terms can include actual cash value on older roofs, a cosmetic damage exclusion and higher wind and hail deductibles.

Explain those differences before binding so nobody is surprised at claim time. A client who hears "defense inside the limits" from you in June won't hear it for the first time from an adjuster in September.

What kinds of restaurants are Florida agents quoting?

Casual dining is the bread and butter here too. Among Florida restaurant quotes on Rainbow's platform where a class was recorded, about 58% were casual dining, 30% were quick service, 7% were fine dining and 5% fell into all other classes.

Based on 1,396 Florida restaurant quotes with a recorded class, October 2025 to October 2026; quotes with no class recorded are excluded.

That's close to the mix we see in California restaurant insurance, with Florida leaning a little more toward sit-down dining. Casual dining is where most underwriting questions land: full commercial kitchens with hoods and fryers, table service and usually a bar. Expect questions about alcohol sales, closing hours and kitchen fire protection on most of your Florida submissions.

How long does it take to bind a Florida restaurant?

Plan on about two weeks. The median Florida restaurant policy bound in 14.2 days from submission this year, against 12.6 days for Rainbow's E&S restaurant business nationally and 8.9 days for admitted restaurant business.

Median days from submission to bind for new-business restaurant policies bound January 1 to October 9, 2026: 348 Florida E&S, 1,002 national E&S and 3,956 national admitted policies.

The gap between Florida and national E&S is about a day and a half, and most of the extra time on any E&S restaurant goes to property and liquor follow-ups. The fix is a submission that answers those questions before they're asked (see the checklist below). If your client's current policy renews on a specific date, start the Florida conversation earlier than you would for an admitted renewal elsewhere.

How do hurricanes and wind change Florida restaurant placements?

Property is where Florida accounts get complicated, and wind is the reason. Plenty of markets limit or exclude wind near the coast. Rainbow's E&S restaurant program can offer wind coverage all the way to the coast in Florida, subject to underwriting, which is a real door-opener for beach-town and Gulf Coast clients.

• Wind and hail deductibles: expect them to vary by location and to run higher on older roofs. Quote the deductible clearly; it's the number clients remember after a storm.
• Roof age and condition: E&S can consider older roofs than an admitted BOP, often with actual cash value roof valuation and a cosmetic damage exclusion.
• Protection class: locations in protection class 9 or 10 are ineligible.
• Flood: not covered on the restaurant BOP, in E&S or admitted. For a Florida account, that's a gap to discuss and place elsewhere.
• Historic buildings: properties on a historic register aren't eligible.

Hurricane season also turns business income and spoilage from "nice to have" into the first questions an owner asks after landfall. Read the business income sublimit with your client, and if they want spoilage, underwriting looks for a refrigeration maintenance contract.

How does Florida dram shop law affect liquor liability?

Florida's statute leans toward sellers, but it isn't a free pass. Under section 768.125, Florida Statutes, a person who sells or serves alcohol to someone of lawful drinking age generally isn't liable for injuries caused by that person's intoxication. There are two exceptions: willfully and unlawfully serving someone under the lawful drinking age, and knowingly serving someone habitually addicted to alcohol.

Both exceptions are exactly what a packed Friday rush makes possible: a borrowed ID at the bar, or a regular everyone knows has a problem. So the pitch isn't "you can't be sued." It's that liquor liability pays to defend claims, responds to the exceptions and protects against suits that get filed whether or not they succeed.

Florida isn't on the program's list of favorable dram shop states, so the standard alcohol rules apply. In E&S, alcohol needs to stay under 65% of sales, and serving alcohol between midnight and 5am is generally outside appetite. Late happy hours, all-you-can-drink promotions and drink specials under $4 are red flags. For edge cases, confirm with underwriting@userainbow.com before you set expectations with a client.

Writing Florida restaurants with liquor exposure? Get appointed with Rainbow to quote them online.

What makes a Florida restaurant submission clean?

