Guest slips and trips on the floor
Crowded aisles, spilled drinks, cords, and play areas for young children create slip-and-fall exposure throughout the arcade.
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Arcade Insurance
Your games can earn electronically while the counter still holds cash and redemption prizes. Property and crime protection need to distinguish cabinets, funds, and prize stock, with records that can establish a loss.
The Southern Agency can review who owns your machines, what guests can do on the floor and how you track cash and prize stock.
Industry overview
You bring people together to play electronic and redemption games, where an injury on your floor or a breakdown of your machines can quickly disrupt your business.
The Southern Agency can review your specific mix of video and redemption games to help you select insurance.
Risks worth discussing
Game machine damage and theft
Video, redemption and claw machines can be damaged by electrical events or vandalism, or stolen. Losing several cabinets can mean both replacement costs and fewer games earning revenue.
Electronics and power exposure
A surge or breakdown can disable several machines at once. The revenue loss may depend on how much of the floor can keep operating while repairs are made.
Cash and prize handling
Cash at the counter and prizes awaiting redemption can be stolen by an intruder or insider. A discrepancy in token or play-balance records can also make the size and cause of a loss harder to establish.
Child supervision incidents
Children may be injured around games or play areas. A dispute can concern supervision as well as the condition of the premises, particularly during organized parties.
Payment data exposure
Card-based games and gift cards can involve customer or payment records. A breach can lead to investigation and notification costs.
Coverage worth discussing
Policies to ask about. Which ones fit depends on your operations, your contracts, and the carrier’s forms.
- General Liability InsuranceMay help pay defense costs and covered damages if a guest is injured. Be sure to describe your play structures and activities so the policy includes them.
- Commercial Property InsuranceMay help repair or replace machines and fixtures after covered damage. Cash and prizes typically require a separate review.
- Business Owners PolicyMay bundle your liability and property coverage if your arcade is eligible. Verify that your specific machine types and activities are included in the package.
- Equipment Breakdown InsuranceMay pay for repairs to included game machines after a covered mechanical or electrical breakdown. Loss of power is not itself proof of machine damage; review wear, any purchased utility-interruption and income terms separately.
- Crime InsuranceMay help cover losses from employee theft or robbery of cash and prizes. Proof requirements and limits vary by section.
- Workers Compensation InsuranceMay pay medical and qualifying wage benefits for covered work injuries while servicing machines or working on the floor. Identify actual employers, duties and work states, including any supplied party or repair staff.
Situations to think through
These hypothetical examples are not agency claim results. Whether a loss is covered depends on the facts, policy terms, and applicable exclusions.
Hypothetical: Slip near a crowded machine
Hypothetical: a guest slips on a spilled drink near a popular game and sues over the resulting injury. General liability may pay defense costs and covered damages. The injury alone does not decide whether the arcade is legally responsible; that depends on the facts.
Hypothetical: Power surge disables machines
Hypothetical: a surge damages the electronics in several game cabinets while the rest of the floor stays open. Equipment breakdown may pay covered repairs if the machines and failure qualify. Lost income requires its own protection and a measured loss, taking continuing game revenue and any waiting period into account.
Hypothetical: After-hours burglary
Hypothetical: thieves break in overnight and take cash and prize inventory from the counter. Crime insurance may pay an insured money loss, while property or crime coverage may address the stolen prizes. Different limits and proof requirements may apply to cash and prize stock.
Before you talk to an agent
Questions to raise
- Compare current replacement values with the property limit, including game cabinets, controls, and leased equipment the arcade must insure. Identify machines owned by a supplier or another operator rather than treating everything on the floor as the arcade's property.
- Estimate how much revenue would be lost if several popular machines stopped together while other games remained available. Compare that exposure with covered breakdown causes, any income extension, and the time needed to obtain parts and restart.
- Separate counter cash, bank deposits, tokens, and prize stock when reviewing theft protection. An intruder's burglary, employee theft, and an unexplained accounting shortage are not interchangeable claims.
- Describe simulators, play structures, food service, and any staff-supervised parties. Those activities can need different terms from ordinary video games; children being present does not by itself describe the arcade's supervision role.
- Map what the card or gift-card system records and what a payment provider holds. Review incident-response responsibility and cyber protection separately from physical machine damage.
Contract terms to check
- Read the mall or premises lease for requested liability limits, additional-insured status, and responsibility for improvements. Compare the request with the issued endorsements; a certificate does not amend coverage. These are contract terms, not a universal insurance law.
- Check machine leases and supplier agreements for ownership, maintenance, repairs, and responsibility after damage. Protection of a supplier's cabinet differs from liability protection for that business.
- Review party, concession, and outside-operator agreements for who provides staff and supervises guests. Have waiver or release wording reviewed for the activity and jurisdiction rather than relying on a parent's signature as the insurance plan.
- Check payment-provider terms for who holds customer records and handles a suspected breach.
- If a simulator or other device falls under amusement-device rules, confirm its requirements with the responsible authority instead of assuming every arcade machine has the same legal treatment.
What the agent conversation looks like
Start with the work you do and the questions your current policies leave unanswered. Carrier options depend on your location, risk, and underwriting. Explore our approach.
- ListenReview your operations, current coverage, and past claims.
- AssessIdentify potential hazards and discuss ways to reduce risk.
- BuildDiscuss policy and carrier options, premium costs, and audits.
- SupportReview changes and help you plan ahead as your needs develop.
Questions owners ask
What insurance does an arcade typically need?
Guest claims, damaged machines, lost income, and theft are different needs. A package may address some of them, but ask what it includes for the arcade's games and other activities. Employee injury and any payment-data exposure need attention too.
How are my game machines covered?
Property insurance may pay for covered damage or theft, while breakdown protection addresses qualifying internal failures. Bring current replacement values and lease obligations so the review includes machines the arcade owns and those it must insure for someone else. Limits and valuation terms affect the payment.
Do I need equipment breakdown coverage?
It is worth reviewing when an electrical or mechanical failure could take several games out of service. Confirm which machines and failures qualify, then review any lost-income protection and waiting period. Other games may keep earning, so an income claim is not automatically the full floor's revenue.
What about theft of cash and prizes?
Compare employee-theft protection with cover for money stolen by an outsider and for prize inventory. Check limits at the counter, in storage, and during deposits, as well as the records needed to support a loss. An accounting shortage alone does not identify the cause or establish a covered theft.
Does my mall lease require insurance?
The lease may specify liability limits and additional-insured status for the landlord. Bring its insurance schedule and amendments before agreeing to terms. Confirm the endorsement rather than relying on a certificate. A contract request does not mean every provision can be arranged.
Are children's injuries covered?
An injury claim may be covered, but the policy needs to fit how the arcade operates. Ordinary game play, motion devices, climbing features, and parties with staff supervision can raise different questions. Describe who supervises children and any outside party operator.
Talk through your arcade coverage
Bring your questions, current policies, and relevant contracts. An agent can review coverage terms, exclusions, and the information carriers ask for, then explain the options available to you.