The Ultimate Guide to Movie Theater Insurance
You love film. And you opened your own movie theater to share your passion for cinema with your local community. But running a successful business means anticipating risks as well as consumer tastes. And business insurance for movie theater companies is a huge challenge — particularly for first time entrepreneurs. This essay will analyze common movie theater insurance policies and suggest innovative solutions to help you start thinking about coverage in a more dynamic and productive way — and break out of that feeling of “overwhelm,” so you can lock down your coverage and get back to doing what you love best — taking care of your customers and watching all the awesome new releases.
Movie Theater Insurance 101
Let’s look at common types of business insurance for movie theater companies. First, there is general liability. This covers you if, for instance, someone gets hurt or suffers property damage while at your establishment. For instance, say an old man comes in to watch a horror movie, suffers a heart attack in your theater and dies. Theoretically, his family could try to sue your theater — your general liability coverage protects you.
You also need adequate insurance to protect your equipment and other business assets. These include, obviously, your projectors and screens, the cash registers at your concession stands, and even your seats and guard rails. All assets can be damaged, destroyed, or stolen, so you need a robust movie theater insurance policy to shield you. If you operate a concession stand, you may need special movie theater insurance to cover things like food spoilage, food contamination, and other restaurant like concerns. And if you serve alcohol, you will need liquor liability protection. Don’t forget your employees. If you employ ticket takers, concession stand workers, and ushers, you will need workers’ compensation insurance to protect your business in the event, say, that an employee pulls her back setting up a movie display. Without good coverage, you could wind up saddled with that hurt employee’s hospital bills and lost wages — far into the future, which can add up to literally hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Business Insurance for Movie Theater Companies — Real Solutions
If the above discussion about coverages and exposures didn’t scare you, consider you may actually need far more coverage than discussed above — and more diverse coverage, at that. The good news is that there are ways around this problem of overwhelm that won’t leave you broke and unable to pay for a reel of film.
For one, you can shop around to find prefab movie theater insurance packages which pull together appropriate coverages in one bundled policy. You can also connect with a business insurance agent who specializes in helping out movie theater operators. A third way to approach this is to talk to industry professionals whom you trust for guidance about strategies and tactics to get costs controlled and to eliminate worry. Finally, you can try to conceive your “best case scenario” movie theater insurance policy solutions. And then, once you know exactly what kinds of coverage you want and what at price, try to retro-engineer solutions that meet your standards.
Your journey all begins with information. To get a jump start, collect 5 plus quotes through NetQuote. Our service is 100% free, fast, and time proven — we’ve been in business since 1989, and we’ve helped thousands of small business owners like you find compelling solutions.
See how much you could save today on your insurance. Get your free business insurance quotes today!
