Food Vendor Insurance What It Is Costs and Companies
Whether you have a food truck, a catering business, or sell food at a farmer’s market, you might want to get food vendor insurance to protect your finances from the risks of selling food to customers.
We’ll talk about what food vendor insurance covers, how much it costs, and where you can get the best policy for your needs. Many insurance companies make it easy and quick to get coverage, so you can start your food business right away without worrying about safety.
Do I need insurance to sell food?
Yes, you do need food vendor insurance if you sell food. Food can get contaminated even when it is handled and cooked correctly. An employee could get hurt while working or damage the event site by accident. If you don’t have the right insurance, these risks could lead to expensive lawsuits that could put your business out of business.
Some coverages are even required by law. For example, most states require food vendors with a certain number of employees to have workers’ compensation insurance. If you drive or park a food truck or trailer on a public road or deliver food in a vehicle, most states also require you to have commercial auto insurance.
The good news is that many companies offer coverage that is not too expensive. When you buy more than one policy at the same time, you can often get a discount. Choosing a higher deductible can also help keep your premiums low.
What is insurance for a food vendor?
Food vendor insurance is a group of insurance policies that are needed to run a food business like a food truck or concession stand. Different kinds of food vendors may need different kinds of insurance, but these are the policies that most food vendors will need.
Liability insurance for everything
General liability insurance pays for legal fees and medical bills if someone says your business is to blame for damage to property or injury to a person or their reputation. Product liability insurance, which protects against lawsuits about food poisoning, is often included in general liability insurance. Food vendors are often required to have general liability insurance by the people who put on events.
Property insurance for businesses
You’ll need commercial property insurance if you own a business building or have put expensive equipment in a rented space. This pays to fix or replace your property or equipment after a covered loss, like a fire in your kitchen or someone breaking into your home. Most commercial property insurance policies don’t cover earthquakes and floods, so some business owners may choose to buy separate policies for these risks.
Business Owner’s Policy
Some food vendors may prefer to buy a business owner’s policy, which includes both a general liability policy and a policy for their commercial property (BOP). Most of the time, these policies also include business interruption insurance, which helps replace net income if a covered loss forces your business to stop running.
Insurance for inland ships
A commercial property or business owners policy may cover equipment that stays at your business, but it won’t cover anything you bring to events. Insurance for inland marine helps pay to fix or replace things like computers, cooking equipment, and other things while they are being moved.
Insurance for workers’ compensation
Workers’ compensation insurance pays for a worker’s medical bills and lost wages if he or she gets hurt or sick on the job. Most states require this kind of insurance if you have more than a certain number of employees.
Liquor Liability Insurance
Liquor liability insurance pays for legal fees, court judgments, repairs, and medical bills if your business is sued because it serves alcohol. For example, if you serve a drunk person alcohol and they hurt someone else, break something, or get into an accident while driving drunk, the person who was hurt could sue your business. Food vendors who sell or distribute alcohol need to have liquor liability insurance to protect themselves.
Commercial Auto
You’ll need commercial auto insurance if you run a food truck, drive between clients for your catering business, or use a car in any other way for your business. It has the same coverages as a personal auto policy, like liability insurance, coverage for physical damage, coverage for medical payments, and coverage for drivers who don’t have insurance. You can buy hired and non-owned auto insurance instead if you don’t own the cars you use for business.
Cyber coverage
Businesses that store customer data will need cyber liability insurance. This insurance covers multiple liabilities and helps pay to restore your business’s reputation, lost or damaged data, or lost business income after a cyber attack. For example, if you store your catering clients’ credit card information and your business gets hacked, cyber insurance would protect you from lawsuits filed by customers who lost money because of the hack.