It’s not only filling the seats and popping the popcorn that movie theater owners have to worry about. While your customers kick back and enjoy the newest flicks, your livelihood is fraught with serious risks that could cost you a ton and even put you out of business.
With the movie theater insurance, you can put your mind at ease and focus on what’s important. Your business insurance can help you recover from simple claims for slips and falls, and from complete devastation caused by fire or severe weather.
Whether you own a classic single screen cinema or a chain of movie theaters, an independent agent can help you find tailored coverage that protects your assets.
Why Do I Need Movie Theater Insurance?
It’s simple: movie theater insurance helps you avoid financial ruin from unexpected events. Consider all of the things that could go wrong (and result in serious repair costs, loss of income, or a lawsuit) on a single Saturday night:
- Customer trips and falls in a dimly lit theater, breaking an ankle
- Customer gets food poisoning
- Rowdy teenagers cause thousands of dollars in damage to a restroom
- Expensive displays are stolen or damaged
- Fire or severe weather damages your theater building
- A projector breaks down causing a screen to be inoperable
What Does Movie Theater Insurance Cover?
Movie theater insurance should cover the unique risks you face in the theater business. This includes physical damage to your building or property, as well as your responsibility to financially compensate any customers or members of the public who get injured on your property.
With a few commercial insurance policies tailored to your needs, you can get the peace of mind you need to focus on the important stuff—like selling more tickets and keeping the popcorn fresh.
Working closely with an independent insurance agent, you can determine exactly what risks you have and find tailored insurance policies to address them. You may need:
- Commercial property coverage: This covers buildings and their contents, such as computers and cash registers, projectors and screens, theater seating, and any other business property inside your theater or offices. Be sure to talk to your agent about special coverage for unique property concerns such as leased and consigned films.
- Business interruption coverage: This compensates for lost business income and pays for operating expenses if you must temporarily close following a covered loss (e.g., a fire damages two of six screens, and you must close entirely during the rebuilding process).
- Commercial general liability coverage: This pays for claims of bodily injury and property damage to third parties due to your negligence (e.g., a customer trips on rug in a dimly lit theater, breaking an ankle).
If you operate a small to midsize movie theater company, you may be able to bundle your basic property and liability coverage together into a packaged policy (business owners policy, or BOP) designed for small business owners.