If you have a catering van, you know that you business operation can run into several risks and any of them without insurance protection can bankrupt your business. It is essential that you have the right insurance to protect your business. Read on to find the 6 best insurance companies for catering van business and everything else you need to know about getting the right insurance coverage to protect your catering business.
- 6 best insurance for catering vans
- What kind of insurance does a catering van business need?
- How much does insurance for catering vans cost?
- What impacts catering van insurance cost?
- How to find cheap insurance for catering vans?
6 best insurance for catering vans
Finding insurance for catering vans can be confusing because the business operation of a catering van is a combination of operating a truck and a food business together. We have the research and here are our recommendations of the top 6 providers of insurance for catering vans.
- biBERK: Best for affordable coverage and great digital experience
- Progressive: Best for discounts
- Simply Business: Best for knowledgeable agents
- InsurePro: Best for on-demand insurance or pay-per-day coverage
- Smart Financial: Best brokerage firm if you prefer working with an experienced agent
- THREE: Best for simple coverage on multiple policies
biBERK: Best for affordable coverage and great digital experience
biBERK is a Berkshire Hathaway company, i.e., Warren Buffet. In addition to commercial auto insurance, you can also get workers compensation insurance, general liability insurance, professional liability insurance, umbrella and more.
biBERK prides itself on providing a completely online experience, so you won’t have to deal with any agents. You can get a quote, purchase insurance, and make a claim entirely online. In fact, biBERK is one the only three carriers offering commercial truck insurance quotes online. The other two are Progressive and THREE insurance, another subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaways. That is one of the main reasons they are able to cut costs and offer very affordable coverage. They claim to save you at least 20% on premiums when you buy directly from them.
Only heir professional liability insurance is available in all fifty states, so they might not have all the types of insurance you need.
This quote is for a 2017 Ford Econoline for a catering business in Florida.
Progressive: Best for discounts
Progressive is easy to get a commercial auto insurance quote from—maybe that’s why they are the number one commercial auto insurer in the country. They offer all types of commercial auto insurance coverage, including catering vans and food trucks.
Progressive has a wide variety of discounts, so even if your initial quote seems a little high, after you apply discounts, you can usually save between 5% and 15%. Some discounts include bundling, paying in full, no previous claims, and enrolling in their safe driving app, called Snapshot.
You can get a commercial truck insurance policy protecting you van directly from Progressive. Below is an example of a quote from them. It shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes for you to get a quote on their website. It may be worth a try.
Simply Business: Best for comparing several quotes
Simply Business is an insurance broker specializing in small businesses. They have developed a state-of-the-art platform based on its algorithms to connect small businesses with commercial truck insurance at the best price. Their platform makes it easy to compare several quotes from reputable insurers on a single screen.
The firm’s experts have used their experience to ensure you only need to input the necessary information to generate quick and accurate quotes. The process should be quick, even for complex coverage like commercial truck insurance.
Pros
- Fast and easy quotes in about 10 to 15 minutes
- Good customer ratings
- Partners with 20+ reputable carriers and able to pull quotes from them all for you to compare
- Helps small businesses find cheap quotes and discounts
Cons
- Simply Business can only provide quotes from their partners
- You have to file a claim with a carrier directly, Simply Busineess doesn’t handle claims
InsurePro: Best for on-demand insurance or pay-per-day coverage
InsurePro can get coverage for as long or as short a period as you need it. You can get pay-per-day coverage from them, only pay for the days when you open for business. In fact, they are the only broker offering pay-per-day coverage for commercial trucks and commercial cars. They have many partners, which allows them to offer this innovative coverage.
- Next
- State Auto
- Attune
- Chubb
- CNA
- Hiscox
- National General
- Thimble
And more. If you’re a caterer who doesn’t work every day or every month, on demand insurance could save you hundreds of dollars.
One of the questions they ask you before they’ll provide you with a quote is how many jobs you do—more than ten or less than ten. This quote is for a caterer in Florida. This is actually one of the cheapest quote we have got for a commercial truck policy.
Smart Financial: Best brokerage firm if you prefer working with an experienced agent
Smart Financial specializes in helping customers find affordable trucking insurance. The company partners with expert carriers to provide customized coverage.
If you’re a new trucking company with fewer than 20 trucks, Smart Financial can help you find the best coverage at the most affordable prices.
Pros
- Their agents are the most knowledgeable
- Regardless of how unique your business and industry are, their agent will help you find the best coverages at the most affordable price.
- Best if you prefer working with knowledgeable agents
Cons
- If you prefer getting quotes and buying policies completely online, you may consider other providers
- If you prefer a particular carrier that Smart Financial doesn’t work with, you may need to look elsewhere
THREE: Best for simple coverage on multiple policies
Three is also a Berkshire Hathaway company. According to THREE’s website, they seek to uncomplicate small business insurance and make it simple and straightforward. They called the company THREE because the policy is three pages long, even though it combines multiple policies, such as general liability, errors and omissions, cyber, property and auto insurance. The three pages are in plain English, no insurance jargons or fine prints.