The fastest Florida binds come from submissions that answer underwriting's property and liquor questions up front. Gather these before you quote:

1. Building details: year built, roof type, roof age and condition, and when the electrical and plumbing were last updated.
2. Location: distance to the coast and whether the client owns or leases the building.
3. Kitchen fire protection: UL 300 suppression and NFPA 96 ventilation over cooking equipment, plus hood cleaning at least semi-annually (quarterly for wok cooking or charbroiling, monthly for solid fuel). Our post on UL 300 fire suppression systems explains why this one is non-negotiable.
4. Alcohol details: share of sales from alcohol, closing time, happy hour timing and any drink specials.
5. Entertainment: dance floors, live concerts with three or more performers and activities like mechanical bulls or ax throwing all need to be disclosed.
6. Loss history: loss runs if there are open claims or more than two claims in the past three years.
7. Delivery and catering: who drives, in what vehicle, and whether HNOA is the right fit.

Which Florida restaurants are out of appetite?

Knowing what not to submit saves everyone time. Rainbow's restaurant program doesn't write nightclubs, bars and taverns without food service, casinos, pool halls, adult entertainment, hookah bars or standalone mobile food vendors such as food trucks. In E&S, college bars, venues near stadiums, barcades and self-serve alcohol are also ineligible.

A food truck owned by a brick-and-mortar restaurant doesn't make the restaurant ineligible, but the program can't cover the truck itself for property or auto, and its sales need to be included in the restaurant's reported sales.

Ready to write more Florida restaurants?

Florida rewards agents who show up prepared: wind and roof details in hand, the flood gap discussed, the dram shop exceptions explained and E&S terms walked through before binding. Bring a clean submission and you'll spend less of those two weeks waiting. For the full program, see Rainbow's restaurant insurance page. Placing coastal Florida restaurants that other markets won't touch? Get appointed with Rainbow and start quoting.

A gym or fitness studio usually needs a business owner's policy (property plus general liability), professional liability for its instructors and trainers, and workers' compensation, which California, New York and Florida require (Florida once a business has four or more employees) and Texas leaves optional. Most accounts also benefit from employment practices liability, cyber, hired and non-owned auto and an excess layer. The harder part is placement: the activities on the schedule decide whether a carrier will quote at all.

That's the warm-up. The rest of this guide is the full workout: what to put on the account, which gyms fit Rainbow's appetite, and the state rules in California, Texas, Florida and New York that should shape your submission.

What insurance does a gym or fitness studio need?

Build the account in three layers: the package, the professional exposure and the lines you place around it.

• Business owner's policy (BOP): business personal property (cardio machines, racks, sound systems, the front-desk tech), building if the client owns it, business income, and general liability for the classic premises claims: a member slipping in a wet locker room or tripping over a loose plate.
• Professional liability: the exposure a general liability form isn't built for. If a trainer's cue or a programming choice is blamed for an injury, that's a professional claim. Instructor-led studios and gyms with personal training both carry it.
• Workers' compensation: a state-by-state question (more on that below), placed outside the BOP.
• Employment practices liability (EPL): gyms run on part-time staff, front-desk turnover and contract instructors, which is exactly where hiring, firing and harassment claims start.
• Cyber: membership software holds card numbers, billing data and member records.
• Hired and non-owned auto (HNOA): for an employee running errands in a personal car.
• Excess or umbrella: landlords, franchisors and larger studios often ask for limits above the primary policy.

Whether a given loss is covered always comes down to the policy form, endorsements and exclusions, so walk the owner through what's in and what's out rather than promising blanket protection. For the bigger picture on the program, see Rainbow's beauty, wellness and fitness coverage.

Which gyms and fitness studios fit Rainbow's appetite?

Rainbow's Beauty & Wellness program writes two kinds of fitness risks:

• Health studios with instructor-led classes: yoga, pilates, barre and similar formats, including franchise concepts.
• Fitness centers and gyms: workout floors with free weights, machines and cardio equipment, with or without instructor-led classes as part of the membership.

Here's where agents lose time. These exposures are outside the appetite, even when the rest of the account looks clean:

• 24-hour gyms
• CrossFit gyms
• Martial arts, self-defense or any activity that encourages physical contact between members
• Punching bags
• Rock climbing, trampoline parks, and gymnastics or tumbling
• Childcare services
• Sports rehab or injury-treatment facilities
• Personal training of college or professional athletes

Underwriting also looks for membership agreements and waiver language, and saunas or steam rooms need their own controls (time limits per person, staff check-ins, and screening for pregnancy or known heart conditions). Loss history matters too: fewer than four claims and under $50,000 incurred over three years. On the property side, there's no building coverage for a building more than 40% vacant or with a roof over 20 years old (30 for a metal roof in good repair), and protection classes 9 and 10 are out.

