25 years in insurance. 15 with small business.
Most restaurant owners don't think their insurance is wrong. It just hasn't kept up.
You opened a second location and nobody updated the policy. Staff turned over and the payroll numbers on your workers comp are from two years ago. You're still paying for coverage on equipment you sold. And every year the audit shows up and it's a fire drill because nobody kept the books matched to the policy.
This is what happens when nobody owns the whole picture. I do.
I'm a principal at Page Insurance — an independent agency with access to multiple carriers. I'm not locked into one insurance company, which means I match coverage to your situation instead of forcing you into whatever one carrier offers. I focus specifically on restaurant operators and contractors. It's what I know, and I'd rather do a few things well than pretend to be an expert in everything.
What I actually know about restaurants
The state fund trap
A lot of restaurant owners end up in the state workers comp fund because their agent didn't know how to place them anywhere else. If your claims history is clean and you've been in business a couple of years, there are programs that can cut your workers comp costs by 30-40%. Most agents either don't have access to these programs or don't know they exist. I do.
I talk to your bookkeeper directly
Audit prep isn't your job — it's mine. I work directly with your bookkeeper to make sure payroll classifications, subcontractor records, and revenue numbers are right before the auditor shows up. Not after, when the surprise bill arrives. If you want, I can set up pay-as-you-go workers comp so your premium adjusts with your actual payroll — no year-end audit shock at all.
Coverage that actually changes when your business does
You add a location, your menu changes, you pick up catering, you hire seasonal staff — your insurance should adjust with you. I stay involved year-round so things don't quietly drift out of alignment. Most agents set it and disappear until renewal.
Your package is probably mispriced
Most restaurant BOPs are rated on sales or payroll. But some carriers I work with don't rate that way for certain restaurant types — which means a high-volume pizza shop might pay dramatically less for the same coverage depending on which carrier writes the policy. This is the kind of thing your current agent should be checking. Most don't.
What I work with
And plenty that don't fit neatly into a category — if it's a restaurant, I can handle it.
Ben's not just our agent — he's part of our team. He actually picks up the phone.— Mandi Tomlinson, Bookkeeper, Pizza Pie Cafe
I care about keeping costs down — I'm a business owner too. But I start by getting the coverage right.
The cheapest quote usually means stripped coverage, and when something goes wrong, stripped coverage costs more than the premium you saved. The best programs go to restaurants that are stable, well-managed, and have clean claims history. I can help you qualify for those.
In many cases, I can get restaurant owners into workers comp programs that cut their costs significantly — sometimes 30-40% below what they were paying. Package premiums often come down too once coverage is properly aligned with how the restaurant actually operates.