How Do You Insure a Gas Station or Convenience Store in Texas?

What Insurance Does a Texas Gas Station Need?

Most stations need property, tank pollution, general liability, liquor liability (if you sell alcohol), crime and spoilage coverage. Workers' compensation is optional in Texas but worth a careful decision. Here is what each one does.

For a quick overview of this property type, see our gas station and convenience store page.

Do You Own the Station, Run It, or Both?

Start with this question, because it decides who buys which policy. An owner who leases to an operator needs different coverage from an operator who leases the store, and an owner-operator needs both sets.

• Owner who leases to an operator. You usually insure the building and canopy, plus a lessor's risk only liability policy for your role as landlord. The lease should require the operator to carry liability, liquor liability and its own contents coverage, with you as an additional insured.
• Operator who leases the store. You usually insure inventory, equipment, liability, liquor liability, crime and workers' comp. The lease may also make you insure the building, the canopy or the tanks.
• Owner-operator. You need the full set: building, contents, tanks, liability, liquor, crime and your workers' comp decision.

Tanks need special attention. TCEQ says only one person, the owner or the operator, must show proof of financial assurance, but both can be held liable if it's missing (TCEQ RG-475i). Your lease should say clearly who buys the tank policy, and you should check that it's in place.

How Should You Insure the Canopy, Pumps and Signs?

List them on your property policy at what they would cost to replace today. Canopies, dispensers and price signs are expensive, and they're the first things a storm or a vehicle hits.

• Canopy. Include it in the building values, with its square footage and how it's attached. Canopies catch wind and hail on a large surface.
• Pumps and dispensers. Confirm whether they're insured as building or as equipment, and at replacement cost.
• Price and pylon signs. Signs that stand apart from the building often get a small limit under standard forms. Schedule each one under signs coverage at its real value.
• Fuel in the tanks. Fuel is stock. Ask how your policy values it and whether it covers loss from a leak.

Vehicle damage is common at stations. Property policies usually cover damage from vehicles, but some limit damage caused by vehicles you own or operate, so check the wording. If a delivery truck causes the damage, the delivery company's insurer may pay, or your insurer may pay you and then seek repayment through subrogation.

What Are the Texas Rules for Underground Storage Tank Insurance?

If you own or operate a petroleum underground storage tank, federal rules require you to show you can pay for leak cleanup and third-party damage. In Texas, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) enforces this.

Here is how TCEQ financial assurance works in practice, based on TCEQ's own guide (RG-475i):

• Insurance is the most common way to comply. A bond, letter of credit, trust or self-insurance test can also qualify.
• General liability policies don't cover pollution events and don't meet the requirement.
• Proof of coverage goes with your annual self-certification. Your TCEQ facility ID should be on the insurance proof, and the owner, operator and tank details must match your registration.
• A standard ACORD 25 certificate is not accepted as proof. TCEQ asks for the certificate wording its rules require.
• TCEQ won't issue fuel delivery certificates until it verifies acceptable financial assurance.
• If your financial assurance ends, you must empty the tanks within 90 days or get new coverage.
• Report suspected or confirmed releases to TCEQ within 24 hours, and notify your insurer then too.

These are summaries of the rules. For questions about your own compliance, contact TCEQ or an environmental attorney.

How Do Storage Tank Pollution Policies Work?

Many tank pollution policies are written on a claims-made basis. They cover claims made while the policy is active, for leaks that started on or after the policy's retroactive date.

That makes continuity important. If you switch insurers, ask the new one to keep your original retroactive date. A new, later date can leave older leaks without coverage. If you stop buying the policy, an extended reporting period may give extra time to report claims from the covered years.

• Compliance affects claims. TCEQ notes that technical compliance, including proper leak detection, may affect whether a claim is paid.
• Old contamination is a separate problem. Pollution that existed before your coverage may not be covered.
• Separate from other policies. Most property and liability policies have a pollution exclusion, so the tank policy is usually the only cover for a leak.