Why does the activity list matter more than the class code?

This is the underwriting view, and it's the one insight worth taking into every gym submission: two businesses that both call themselves "a gym" can be completely different risks. A boutique pilates studio with a staffed front desk and scheduled classes looks nothing like a members-only box with keycard access at 3am, a heavy-bag corner and a Saturday sparring session.

The exclusions above aren't random. They cluster around three things: hours with no staff on site to respond to an injury, activities where members make contact with each other, and high-impact or high-height exposures where a single fall produces a severe injury. If you read the client's website, class schedule and membership agreement before you build the submission, you'll spot a deal-breaker in minutes instead of after a decline.

A practical move: ask the owner for the current class schedule and a list of every amenity and add-on service. A "recovery room" might be a sauna (workable with controls), a cryo chamber or an injury-treatment service (not workable). One line on a schedule can change the whole placement, so it's worth spotting before the submission goes in.

Source: Rainbow Beauty & Wellness appetite guide, as updated by underwriting in September 2026. Appetite changes; confirm specifics with underwriting@userainbow.com or download the current appetite guide from the coverage page.

What state rules should agents check in California, Texas, Florida and New York?

Gyms sit under consumer-protection and safety laws that most agents never see on a restaurant or salon account. They don't all touch the insurance policy directly, but they shape the risk controls underwriters ask about and the extra paper your client may need.

Workers' compensation

• California: required by law even if the business has only one employee.
• Texas: private employers can choose whether to carry it. Nonsubscribers still have to file an annual notice of no coverage with the Division of Workers' Compensation and post notices for employees.
• Florida: non-construction employers with four or more employees, counting corporate officers and LLC members, must carry it.
• New York: virtually all employers must provide coverage.

Texas is where the conversation gets interesting. A nonsubscribing gym owner has no comp policy to respond when a trainer or front-desk employee is hurt on the job, so ask the question directly rather than assuming a missing comp policy was a choice they understood.

Registration and bonding for prepaid memberships

• Texas: under the Health Spa Act (Occupations Code Chapter 702), operators that sell memberships generally must register with the Secretary of State and post security of $20,000 to $50,000, with exemptions for some month-to-month and long-established operators.
• Florida: health studios register each location with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services ($300 per location per year) and, unless an exemption applies, file a $25,000 bond, letter of credit or certificate of deposit.

Those bonds and deposits are separate from the BOP. If your client sells annual or prepaid memberships, ask whether their security is in place and when it renews.

AED requirements

• California: Health and Safety Code 104113 requires health studios to keep an AED program, with trained staff available during normal operating hours.
• New York: General Business Law 627-a requires health clubs with 50 or more members to keep at least one AED on site and a person trained in AED use and CPR present during staffed hours.

An AED that's mounted, maintained and backed by trained staff is a strong talking point in any submission, and in these two states it's also the law.

What drives the cost of gym insurance?

There's no honest single price for a gym policy, and any number quoted without the account in hand is a guess. Premium follows the same handful of factors underwriters look at first:

• Class and activities: a yoga studio and a free-weight gym rate differently, and an ineligible activity ends the conversation.
• Size: revenue, square footage, membership count and number of locations.
• Staffing and hours: staffed hours, trainer qualifications and whether instructors are employees or contractors.
• Property values: equipment, tenant improvements and the building if owned, plus roof age and protection class.
• Loss history: frequency matters as much as severity.
• Limits and add-ons: professional liability, EPL, cyber and excess limits each add premium.

The fastest way to a real number is a complete submission, not a ballpark. Once you're appointed, you can quote eligible fitness risks in Rainbow's portal and see the price yourself.

How do you build a clean gym submission?

1. Classify it right. Instructor-led studio or fitness center? Name every class format.
2. List every amenity and add-on. Saunas, steam rooms, recovery services, retail, childcare. Leave nothing for the underwriter to discover.
3. Confirm the hours and staffing. If the doors are open around the clock, stop and talk to underwriting before you spend more time.
4. Attach the membership agreement and waiver. Underwriting wants to see the language is in place.
5. Pull three years of loss runs.
6. Check state paperwork. Workers' comp status, plus health spa or health studio registration and security in Texas and Florida, and the AED program in California and New York.
7. Check availability. Confirm the program is open in your client's state on Rainbow's state availability page.

