BROKLY

Insurance for bars — what to carry, and what it costs

Published 2026-06-11 · by Brokly

Direct answer: insurance for bars and taverns starts with workers’ comp — required in nearly all states — with 4 more coverages matched to the trade below. For a typical bar that’s ≈$190 to ≈$2.3k/yr depending on the state (filed rates $0.49–$3.11/$100 payroll, 2024).
Pick your state — the statute, modeled costs, and the full coverage guide ↓

What bars and taverns carry — at a glance

Workers’ comp is governed state by state — pick your state in the table below for the statute and the modeled cost. The rest is the trade’s exposure map.

Workers' compensation

If a bartender, barback, or door staffer is hurt on the job.

What it covers, and what it doesn’t

Typically covers

  • Medical bills for a work injury, at rates the state sets
  • Part of the injured employee's lost wages
  • The employer too: covered employees generally can't sue over the injury

Typically doesn’t

  • Injuries outside work
  • Independent contractors, in most states
  • Lawsuits that get around the can't-sue trade-off — that's the employer's liability part of the same policy
Required in nearly all states≈$650/yrtypical bar · median stateCosts by state →
Liquor liability

If a patron you served alcohol then hurts someone — dram-shop laws can make the bar liable.

What it covers, and what it doesn’t

Typically covers

  • Claims from injuries caused by a patron you served
  • Legal defense in dram-shop suits — lawsuits over alcohol you served
  • The proof of coverage many on-premises liquor licenses require

Typically doesn’t

  • Ordinary slip-and-fall claims — that's general liability
  • Fines or license penalties for serving violations, typically
  • Businesses that don't sell alcohol — host situations usually fall under general liability
Required if…When it's required →
General liability

If a patron is hurt on your premises — a slip, a fall, or a scuffle that reaches a bystander — and a claim lands on the business.

What it covers, and what it doesn’t

Typically covers

  • Injuries to customers, visitors, and other third parties
  • Damage your operations cause to someone else's property
  • Legal defense for covered claims

Typically doesn’t

  • Your employees' injuries — that's workers' compensation
  • Mistakes in professional advice or design — that's professional liability
  • Redoing your own faulty workmanship itself
Worth a lookWhat it covers →
Commercial property

If a fire or other covered event damages your build-out, furnishings, and bar stock — plus the income lost while the doors stay closed.

What it covers, and what it doesn’t

Typically covers

  • Your building if you own it, and improvements if you lease
  • Equipment, fixtures, furniture, and inventory inside
  • The common causes of loss — fire among them

Typically doesn’t

  • Flood and earthquake on standard forms — separate policies
  • Property in transit — that's inland marine coverage
  • The income you lose while closed — that's business interruption coverage
Worth a lookWhat it covers →
Cyber insurance

If the POS your card payments and open tabs run through is breached, or that card data is compromised.

What it covers, and what it doesn’t

Typically covers

  • The fallout of a hack or data breach — notifying customers, restoring data and systems
  • Claims from customers whose data was exposed
  • Often the income lost while systems are down

Typically doesn’t

  • Physical damage to property — that's commercial property
  • Tricked-into-wiring-money losses on many forms — social-engineering coverage is its own add-on
  • Breaches at your vendors, unless the policy extends to them
Worth a lookWhat it covers →

Exact terms live in the policy — these are the typical boundaries.

Sources: NAIC — Small Business Insurance (retrieved 2026-06-11) · Massachusetts General Laws c.138 §12 — on-premises licenses (liquor legal liability proof) (as of current General Laws, retrieved 2026-06-11) · Texas Department of Insurance — Commercial general liability insurance (retrieved 2026-06-11) · Texas Department of Insurance — Commercial property insurance guide (retrieved 2026-06-11) · NAIC — Cybersecurity topic (as of last updated 2024-05-09, retrieved 2026-06-11)

Workers’ compLiquor liability · benchmark comingGeneral liability · benchmark comingCommercial property · benchmark comingCyber insurance · benchmark coming

What workers’ comp costs a typical bar

Modeled annual premium for each state’s most common bar size, from that state’s own filed rate and observed payroll. All 51 states: rates & costs →

Least expensive states

Most expensive states

Modeled — not quotes: each figure prices that state’s most common bar size band from the state’s own observed payroll (CBP 2023), so dollar order can differ from rate rank.

Pick your state — what’s required there, and what it costs

Every linked state has the full guide: what the law requires there, the coverages that fit, and modeled costs — built from 32,610 bars and taverns across 28 states (CBP 2023).

† monopolistic state — workers’ comp must be bought from the state fund; a private policy can’t satisfy the requirement there. Other unlinked states lack a published rate or a defensible business-size cohort.

Sources: Oregon DCBS workers' compensation premium rate ranking study, June 2025 (calendar-year 2024 rates) (as of calendar year 2024, retrieved 2026-06-04) · US Census County Business Patterns 2023, state file (Drinking places, alcoholic beverages (NAICS 722410)) (as of 2023, retrieved 2026-06-05)

Frequently asked questions

What work does class 9084 cover?

Bars and taverns fall under NCCI class 9084 (Bar, Lounge, Tavern) — establishments serving alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption; restaurants (classes 9082 and 9083) are rated separately.

Why does my state matter so much?

Workers’ comp is state law — the employee threshold that triggers it, the rates, and the market structure all differ by state. That’s why every state above gets its own guide.

Someone asked me for a certificate of insurance — what is it?

The one-page proof your coverage exists — landlords, general contractors, and client contracts ask for it routinely, and it’s often the reason bars and taverns buy insurance in the first place. Certificate of insurance, explained →

Stay informed

Coverage rules change.

We’ll send the updates that affect your business.