It’s like one-stop-shopping for insurance. If you have questions, you can call to talk to an agent. But don’t worry about a hard sell—THREE pays their agents based on exceptional service.
THREE is one of the three carriers that offer commercial auto and commercial truck insurance online. It is worth getting a quote from them.
What kind of insurance does a catering van business need?
A catering van business is exposed to several types of risks. The types of risks a catering van business is exposed to are the results of operating your business in a van or a truck and running a food business, similar to a restaurant. To be properly insured, below are a few main coverages a catering van business would need:
Commercial truck insurance
You’ll need commercial truck insurance if you deliver or drive anywhere in your truck for your catering business. Your personal auto policy won’t cover you for business purposes and if they find out you’re using personal insurance for business, they could drop you altogether.
Learn more about the overall commercial truck insurance, commercial truck insurance cost, and the best commercial truck insurance companies.
General liability insurance:
General liability insurance covers you for third-party bodily injury, third-party property damage, and advertising injury. You can add an endorsement to your policy to protect you from claims of food poisoning or other problems with the food you prepare.
Learn more at the best trucking general liability insurance companies.
Commercial property insurance
If you own the kitchen where you prepare your food, you should consider commercial property insurance as well. That will cover you in case of fire, burglary or natural disaster. It would pay to replace your kitchen supplies, oven, and stove if you rent or lease a space. If you own, you’ll definitely want this type of insurance to protect your property.
Learn more at commercial property insurance cost and the best commercial property insurance companies.
Workers’ compensation insurance
If you have employees, you need workers’ compensation insurance. General liability only covers injuries to third parties, not to your employees. Plus, in most states, you’re legally required to have it, even if you have just one employee.
Learn more at workers comp insurance cost and the best workers comp insurance companies.
Product liability insurance
Since you’re a caterer, you pride yourself on your delicious, tasty, fresh food. But food spoilage can occur, food can get contaminated, so you’ll want this insurance to protect your business if someone claims you caused them illness from your food.
Learn more at product liability insurance cost and the best product liability insurance companies.
Liquor liability insurance
If you serve any alcohol at all, you’ll need this type of insurance. It protects you from all the stupid things that happen when people drink, such as accidents, fights, and breaking things.
Learn more at liquor liability insurance cost and the best liquor liability insurance companies
How much does insurance for catering vans cost?
The average cost of insurance for catering van business is $350 per month or $4,200 per year. And this is only for a a commercial truck insurance policy covering the catering van. As you can see above, the cost can be as low as $99 per month if you get it through InsurePro or as high as $2,200 per month.
And if you add more coverages as we discussed above, you’ll pay more premium for your catering van insurance policy.
Remember this is just the average rate, your rate will be very different. Be sure to shop around with a few carriers. If you’d like to get quotes online and compare them, we’d strong recommend to get free quotes online from InsurePro, biBERK, THREE, and Progressive. If you prefer working with a broker and have them compare several quotes for you, we’d recommend working with InsurePro or Simply Business. Regardless which direction you’d choose, make sure you compare at least 3 quotes before making your final decision.
Learn more at catering insurance cost
What impacts catering van insurance cost?
There are several factors impacting catering van insurance cost. Below are a few main ones:
- The coverages that you decide to get for your catering van business. The more coverage you get, the higher the premiums are.
- The van or the truck. The bigger and the more expensive the van or the truck is, the more expensive the policy is.
- The size of your business. The more revenue your business generates and the more customers and employees you have, the more you’ll pay for the premiums.
- Location: Insurance premiums always depends on the location of the business
- The policy details: The higher the coverage limits are and the lower the deductible is, the more expensive the policy is.
How to find cheap insurance for catering vans?
Proper insurance for catering vans isn’t cheap. However, there are ways that you can manage to make sure you are not over-paying for your catering van business insurance.
- Just get the coverages your business need: Each catering van business is unique, depending on your catering business operations, you may need more or less coverages. Make sure you consult with an experienced and knowledgeable agent or broker so that you don’t get coverages that your business doesn’t actually need.
- Pay the policy’s annual premiums in full: If you can afford it, you’ll save at least 10% by paying the premium annually, instead of monthly
- Safety-first operation: Prioritize your business operation to focus on safety. Implement all best safety practices and procedures. Have the right safety manuals available at the right places to make sure your customers and employees comply with them.
- Compare quotes: Different insurance companies will give you different quotes and rates since they assess risks differently. Be sure to shop around with a few companies. Always get quotes online and compare. These 4 companies offer quotes online: InsurePro, biBERK, THREE, and Progressive and it shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to get a quote. Make sure to compare at least 3 quotes before making the final decision.
Last thoughts
Insuring your catering van is one of your biggest expenses as a caterer. Make sure you shop around and get quotes from at least three companies. Read your policies carefully as well. And good luck!
