Professional Liability Insurance Services®, Inc. (PLIS) offers a focused insurance solution for restaurants and hospitality businesses facing the financial and reputational fallout from food-borne illness incidents, contamination, and related crises. Our Business Interruption Insurance for Food Borne Illness Outbreaks—marketed as Trade Name Restoration® (TNR)—is built to protect a client’s revenue, operations, and brand when the unexpected occurs.
Ideal Accounts and Appetite
PLIS's TNR program fits a wide range of food-service and hospitality accounts, including:
- Independent restaurants and single-site operators
- Franchised concepts and multi-unit chains (U.S. or Canada-domiciled owners)
- Hospitality businesses with a branded trade name that relies on consumer confidence
- Food manufacturers, packagers, co-packers, and distributors
Typical appetites include accounts where brand reputation, customer confidence, and continuity of operations are critical. The program is appropriate for both single incidents at a high-profile location and for multi-location exposures tied to supplier contamination or systemic issues.
Example accounts you can place
- A regional quick-service franchise reporting suspected supplier contamination across several units — coverage for brand rehabilitation, lost royalties, testing, and marketing response.
- A high-volume, single-location fine dining restaurant that faces allegations of a food-borne illness — coverage for extra expenses, sanitation, employee testing, and lost income during restoration.
Coverage Highlights and Advantages
- Up to $100 million capacity per trade name
- No per-location caps and automatic extension to newly reported locations
- No 10% revenue loss threshold or waiting period to trigger coverage
- Up to 18 months period of restoration/rehabilitation
- Covers supplier-related and in-house contamination events
- Includes workplace violence incidents and extortion/malicious contamination threats with full limits available
- Recall coverage available, either bundled or as a stand-alone option
- Inoculation, vaccination, and testing expenses covered outside the indemnity limits
Incident response and extra expense coverage includes:
- Marketing, public relations, and reputation restoration expenses
- Employee overtime, temporary staffing, and relocation expenses
- Product removal, disposal, sanitation, and machinery cleaning
- Customer and employee testing, medical mitigation, and inoculation costs
- Loss of royalty income for franchisors and business interruption for multiple sites
For manufacturing and distribution accounts, the program can also include pre-recall and recall expenses, product rehabilitation, customer notification costs, and additional crisis management support.
Specialty Risk Management® (SRM®) Support
PLIS partners with SRM®, a crisis management team with over 100 years of combined food and beverage industry experience. SRM provides 24/7 expert assistance in media management, regulatory coordination, incident investigation, and brand recovery — helping insureds mitigate reputational damage and restore consumer confidence.
Underwriting Notes and Minimum Premiums
Policies are customized to match each client’s exposures. PLIS underwriters are HACCP-certified with more than 40 years of combined farm-to-fork experience and work directly with brokers to structure appropriate limits and options. Minimum premiums vary depending on account characteristics and selected coverages.
Territories and Availability
This program is available in all U.S. states and Washington, D.C., on a non-admitted basis and is placed through Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s. International locations owned by U.S. or Canadian-domiciled entities may be eligible, subject to underwriting approval.
Why Work With Professional Liability Insurance Services, Inc.?
- The original and longest-operating provider of Trade Name Restoration® style coverage
- Direct access to experienced underwriters—no voicemail
- Claims and underwriting teams are HACCP-certified with real-world food industry experience
- SRM® crisis response team available 24/7 to support insureds immediately after an event
- Flexible program structure for both corporate owners and franchisees
PLIS combines specialized underwriting, industry knowledge, and dedicated crisis management to offer agents a practical market for clients where brand and business continuity matter most. If your client’s reputation is core to their revenue, this program provides a targeted safety net.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of accounts are a good fit for this program?
This program is ideal for restaurants, hospitality brands, food manufacturers, and franchise operators that rely on brand reputation and uninterrupted operations.
Does the policy cover both supplier and in-house contamination incidents?
Yes, coverage applies to food borne illness outbreaks caused by suppliers or by the insured’s own operations.
What are some key advantages of this program over standard business interruption insurance?
Unlike standard BI policies, this program covers extra expenses, product recall, brand rehabilitation, and even marketing costs. It also responds to workplace violence and extortion threats.
Is there a waiting period or loss threshold to trigger coverage?
No. This program does not require a 10% revenue loss threshold or waiting period, allowing faster claims response and mitigation.
Can this coverage extend to locations outside the U.S.?
Yes, coverage extends to international locations owned by entities domiciled in the U.S. or Canada, subject to underwriting approval.
Need help placing an account? Connect with a market specialist.