New owners
Buying or opening a bar in Florida: the insurance you need
The four main policies, what Florida law and your lease actually require, and why the coverage has to be in place before the keys change hands.
The short answer
A Florida bar needs four main policies: property, general liability, liquor liability and workers' compensation, plus assault and battery coverage for fights.
Bind them before you get the keys, close on the sale, or pour the first drink. That is when the landlord, the lender and the risk all start.
The four main policies a Florida bar needs
| Policy | What it covers in a bar | Who usually asks for it |
|---|---|---|
| Property | The building if you own it, and your contents and equipment | Your lender, and your landlord if the lease says so |
| General liability | Injuries to customers: slips and falls, food poisoning, injuries on the premises. Fight coverage, called assault and battery, is handled by endorsement and is often excluded or capped | Your landlord, usually as additional insured |
| Liquor liability | Claims that someone you served harmed a third party after drinking, also called dram shop | Your landlord, your lender and event permits. Not the state license application |
| Workers' compensation | Your employees' injuries at work: kitchen, bar and front of house | Florida law, once you have four or more employees |
There are other policies worth having, such as commercial crime and employment practices liability, but these four are the main ones, and assault and battery is the one to check first.
What Florida requires, and what the lease requires
- Workers' compensation is required by law for a business outside construction once it has four or more employees (Fla. Stat. 440.02).
- The state license does not require a liquor policy. Neither the state's application for a new alcoholic beverage license (DBPR ABT-6001) nor its application for a transfer of ownership (DBPR ABT-6002) asks for proof of liquor liability or general liability insurance.
- The landlord and the lender are the ones who will. A lease often sets minimum limits and asks for the landlord to be named as additional insured, and a lender usually requires property coverage on what it is financing. Read those clauses before you sign, and send them to us.
What the insurance clause in a lease usually asks for
A certificate of insurance is the document your landlord will ask for first, but the standard certificate says it is issued as a matter of information only and confers no rights on the holder. The rights come from the policy itself, usually through endorsements. These are the terms to look for:
| The term | What it means | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Additional insured | Your landlord is covered under your liability policy for claims arising from your operations | The policy has to provide for it, usually by endorsement; a certificate alone does not do it |
| Waiver of subrogation | Your carrier gives up the right to recover from the landlord after it pays a claim | Many policies need an endorsement for it, and the carrier has to agree |
| Primary and non-contributory | Your policy pays first, and the landlord's own insurance does not share the loss | The wording has to be on your policy, not only in the lease |
| Minimum limits and umbrella | The per-occurrence and aggregate limits the lease names, sometimes with an umbrella on top | Compare them with the quote before you sign, not after |
| Notice of cancellation | The landlord asks to be told before your policy is cancelled | Ask whether the carrier will agree to it as written |
The same applies to the vendors who work in your space. Collect a certificate and an additional insured endorsement from your security company, valet and DJ, and check that the security company's own policy does not exclude assault and battery.
Buying an existing bar
The seller's insurance does not move to you. Standard commercial policy conditions do not allow the rights and duties under a policy to be transferred without the carrier's written consent (ISO common policy conditions, IL 00 17). You need coverage in your own entity's name, bound for the day of closing.
The license is a separate approval. A license to sell spirits at a bar is usually a quota license, issued in each county at a ratio of one for every 7,500 residents (Fla. Stat. 561.20), which is why existing licenses are bought and sold. When a business is sold, the license can transfer to the buyer only once the state's Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco approves the buyer's application (Fla. Stat. 561.32). If you are eligible, a temporary license may be purchased for $100 while the transfer is pending (DBPR ABT-6002).
Before closing
Give us the closing date, the new entity's name, the seller's current policies and loss runs, and the lease or purchase agreement. The policy and the certificates your landlord and lender need should be ready on the day the keys change hands.
Opening a new bar
A venue that has never been open has no loss history, so carriers underwrite it on its plans: projected food and alcohol sales, hours, entertainment, capacity and security. The more complete the submission, the more carriers will quote it.
Have the liquor license in place before the first drink is poured: the standard liquor liability form excludes injury from alcohol served while a required license is not in effect, explained on our Florida liquor liability page.
Why all four belong with one broker
Commercial insurance is about relationships. It is not like auto. When general liability sits with one company and liquor liability with another, a fight claim can fall between them, with each carrier calling it the other's. We place every line, workers' compensation included, so one broker is responsible for the whole program and you are not coordinating two or three agents. How that plays out in a venue with entertainment is on our entertainment venues page.
What to have ready on the first call
- The lease or purchase agreement, including the insurance clauses.
- The closing or opening date.
- The name of the entity that will own the bar.
- Projected food and alcohol sales for the first year.
- Hours, and any plans for live music, DJs or a dance floor.
- How many employees you expect, and how many security staff.
- If you are buying, the seller's current policies and loss runs.
Our Florida office
Boca Raton, FL
IFB Insurance Brokers, Inc., Boca Raton Office
6501 Park of Commerce Blvd.
Boca Raton, FL 33487- Phone
- (561) 872-7979
- Toll free
- 1-800-336-6121
- Info@ifbinsure.com
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 8:30am–4:30pm
Related coverage
Liquor liability in Florida
What dram shop means, how the two limits work, and the exclusions that matter.
Assault and battery
Excluded, sublimited, or covered, and how to tell which.
Entertainment venues in Florida
Live music, DJs, dance floors and late hours, and what each one changes.
South Florida
Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade, from our Boca Raton office.
How we shop your policy
Multiple quotes, compared on coverage and not just price.
Who we insure
The venues we write, the states we cover, where our offices are.
Nothing to lose.
If you are buying or opening a bar, send us the lease or the purchase agreement and we will tell you what it requires and what it will cost to cover.
Get a free policy review
Michael Sabino, President, Independent Food & Beverage Insurance Brokers, Inc.
In the insurance business since 1984, rating policies and handling claims before he ever sold one, and writing restaurants, taverns, nightclubs and social clubs since he founded IFB in 1993.
Last reviewed November 2026
About this page. General information for restaurant, bar and nightclub owners, not legal advice or a statement of coverage. Policy language varies by carrier and state, and only your own policy forms and endorsements control what is covered. IFB is a licensed insurance brokerage. Coverage cannot be considered bound or altered until you receive written confirmation from our office.