Agents building out a wellness book can also borrow ideas from our marketing tips for agents in the wellness industry.

Ready to put fitness accounts to work?

Gyms and studios are a natural cross-sell next to the salons, spas and barbershops already in your book. Writing fitness studios or gyms in California, Texas, Florida or New York? Get appointed with Rainbow and quote eligible accounts in minutes.

A California restaurant usually needs a business owner's policy (property plus general liability), liquor liability if it serves alcohol, and workers' compensation, which state law requires for any business with even one employee. Most accounts also need employment practices liability, cyber and hired and non-owned auto, and earthquake or flood coverage placed separately. What makes California different is the property market, a dram shop law that favors sellers, and heavy employment exposure.

That's the short order. The rest of this guide is the full menu: what to put on the account, where California risks trip up a submission, and how to keep a placement from being 86'd in underwriting.

What coverage does a California restaurant need?

Think of the account in three layers: the core package, the restaurant-specific add-ons and the lines you place around the package.

• Business owner's policy (BOP): building (if owned), business personal property, business income and general liability in one form. Rainbow's restaurant BOP writes general liability at $1M/$2M, with $2M/$4M available by referral.
• Liquor liability: needed for any client that sells or serves alcohol, because standard general liability forms typically exclude it for businesses in the alcohol trade. Rainbow writes it at $1M/$1M.
• Workers' compensation: mandatory. The California Department of Industrial Relations is blunt about it: all California employers must provide workers' compensation benefits under Labor Code Section 3700 if they employ one or more people.
• Employment practices liability (EPL): available to $1M with Rainbow. California's wage-and-hour and employment environment makes this an easy conversation with owners.
• Cyber: available to $1M. Online ordering, POS systems and loyalty programs all hold card and customer data.
• Hired and non-owned auto (HNOA): available to $1M for incidental use, such as an employee running to the store. It doesn't cover delivery or catering driving, so ask how the client delivers before you quote.
• Excess: Rainbow offers excess limits over general liability, liquor, assault and battery and professional for clients whose leases, landlords or franchise agreements ask for more.

Whether a given loss is covered always comes down to the policy form, endorsements and exclusions, so walk clients through what's in and what's out rather than promising blanket protection. For a closer look at what's in the package, see why Rainbow's restaurant BOP stands out.

What kinds of restaurants are California agents quoting?

Casual dining is the bread and butter. Among California restaurant quotes on Rainbow's platform where a class was recorded, about 54% were casual dining, 36% were quick service, 6% were fine dining and 4% fell into all other classes.

Based on 8,253 California restaurant quotes with a recorded class, October 2025 to October 2026; quotes with no class recorded are excluded.

That mix matters for how you prepare. Casual dining is where most of the questions land: full commercial kitchens with hoods and fryers, table service and, often, a bar. Expect underwriting to ask about alcohol sales, closing hours and fire suppression on most of your submissions. Quick service accounts are usually simpler on liquor but still need the cooking details right, especially whether the kitchen produces grease-laden vapors that require an exhaust system.

How does California dram shop law affect liquor liability?

California is one of the more favorable dram shop states for restaurants, but it isn't a free pass. Under Business and Professions Code section 25602, a person who serves alcohol generally isn't civilly liable to someone injured as a result of the drinker's intoxication. The Legislature wrote the statute to treat consumption, not service, as the proximate cause of those injuries.

There's an important exception. Section 25602.1 allows a lawsuit against a licensed seller who sells or furnishes alcohol to an obviously intoxicated minor when that sale is the proximate cause of the injury or death. That's exactly the scenario a busy Friday rush makes possible: a fake ID, a crowded bar, a server who doesn't card.

So the pitch to your client isn't "you can't be sued." It's that liquor liability still pays to defend claims, covers the minor exception and protects against suits that get filed whether or not they ultimately succeed. Rainbow's underwriting guide recognizes California as a favorable dram shop state, which gives a little more room on closing hours and alcohol mix than in other states. The exact thresholds are set by underwriting, so confirm them with underwriting@userainbow.com before you set expectations with a client.

How do wildfire and the property market change restaurant placements?

