Top chefs insure their crockery, their wine cellars and the contents of their fridges and freezers. Now they are being offered cover against the greatest trauma of all – the loss of a Michelin star.

C&D Assurance, a French insurance company, is promising a €25,000 (£16,960) payout to customers that suffer the humiliation of being down-graded by the world’s most influential guide.

According to the company, which specialises in insuring hotels and restaurants, the money is meant to fund the cost of hiring a public relations consultant to restore the establishment’s reputation.

The move underlines the power of the 107-year-old guide, a rating from which can make or break a chef’s career. A Michelin star is said to add an average of 30 per cent to a restaurant’s takings – and the loss of a star may cause revenues to fall by a similar amount.

In a trade where costs are high and profit margins rarely exceed 10 per cent, a down-grade can be disastrous.

When the guide demoted Le Violon d’Ingres, a Parisian restaurant, from two stars to one in 2001, its annual turnover fell by 40 per cent, according to Christian Constant, the chef. “In this job, a catastrophe can hit you very quickly,” he said.

In 2003, chef Bernard Loiseau committed suicide when it was it was rumoured that his restaurant, La Côte d’Or, was going to lose its maximum three-star rating.

Nicolas Le Bec, a two-star chef from Lyons, said he would refuse the insurance. “If I lose a star, I’d only have myself to blame,” he said. “I don’t need an insurance for that.”

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