Do You Need Liquor Liability for Beer and Wine Sales?

In most cases, yes, if you sell alcohol. Standard general liability policies usually exclude alcohol-related claims for businesses that sell it, so a separate liquor liability policy fills that gap.

Texas's Dram Shop Act limits when a seller can be sued. It must have been apparent that the buyer was obviously intoxicated to the point of being a clear danger, and the intoxication must have caused the harm (Alco. Bev. Code §2.02).

The TABC safe harbor can also help. An employee's sale isn't attributed to the employer if the employer required TABC-approved seller-server training, the employee attended it, and the employer didn't directly or indirectly encourage the violation (§106.14). Keep training certificates on file for every clerk. For legal questions about your permit or liability, talk to an attorney.

How Do You Cover Robbery, Theft and Spoiled Stock?

With a crime policy. Property policies limit or exclude cash, and they usually don't cover theft by your own staff, so crime coverage protects the money and stock you handle every day.

• Money and securities. Cash, checks and lottery funds, inside the store and on the way to the bank.
• Robbery and safe burglary. Theft by force or threat, and break-ins to a locked safe.
• Employee theft. Cash, inventory or lottery funds taken by your own staff.
• Computer and payment fraud. Optional parts that respond to fraudulent electronic transfers.

Underwriters look at your cash controls. Drop safes, time-delay safes, cameras, a monitored alarm and a written cash-handling routine usually make a store easier to insure. Crime limits are separate from your property limits, so pick them based on your highest daily cash and lottery balances.

What If a Cooler Fails or the Power Goes Out?

Spoilage coverage pays for food and drinks that go bad, and equipment breakdown pays to fix the compressor or electrical equipment that failed. Without both, a summer outage can cost you a full walk-in of stock and a repair bill.

Check three details. First, what causes are covered: a breakdown, a power outage, or both. Second, whether an outage that starts away from your store is covered; that usually needs utility services coverage. Third, the waiting period or deductible before spoilage pays.

Should a Texas Station Carry Workers' Compensation?

It's your choice for most private employers in Texas, but skipping it has real legal costs. Texas Labor Code §406.002 makes coverage elective for most private employers (TDI).

A non-subscriber gives up important defenses if an employee sues over an injury. You can't argue that the employee was partly at fault, assumed the risk, or was hurt by a co-worker's negligence (§406.033). Non-subscribers must also post notices, tell new hires in writing, and file DWC Form 005 with the state.

Some owners buy occupational accident insurance instead. It pays certain benefits to injured workers but doesn't restore the lost defenses. Talk to an attorney about the legal side of being a non-subscriber.

What Should You Gather for a Gas Station Quote?

Gather the details below before you shop. Tank details and a clean loss history do the most to widen your options, and stores with past claims can often be placed when the fixes are explained.

1. Number of tanks, their age, size, construction, and leak-detection method, plus your TCEQ facility ID.
2. Your current tank policy, including its retroactive date.
3. Yearly fuel gallons and inside sales, broken out for beer and wine.
4. Your TABC permit details and seller-server training records.
5. Store hours (24-hour stores rate differently).
6. Building, canopy and sign values; year built and roof details.
7. Cameras, safes, drop safes and alarm details.
8. Five years of loss runs for every policy.
9. Your lease, if you lease the store or lease it to someone else.

Some stations are placed with surplus lines insurers, which add a 4.85% Texas premium tax and a small stamping fee. When you're ready, request a quote or contact us with what you have.

Questions Owners Ask

Sources

1. 40 CFR 280.93: Amount and scope of required financial responsibility
2. TCEQ: Financial assurance for petroleum storage tank systems
3. TCEQ RG-475i: Financial Assurance for Underground Storage Tanks (Feb. 2025) — Proof, self-certification, sale/transfer, 90-day and 24-hour rules
4. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code §2.02
5. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code §106.14 — Seller-server training safe harbor
6. Texas Department of Insurance: Non-subscribers
7. Texas Comptroller: Surplus lines insurance tax