Property is where California restaurant accounts get complicated. Wildfire exposure has pushed many admitted carriers to tighten or pull back, and owners who own their buildings feel it most.

• Wildfire scoring: Rainbow uses wildfire scores in underwriting, and higher-risk locations are referred rather than auto-quoted. Flag known wildfire-interface locations early.
• Protection class: locations in protection class 9 or 10 are ineligible, which rules out some rural and foothill risks.
• Earthquake and flood: Rainbow's restaurant BOP doesn't include earthquake or flood coverage. For a California account, that's a gap you need to discuss and place elsewhere if the client wants it, and document if they decline.
• The FAIR Plan backstop: when a building can't find admitted property coverage, the California FAIR Plan is the market of last resort. In 2025 the Department of Insurance approved raising its commercial property limits to $20 million per building and $100 million per location. Agents often pair FAIR Plan property with a difference-in-conditions policy and a separate liability package.

Building age matters too. Rainbow looks for electrical and plumbing updated within 25 years and roofs under 20 years old (30 for metal in good repair). Historic-registry buildings and properties being remodeled during the policy term aren't eligible.

Why does the employment side carry so much weight in California?

California restaurants are labor-heavy businesses in a state with demanding employment rules, and that shows up in both workers' comp and EPL conversations.

Beyond the workers' comp mandate, California added a newer compliance item in 2024. Under Labor Code section 6401.9, most general-industry employers have had to establish, implement and maintain a written workplace violence prevention plan since July 1, 2024. It's not an insurance requirement, but it's a useful value-add question for restaurant clients, many of whom have front-of-house staff dealing with the public late at night. A client who has the plan in place is usually a client who takes risk management seriously, and that's good for the account.

EPL is the natural follow-on. Wage-and-hour claims are often excluded or sublimited on EPL forms, so read the form with the client and be clear about what it does and doesn't do.

What makes a California restaurant submission clean?

The fastest binds come from submissions that answer underwriting's questions before they're asked. For a California restaurant, gather these up front:

1. Kitchen fire protection: UL 300 suppression and NFPA 96 ventilation over cooking equipment, plus hood cleaning at least semi-annually (quarterly for wok cooking or charbroiling, monthly for solid fuel). Our post on UL 300 fire suppression systems explains why this one is non-negotiable.
2. Alcohol details: the share of sales from alcohol, closing time, happy hour timing and any drink specials. Late happy hours, all-you-can-drink promotions and drink specials under $4 are red flags.
3. Entertainment: dance floors, live concerts with three or more performers and activities like mechanical bulls or ax throwing take a risk out of the admitted BOP.
4. Loss history: fewer than three property and liability claims and under $50,000 incurred over three years per location keeps you in the standard lane.
5. Delivery and catering: who drives, in what vehicle, and whether HNOA is the right fit.
6. Building details: year built, roof age and system updates, plus whether the client owns or leases.

Writing restaurants in California already? You can get appointed with Rainbow and quote these accounts online.

Which California restaurants are out of appetite?

Knowing what not to submit saves everyone time. Rainbow's restaurant program doesn't write nightclubs, bars and taverns without food service, casinos, pool halls, adult entertainment, hookah bars or standalone mobile food vendors such as food trucks. Distilleries and wineries that manufacture on site are also out; brewpubs are the one form of alcohol manufacturing the program considers.

A food truck owned by a brick-and-mortar restaurant doesn't make the restaurant ineligible, but the program can't provide property or auto coverage for the truck itself, and its sales need to be included in the restaurant's reported sales.

When does a California restaurant belong in E&S?

Some good restaurants don't fit an admitted BOP: a higher alcohol mix, older building systems, a recent shock loss or a newer management team. That's what Rainbow's non-admitted E&S companion program is for. It's written on Sierra Specialty Insurance Company, rated A- (Excellent) by AM Best, and the E&S restaurant BOP launched in California and Texas to give agents a home for these accounts.

E&S terms differ from the admitted program. Assault and battery is always a buyback, defense is inside the limits by default and business income is sublimited by default. Explain those differences to the client before binding so there are no surprises at claim time. Bars without food, college bars, venues near stadiums, barcades and self-serve alcohol remain ineligible in E&S too.

Ready to write more California restaurants?

