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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
A restaurant is part of a food chain and is the final link before the guest. If you receive a batch that is not up to standard, you bear the consequences first: rejected goods, mise en place thrown away, a closed kitchen and complaints from guests. Recovery from the supplier is a contract dispute, and the chance of success depends entirely on what you recorded on receipt.
There is also food safety supervision. An inspection that finds shortcomings leads to a written warning, a fine or a measure that affects your kitchen. That is administrative law with short deadlines, a different line from the dispute with your supplier, and a different module on the policy. See the how a hospitality policy is built up for an overview.
Not covered are: the fine itself, the value of the stock thrown away, a dispute already running when the policy was taken out, and the claim of a guest who fell ill; that claim belongs with your liability insurance, where Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code on defective products also comes into play.
What does legal expenses insurance for restaurants cover?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Basic
Business operations
The disputes that arise from running a business itself.
Contracts and deliveries
Collecting your invoices
A dispute with a supplier
Extension
Separate modules
What you add separately.
Employment law and staff
Rent of the business premises
Tax and social security
Limits
What falls outside it
What the policy will not take on.
A dispute dating from before the start date
Below the threshold
During the waiting period
What is covered
Situation
Basic module
With extension
Dispute with a client about work delivered
Yes
Yes
Collection of an unpaid invoice
Provided that
Yes
Employment dispute with an employee
No
Yes
Dispute with the landlord of your business premises
No
Yes
Tax dispute with the Belastingdienst (the Dutch tax authority)
No
Provided that
A dispute that was already running before the start date
No
No
Business legal expenses insurance has a waiting period and a threshold: a case is not taken on below a certain financial interest. Employment law, tenancy law and tax law are usually in separate modules. In legal proceedings you have a free choice of lawyer. A dispute whose cause already existed when the policy was taken out is excluded.
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
Recovery from the supplier starts with the goods-in check
If you want to recover for a defective batch, you have to be able to show what you received and in what condition. Temperature records on delivery, the delivery note, the use-by dates and photographs of the problem together form your file. Report the defect in writing straight away and throw nothing away before it has been recorded. Without those documents the supplier points to your own refrigeration and the contracts module founders before it has begun.
An inspection and a supplier dispute are two files
The same batch can produce an enforcement process and a recovery case at the same time. The first is administrative law with a six-week deadline for objecting, the second is contract law without that urgency. They call for different modules and different documents. Deal with them separately in your report, because an insurer opening one case usually picks up the line described first and leaves the other aside.
Allergens are a duty to inform, not just kitchen work
The compulsory information about allergens applies to the menu, the plate and what is said out loud. If it goes wrong, that affects three lines at once: supervision, a claim from the guest and possibly recovery from your supplier for incorrect product information. Record which supplier specification you used and when it was last updated. In all three lines that document is where the discussion ends up.
Staff in the kitchen and the brigade around it
Restaurants work with interns, on-call staff and self-employed chefs side by side. Disputes are about the chain rule, about the classification of a contract for services and about dismissal after an incident in the kitchen. Those are employment law and contracts, two different modules. If you work with self-employed people as a matter of course, check whether disputes about their contracts fall under your cover and not only those with employees.
What does your premium depend on?
Modules chosen. Contracts and administrative law alongside the standard cover of employment law and debt collection.
Number of suppliers and purchasing volume. More regular suppliers and fresh produce lines means more chance of a recovery case.
Size of the brigade. Wage bill and number of contracts, including interns and chefs hired in.
Whether the premises are rented or owned. Determines whether the tenancy module is needed alongside the rest of the cover.
Franchise or your own concept. With a franchise agreement the pattern of conflict lies with the franchisor.
Excess and the limit for external costs. The amount you bear yourself and the limit for an external lawyer.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, your risk and your wishes.
We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Can I recover for a spoiled batch from my supplier?
That is a contract dispute and falls under the contracts module. The legal expenses insurer runs the case, but does not reimburse the value of the batch. That amount has to come from the supplier. Your chances depend on the goods-in check: temperature, delivery note, date and an immediate written report. Without that record the cause can no longer be established afterwards.
Is a fine after an inspection reimbursed?
No. Legal expenses insurance pays for legal assistance, not for sanctions. What can be covered is the defence with which you try to challenge the fine or the measure, provided you have the administrative law module. Watch the six-week deadline for objecting and preferably report as soon as you receive the inspection report.
A guest falls ill and holds me liable. Which policy?
Your liability insurance handles that claim, not legal expenses. Alongside Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code, Article 6:185 DCC on defective products may play a part, which brings your supplier into the picture as well. Report the case to your liability insurer and start recovery from the supplier through legal expenses cover, so that both lines run at the same time.
I operate under a franchise concept. Is that conflict covered?
Not as a matter of course. Disputes with a franchisor are about the franchise agreement, and some policies exclude that category or handle it only within the contracts module. Ask about it expressly before you sign or renew, and watch the waiting period. A discussion already running when the policy was taken out falls outside the cover.
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
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