Coverage that fits where the business actually is — and where it's headed

Most restaurant policies were written for a smaller version of your business. We read yours line by line against where the business is now, where it's headed, and what the market offers today. Carriers build sharper restaurant programs every year that most operators never see. Right coverage, right price.

A warm dining room with an open kitchen under vent hoods
Hands plating at the pass in a dark kitchen

Who you're getting

I spent twenty years on your side of the table

I'm Andy Himmel, founder of Proof. Before insurance I ran a multi-brand, multi-state restaurant company — signed leases, carried debt, took on investor capital, built the organization, and covered payroll for hundreds of people.

I handled the insurance side from that same seat: the claims, the renewals, and the situations without a clean answer. That's why restaurants are the focus here — I know how this business runs, and I know how its insurance works.

So your policy gets read one restaurant owner to another — and placed in partnership with Novak Insurance, chosen for exactly this: full market access, deep specialist expertise, and a claims team with the scale to back it up.

Twenty years in this business builds more than experience. It builds relationships — with operators, with the people who finance and build and supply restaurants, with the ones who've already solved the problems you're facing.

Claims and coverage get handled — that's the baseline. The rest is what a former restaurant owner brings: call about a lease, a build-out, or a capital raise, and you'll get a straight answer — or an introduction to someone who's done it.

Every one of those relationships comes with the account

Get a free insurance review

A partnership with Novak Insurance, a third-generation national agency.

National brokerages have the market access. Local agencies have the attention to detail. Most operators are told to pick one. With Proof and Novak you get both — the reach of a national brokerage with the service of a boutique firm, and the judgment of an operator who's run the business.

Want a closer look at the agency behind every account? novakinsurance.com →

Here's what you get

  • National reach that grows with you
  • Independent — we answer to you, not the carriers
  • A real person answers the phone
  • A deep bench of seasoned claims experts

The insurance review

You'll know exactly where your coverage stands.

We read your current coverage line by line and show you how it compares — with the business you're running now, and with what the market offers today. No sales pitch. Free, no obligation, and yours to keep.

01Liquor liabilityYour biggest exposure if you serve alcohol.

Most general liability policies specifically exclude alcohol-related claims — liquor liability is the separate coverage that fills that gap. It's what responds when an over-served guest causes harm after leaving, or when something happens between guests on-site. We check that it's actually in place, that the limits fit your alcohol volume, and — as THC-infused drinks show up on more menus — whether your coverage keeps pace with what you're actually serving.

02General liabilityThe everyday claims — falls, spills, and injuries.

General liability is the base layer for the public — a guest slips on a wet floor, someone trips in the parking lot, and a diner gets sick. It's also what your leases and vendor contracts point to when they demand certificates, additional insured status, and specific limits. We check that your limits fit your actual traffic and that the coverage lines up with everything your landlords and partners require of you.

03Property, contents & equipmentYour build-out, your equipment, everything inside.

This is the physical side — your build-out, equipment, furniture, and inventory. Where it gets restaurant-specific is spoilage: if a walk-in fails or the power drops and you lose a cooler of product, coverage depends on how it happened. Most policies quietly exclude an off-premises outage — the storm that takes down a line a mile away — unless you carry the right endorsement. We check that your limits reflect today's rebuild and replacement costs.

04Business interruptionFixed costs and lost profit if you're forced to close.

When a covered loss shuts you down, this makes you whole on what the closure actually costs — the net profit you would have earned plus the expenses that keep running while you're dark, like rent and loan payments. What matters is what counts as "covered" — it pays only when a covered peril forces the closure, and the things that shut a restaurant down aren't always the ones a standard policy accounts for.

05Workers' comp & employment practicesOn-the-job injuries and employee claims.

These are your two people coverages: workers' comp for on-the-job injuries, and employment practices liability for employee lawsuits — harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, pay disputes. As your headcount grows, so does the exposure.

06Umbrella & excess coverageAn extra layer above all your other coverage.