California restaurant accounts reward agents who know the details: the dram shop exception, the earthquake and flood gap, the property referral triggers and the kitchen fire protection underwriting expects. Bring a clean submission and you can quote in minutes. Writing California restaurants with liquor or property exposure? Get appointed with Rainbow and start quoting.

A more consistent Rainbow experience, starting with the Quote Summary page

As Rainbow grows, the Agent Portal is growing with it. We’re adding new markets, products and programs, supporting larger multi-location schedules, and increasingly working with the same insureds across multiple policies and policy terms.

We want that growth to make Rainbow more useful, not more complicated to use.

That’s why we’ve built a new Rainbow design system: a shared foundation for how the Agent Portal looks, feels and behaves. As we redesign key pages and workflows, you’ll see more consistent patterns, clearer information and familiar actions across different Rainbow products.

We started with the Quote Summary page because it’s one of the most important pages in the quoting process. The redesigned experience includes:

• Inline effective date editing, so you can make a change without going back through the application.
• A clearer view of cost, with premium shown separately from Taxes & Fees and a clear Total Cost.
• A more prominent Send to Insured action to email your insured a link to complete checkout.
• Improved policy and location coverage breakdowns to make it easier to see what’s covered and where.
• BOP and Excess Liability in one tabbed view, so you can move between related quotes without navigating away.
• E&S document signatures from the Quote Summary page, including the diligent search and quote letter. This is now available for both BOP and XS.

The Quote Summary page is the first major workflow we’ve rebuilt on this foundation, and you’ll see the same approach applied to other parts of the Agent Portal over time.

More of the Excess Liability workflow is now self-service

We’ve made a number of improvements to Excess Liability over the past few months, with the goal of making it easier to quote alongside an eligible Rainbow BOP.

You can now:

• Find XS applications directly from your Quotes dashboard.
• Move between the BOP and related XS quote using the new tabbed view on the Quote Summary page.
• Download an XS Quote PDF directly from the Quote Summary page.
• Enter underlying Employers Liability policy details directly in the application, with Rainbow checking that the underlying policy term overlaps the XS term.
• For E&S XS, complete the required diligent search and quote letter signatures directly from the Quote Summary page.

We’ve also removed the blanket referral that previously sent every Excess Liability application to Underwriting. Eligible XS quotes will now be automatically approved, while quotes that require Underwriting review will still be referred.

And we’re not quite done: Underwriting currently completes the final XS bind after the underlying BOP is bound. We’re working on the next step now — allowing agents to bind eligible Excess Liability policies directly in the Agent Portal.

A quick E&S tip before you collect signatures

Before sending an E&S quote to your insured for signature, take a moment to make sure the quote is final — particularly the effective date, payment plan and payment method.

These details matter because the insured’s quote letter reflects what they’re agreeing to, including the effective date of coverage and the Total Cost of the policy.

Both the payment plan and payment method affect Total Cost:

• Paying in full includes a 5% discount, while monthly payments do not.
• ACH and credit card have different processing fees.

That means changing from monthly to paid in full, or switching between ACH and credit card, changes the Total Cost. If the insured has already signed the quote letter, they’ll need to sign an updated version reflecting the new amount. Other changes to the application may also cause the quote to rerate.

To avoid having to go back to your insured for another signature, we recommend this order:

1. Finalize the quote and coverage details
2. Confirm the effective date
3. Confirm monthly vs. paid in full and ACH vs. credit card
4. Collect the required document signatures
5. Continue to checkout and binding

Quoting E&S BOP + Excess Liability? The BOP and XS are separate quotes, and each requires its own compliance documents and signatures. If you’d like your insured to receive both signature requests at around the same time, send the BOP documents for signature first, then use the XS tab on the Quote Summary page to send the XS documents right after.

One distinction: the diligent search is independent of billing information, so a payment change does not mean you need to complete the diligent search again.

Our CEO Bobby Touran recently sat down with Rob Beller and Lee Boyd on the FNO: InsureTech podcast to talk about how Rainbow is rethinking specialty insurance.

Bobby shares how our “inch-wide, mile-deep” approach shapes everything we do — from underwriting to technology to distribution. By focusing deeply on a single vertical, we’re able to build better tools, better underwriting, and better outcomes for agents and the businesses they serve.

