How EZ CERT Helped a Booming Burger Franchise Take Control of its Insurance

In the decade since MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes was founded, the brand has experienced explosive growth, expanding from one restaurant in Plano, Texas to more than 100 locations in markets across the country. The franchise’s rapid growth has been recognized by a host of authoritative industry publications, including Entrepreneur, who included the brand in their annual Franchise 500 list; Franchise Times, who included MOOYAH in their Fast & Serious list of fastest growing franchise brands; and Fast Casual, who ranked the brand #11 in their annual Top 100 Movers and Shakers list.

With that growth has come the slate of operational concerns that apply to larger franchise brands. Not the least of which is insurance compliance. Over the course of a few years, MOOYAH went from overseeing insurance for a small, close group of restaurants to taking on coverage and liability for a sprawling network of businesses, each owned and operated by franchisees, many of which operate in states with varying insurance requirements.

Rather than managing insurance compliance in-house, a full-time project requiring oversight of every restaurant in the system and knowledge of an array of insurance products, MOOYAH decided to outsource the work to EZ CERT.

According to Michael Mabry, MOOYAH’s president and chief operating officer, that decision has provided a stark relief for the franchise.

“EZ CERT has streamlined our insurance program and removed an enormous amount of work,” he said.

In addition to clearing MOOYAH’s desk of near-constant insurance work, Mabry says EZ CERT was able to recommend a number of insurance products the franchise was not currently required, which put the entire system at risk.

Heath Groves, a franchise brand executive for EZ CERT, said even the basic inventory of insurance products for restaurant franchises is extensive.

“We always recommend coverage for general liability, workers compensation, hired and non-owned, commercial auto, umbrella, employment practices liability, and business interruption,” he said. “Then, depending on the type of restaurant, we might also require liquor liability and trade name restoration.”

Mabry says before he signed on with EZ CERT, he didn’t realize the risk his franchise was carrying.

“We weren’t really managing the compliance of our franchisee-owned locations, which opened us up to a lot of liability,” he said. “EZ CERT recommended all the necessary products and have managed compliance for all of our units.”

Though MOOYAH hadn’t given extensive thought to their insurance requirements before finding EZ CERT, Groves says the franchise was eager to work with him to get up to speed.

“MOOYAH immediately saw the value of tracking insurance certificates for their franchisees,” Groves said. “As soon as they signed up, we were able to hit the ground running. From day one, they were all in, which allowed us to address all sorts of insurance questions that they may not have even known to ask.”

That last point is crucial, according to Groves. Too many franchisors don’t know how and where they are carrying lability, and EZ CERT’s ability to fill in those gaps can be a make-or-break proposition for some franchises.

“Each franchise system is different and needs different coverages in place to mitigate the risks they face,” he said. “That’s why it’s crucial to work with a professional who specializes in franchise insurance.”

For MOOYAH, Mabry says EZ CERT has not only been essential in maintaining the franchise’s insurance compliance, it has also been an easy and friendly team to work with.

“They’ve been great partners in terms of managing our insurance,” Mabry said, “but they’re also just great people. The entire team has been wonderful to work with.”