An umbrella sits on top of your other liability policies and takes over when a claim runs past their limits. For a single restaurant that's straightforward, but across a growing group it's also a structuring decision — one well-built umbrella can raise the limits on all your locations at once, and it's often how you meet the higher limits a lease or a lender requires.

07Directors & officers liabilityProtection for the people running the company.

As your organization grows — a leadership team, a board, outside investors — the people running it can be sued personally over how the business is managed. Directors & officers coverage protects them personally, for claims general liability doesn't cover. It matters most at the consequential moments — raising capital, a sale, or financial strain — when investors and lenders look hardest at the decisions that were made.

08Cyber liabilityA data breach or cyberattack on your systems.

For a restaurant, the real cyber exposure is payment data — every card you run moves through a POS system that's a target. If that data is breached, the costs aren't just cleanup: the card brands can pass down PCI fines and forensic-audit charges, and a standard property or liability policy won't cover any of it. Cyber coverage is what responds.

Opening a new location?

Your build-out insurance timeline

Every insurance step in a build-out, in the order it comes up: the lease, possession, the contractor, the first hire, opening day. Read the timeline, or use the interactive checklist to see where your project stands.

A restaurant mid build-out: framing going up, the hood installed, the bar built, a crew at work

How it works

Four steps. Most of the work is on our side.

  1. About a minute

    Fill out the form below

    A few quick questions about your group — about a minute of your time, and nothing you'll have to look up or go digging for.

  2. About twenty minutes

    We have a short call

    A conversation, operator to operator, to understand your company — your brands, where your coverage stands now, and where you're headed.

  3. Whenever's easiest

    You send us your coverage

    Just your current policies — the full documents, as they came from the carrier. Forward what you have; we take it from there.

  4. Your call

    You get your assessment

    Where your coverage stands, how it compares with what's out there, and what any change would cost. Changing nothing is a perfectly good outcome.

The form

Get your free insurance review

Free, no obligation, and yours to keep — whether you move your coverage or not.

Coverage placed in partnership with Novak Insurance, a third-generation national agency.

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Frequently asked questions

Before you fill anything out.

Is the insurance review really free?

It is — free, no obligation, and yours to keep. We read your current policy and give you a straight answer on where it stands. If you want to act on what we find, you can do that with us or take it to the agent you already have. There's no charge either way and nothing to sign.

Our renewal isn't for a while. Is it worth doing now?

You're not locked in. Renewal is your insurer's deadline, not yours — you can move coverage whenever it makes sense, and when something's worth moving mid-term the unused premium typically comes back to you. Reviewing now just means the timing is yours to pick rather than the calendar's.

What if my coverage is already in good shape?

Then we'll tell you that. A review that always finds a problem isn't a review, it's a sales pitch. Sometimes the honest answer is that you're carrying the right coverage, and when that's the case, you'll hear it plainly.

Will anyone contact my current agent or carrier?

No. The review works off the documents you send and the conversation we have — nothing goes to your current agent, your carrier, or the market. What you do with the findings is your call, and some people simply take them back to the agent they already have. That's a fine outcome.

We have locations in more than one state. Can you handle all of them?

Yes. We place and service coverage nationally, so a multi-state group runs on one account — not scattered across local agents who never talk to each other. As the group grows, the coverage is built to grow with it.

We're getting more complex — investors, a board, expansion. Can you handle that?

That's exactly the operator we're built for. Beyond the core lines, we work through umbrella structuring across multiple locations, management and D&O liability as a board and investors come into the picture, and the coverage questions that show up when you raise capital or add units. The more moving parts, the more there is to look at — and the more a review is worth doing.

How much of my time does this take?

Very little, and most of the work is ours. A few questions on the form below, about a minute. From there, roughly twenty minutes so we understand your group and where it's headed, and at some point you send over whatever makes up your current coverage. That's the whole lift on your end.

Might as well see how your coverage stacks up

Twenty minutes, a straight read on what you're actually carrying, and no obligation at the end.

Get my free insurance review