Key highlights from the conversation:

• Bobby’s journey from joining a financial services software incubator to co-founding Pathpoint, a digital wholesale brokerage, and ultimately launching Rainbow in 2022

• Why we focus deeply on restaurant insurance instead of spreading across dozens of industries

• The continued importance of retail agents — and how strong agent partnerships help ensure accurate coverage, healthier portfolios, and better results for everyone involved

• How we leverage public data — including licensing, inspection records, and online reviews — to make smarter underwriting decisions at the point of quote

• What continuous underwriting means in practice, and why we believe risk should be evaluated every day, not just at renewal

Listen to Episode 301:

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/epHhc7MS

Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/e6U3Fi4m

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/dtQ9ySrK

Web: https://lnkd.in/ewHZnpwx

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Agents can now quote up to 10 locations under a single admitted Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) directly in the Rainbow portal for restaurant or beauty & wellness risks.

Eligibility is the same as single-location quotes but underwriting decisions are evaluated at both the policyholder level and the individual location level. As a result, quotes will be declined, referred, or bindable based on a combination of the policyholder status and each location status.

General Liability and Liquor Liability limits are set at the policy level, while property coverages are configured for each location. Optional coverages are also available – some at the policy level and others at the location level.

Agents can bind directly in the agent Rainbow portal or share the quote with the insured to complete binding in the insured Rainbow portal, just as they would for a single-location policy.

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Log in to the Rainbow portal

Step 2: Click 'Start a new quote'

Step 3: Indicate how many locations you’re quoting and click 'Start Quote'

This article explains how to quote up to 10 locations under a single admitted Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) directly in the Rainbow portal.

More than 10 locations requires a manual submission.

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Step 4: Select program type

The selection will apply to all locations added to the application.

Step 5: Input the policyholder information

The insured name is the legal entity name. You will be asked to indicate the DBA per location later.

There is only one contact per policy, even for multi-location policies. All post-bind communications will be emailed to the contact email address and the insured will use this email to log in to Rainbow too.

Step 6: Add up to 10 locations

Use the address autocomplete to ensure we capture a standardized, accurate address for underwriting and reduce the risk of errors from manual entry. If multiple locations share the same DBA, try typing part of the street address after the DBA (e.g., “Little Sister Irvine”) to quickly find the specific location you’re looking for. Always review the selected address before confirming.

Step 6: Add up to 10 locations

Step 7: Provide additional information to help us better understand your needs

Enter a target premium to give the underwriter helpful context if the quote goes to referral—for example, the premium from a competing quote or the insured’s current policy. Information to help us better understand your needs.

Step 8: Answer the eligibility questions

We ask a few policy-level eligibility questions upfront so we can quickly determine if the risk qualifies before you spend time completing the full questionnaire. 

Step 9: Select policy-level coverages

Select policy-level coverages like General Liability, Liquor Liability and HNOA.

Step 10: On the Locations page, optionally download the latest Statement of Value (SOV) template

The Statement of Values (SOV) template can make it easier to gather and organize property information before entering it into the application.

The template uses the same fields as the spreadsheet component in the multi-location application. The SOV template may be helpful when you want to reuse an existing SOV from a previous policy or another carrier or review or update values with the insured on a call or during an in person visit.

Step 11: On the Locations page, complete the required fields

Once the SOV is complete, you can copy one or more cells from the SOV and paste them directly into the spreadsheet component in the application to quickly populate location-specific information.

You can also enter information directly in the table by selecting values from available drop-down menus, dragging the fill handle (the small blue dot in the bottom-right corner of a completed cell) to copy values to other cells, or typing values manually using your keyboard.

White cells indicate fields that require a response. Gray cells are optional; however, certain answers may trigger additional required fields. When this happens, a gray cell may turn white to indicate that a response is now required.

Step 12: On the Optional Coverages page, complete the required fields

On the Optional Coverages page, you can enter information in the same way as the previous step – by copying and pasting cells from the SOV, selecting values from drop-down menus, dragging the fill handle or typing them manually.

If you’re using the SOV template, refer to the second tab of the file labeled “Optional Coverages.”

Step 13: On the Additional Interests page, complete the required fields

On the Additional Interests page, you can enter information in the same way as the previous step – by copying and pasting cells from the SOV, selecting values from drop-down menus, dragging the fill handle or typing them manually.

