Illinois Casualty Company (ICC) has insured hospitality businesses since 1950. After 75 years, it is hard to come across a risk that has maintained open doors without implementing some kind of change to their establishment. Additionally, the hospitality sector has some of the highest turnover and closure rates of any other business segment. Due to this, businesses within the Food and Beverage Industry must frequently reinvent themselves in hopes of expanding their clientele base and remaining profitable.
ICC has received many submissions throughout our history with unique entertainment exposures, some prompting a few giggles within the office. ICC prides itself on catering to the Food and Beverage Industry and finding a way to make a risk fit. However, both Underwriting and the agent must openly consider and communicate the exposure to determine if ICC can accept the risk. As an A-rated carrier with extensive claims data, ICC may suggest some exposures are best suited for the Excess and Surplus Lines (E & S) market at time of submission.
Some standard exposures Underwriting commonly sees are live music, karaoke, trivia nights, mechanical bulls, and punching bag machines. ICC may be willing to accept a risk with a mechanical bull, however, a liability exclusion would likely be added. So, why will we not accept risks with a punching bag machine?
We have seen many instances with punching bag machines where individuals will get riled up from the game or have disagreements about “high scores,” leading to fights. As a waitress in my earlier days, I personally witnessed a man completely miss the machine due to intoxication. Instead, he punched a full tray of glass drinks I was carrying as I rounded the corner.
Underwriting not only considers the exposure at face value but contemplates how that exposure’s experience will impact patrons in the frame of liquor liability. Some not-so-typical exposures we have seen submitted or found during ICC’s in-house loss control inspection are:
- Flaming drinks and/or food served directly to the customer
- Exposed showers in gentlemen’s clubs
- Sunday Funday “snake handling”
- Open floor sparklers (indoors!) at a banquet facility to celebrate a first dance at a wedding
- Goat yoga with baby goats in attendance
- Bondage shows
- Petting zoos
- High-performance drag boat racing
- Performance with a girl wearing a metal belt and using a grinder to produce sparks
- Carnival shows with performers swinging/hanging from rings, including an act where a performer spins with the material wrapped around her neck
As you can see, insuring this industry means ICC has likely seen it all. However, we ask our agency partners to serve as frontline underwriters, so these surprises do not come up at time of inspection, leading to a possible cancellation or immediate requirement to halt the exposure. For more extreme entertainment, the risk is likely best placed with an E & S carrier.
For more information about insuring your business with ICC, visit our Insurance Programs page. To locate an ICC agent in your area, use our Find an Agent search.