If you’re using the SOV template, refer to the third tab of the file labeled “Additional Interests.

Schedule multiple Additional Interests by separating them with a semi-colon (;).

Step 14: Apply discounts

On the Discounts page, apply any applicable discounts. These discounts are included in the initial premium calculation.

If needed, you can return to this step and adjust the discounts later in the quoting process.

Step 15: Choose the effective date, answer applicant-related questions and schedule blanket additional interests

Step 16: Choose the payment plan and the payment method type

Choose the payment plan (Monthly or Full) and the payment method type (credit card or ACH). Credit card is the default payment method type.

Step 17: Click Continue on the page above to rate the quote and land on the quote summary page

Step 18: Review the quote summary

The overall quote status is displayed at the top of the quote.

The quote status is a combination of the policyholder exposure status and the location exposure statuses.

Action Required: Refer Now

If the quote triggers a referral, it’s because the policyholder exposure and/or 1 or more location exposures have triggered a referral.

Scroll down to the locations table to see referral reasons by locations.

Click Refer Now to refer the entire risk to underwriting.

Ineligible

If the quote is ineligible, it’s because the policyholder exposure and/or 1 or more location exposures are ineligible.

Scroll down to the locations table to see which locations are ineligible.

To proceed with a bindable quote that excludes the ineligible location(s), deselect the ineligible locations using the checkboxes and click Save Changes.

Bindable

If the quote is bindable, it’s because the policyholder exposure and all selected location exposures are bindable.

Step 19: Bind!

Insured checkout

To have the insured complete the purchase, click Share Quote, confirm the policyholder’s contact email, and click Send email. The insured will receive an email with a link to securely create their account and log in to Rainbow.

Once logged in, the insured can view the quote summary, confirm the effective date, confirm required agreements, enter their payment information (credit card or bank account depending on the selected payment method) and complete the purchase. They will not be able to view or edit the application.

Before sending the checkout link, make sure you have confirmed the selected bindable locations.

Agent checkout

To complete the purchase on behalf of the insured, click Purchase.

You will be prompted to confirm the effective date, review the bindable locations, confirm required agreements (such as the Recurring Payment Authorization), and enter payment information using a credit card or bank account depending on the selected payment method. Once these steps are complete, you can finalize the purchase.

Congratulations! You’ve completed a multi-location quote-to-bind!

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At Rainbow, we’re committed to helping agents place more business, faster — even when risks don’t fit neatly into the standard market. Building on the success of our Excess & Surplus (E&S) Restaurant Program, we’re excited to share our latest expansion.

Rainbow’s E&S Restaurant program is now available in:

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This expansion marks another major step forward in giving agents more flexibility, broader appetite, and a seamless digital experience when working with harder-to-place restaurant risks.

Why This Expansion Matters

The restaurant insurance landscape continues to tighten, especially for accounts with higher risk characteristics. Our E&S program was built specifically to help agents say “yes” more often, without sacrificing speed or simplicity.

With availability now extended to nine additional states, agents can confidently quote and bind E&S coverage for restaurants that may not qualify for admitted markets, including those with:

• Older buildings
• Late-night hours
• Live entertainment
• High-volume or unique operations
• Prior losses or other non-standard exposures

A Digital E&S Experience Built for Agents

Rainbow’s E&S Restaurant Program delivers the same agent-first experience you expect from our admitted products:

• Fast, digital quoting and binding
• Streamlined application process
• Competitive coverage options for challenging risks
• Backed by strong E&S paper

Our goal is to remove friction from the E&S placement process so agents can focus on serving clients and growing their book.

Expanding Your Opportunities State by State

With this latest launch, agents in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah, plus the District of Columbia now have a powerful new option to keep restaurant accounts moving forward even when traditional markets decline.

And we’re not stopping here. Rainbow continues to evaluate additional states as part of our broader E&S expansion strategy.

Ready to Get Started?

If you’re appointed with Rainbow, you can start exploring E&S restaurant opportunities in these newly launched states today.

👉 Log in to your Rainbow dashboard to quote

Not yet appointed? We’d love to connect.
👉 Contact our sales team to learn more about eligibility and appetite sales@userainbow.com

We’re excited to keep expanding alongside our agent partners and to keep unlocking new ways to help you win more business.

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