Food truck owners face a unique set of risks because their truck isn’t just a means of transportation or a way to haul goods. It’s also the place where they do business. If anything happens to their truck, they may not be able to operate and earn money.
The best way to protect your food truck and all aspects of your business is by getting suitable types and levels of insurance coverage.
This article will explain what you need to know to find the right food truck coverage at an affordable prices and where to find cheap quotes, along with the pros and cons of different ways to purchase it.
- What is food truck insurance?
- What is food trailer insurance?
- What risks do food truck owners face?
- Who needs food truck insurance?
- What types of coverage do food truck businesses typically get?
- What is additional insured in food truck insurance?
- How much does food truck insurance cost?
- How can I purchase food truck insurance?
What is food truck insurance?
A food truck insurance policy covers claims related to the everyday operation of your food truck business.
The types of things that can be covered include:
- Injuries from slips and falls
- cooking burns
- illnesses caused by the food you prepare
- vehicle accidents
- equipment loss.
When you have adequate food truck insurance, you can rest assured knowing your business is more likely to make it when something unexpected happens than if you’re uninsured.
What is food trailer insurance?
Food trailer insurance provides coverage for things that happen in, on, or around your food trailer when unhooked from your towing vehicle and parked. Most general liability policies do not include coverage for trailers, and if you don’t have this endorsement, it may put your business at risk if your trailer is parked and someone burglarizes or vandalizes it, it catches fire, or it’s damaged by extreme weather.
Learn more at the best food trailer insurance companies.
What risks do food truck owners face?
Here are examples of things that could happen to food truck operations that insurance can cover:
- A customer trips over an item you leave outside of your food truck, and they break their arm.
- You have an accident on the way to an event, injuring the other driver, damaging their vehicle, and totaling your truck.
- While you’re serving a customer, someone steals the tablet device you use to accept orders and payments.
- A client gets a digestive illness from the food they bought from you.
- A fire destroys some of the equipment in your vehicle.
- An employee gets a severe burn on his arm from a fryer.
Think about it: Could you pay for healthcare, repairs, legal costs, and settlements if any of these things happened to you? The answer for most food truck operators is NO, which is why they get adequate food truck insurance protection.
Who needs food truck insurance?
Operations that commonly purchase food truck insurance include:
- Mobile food trucks
- Coffee trucks
- Lunch trucks
- Catering trucks
- Concession trucks
- Vending trucks
- Ice cream trucks.
What types of coverage do food truck businesses typically get?
Food truck business owners often purchase:
Commercial truck insurance
Depending on the type of protection you select, it covers you if you’re involved in an accident and injure someone, damage their automobile and other property, and cause harm to your food truck — or if it’s stolen, vandalized, or damaged by fire or a weather event.
General liability insurance
General liability insurance provides coverage if a customer is injured while purchasing food from you or if you cause damage to other people’s property while working. It also protects against advertising-related legal claims. Learn more at the best general liability insurance companies and the cheapest general liability insurance companies.
Workers’ compensation insurance
Workers comp insurance provides benefits to your employees if they’re injured or become ill for work-related reasons. If you have employees, your state will likely require you to get workers’ comp. And, because it’s relatively common to get injured while working in a food truck, it’s a good idea for you to have the coverage. Learn more at the best workers comp insurance companies and the cheapest workers comp insurance companies.
Commercial property insurance
Commercial property insurance overs business property you own or rent, for example, a kitchen, and its contents, including cooking equipment and supplies. If you rent a business property or have a loan on commercial real estate you own, your landlord or lender will likely make you get this coverage. Learn more at the best commercial property insurance companies.
What is additional insured in food truck insurance?
If you operate your food truck at a food truck park, festival, or farmers market, the location owner or event organizer could request to be listed as an additional insured on your policy.
An additional insured is an individual or organization not automatically included as an insured party on a policy. However, they are added as insured under the policy at the request of the named insured. When someone is listed as an added insured, it helps protect them in case there’s an incident related to your food truck at their event or location.
Depending on how many events you attend or locations you serve food at, you could be required to add many additional insureds to your policy.
How much does food truck insurance cost?
A basic general liability insurance policy and a commercial truck insurance policy combined cost you about $180 per month for a typical food truck.
If you add more coverages such as workers comp insurance or occupational accident insurance, you will pay around $300-$400 a month.
These are just the averages, your quotes and rates will be different. You must get several quotes from different providers to ensure you get the right coverage for your food truck business at a fair price. Working with a broker like Simply Business, commercialinsurance.net, or CoverWallet and Smart Financial is a good way to get and compare several quotes conveniently.
Learn more details of the average monthly cost of food truck insurance
What factors impact food truck insurance cost?
As we’ve already explained above, there are many additional coverages you can — and probably should — add to customize your policy.
Many factors go into calculating food truck insurance premium costs, including:
- the coverages and levels of coverage
- deductibles
- value and number of trucks,
- where you do business and store your vehicle
- number of employees
- years of experience
- safety practices
- claims history
- and more.
Another significant factor impacting truck insurance rates is the type of food you sell. A food truck operation that makes grilled or fried foods will pay more for insurance than one that sells prepackaged goods. The grills and fryers expose that business to greater risk.
How can I purchase food truck insurance?
There are three primary ways to get food truck insurance coverage. Here are the pros and cons of each. Learn more at the best food truck insurance companies.
1. Insurance companies
Traditional insurers are one option for getting food truck insurance.
Examples: Progressive and Hiscox.
Pros:
- Well-established businesses are more likely to be able to pay claims when something unexpected occurs.
- Established insurers typically offer top-quality service, and their reps can provide advice on the coverage you need.
- Traditional insurers usually offer a broad array of coverages and can customize protection to meet the needs of different types of food truck businesses.
Cons:
- Coverage from traditional insurance companies may be more expensive than that from other types of providers.
- Online experiences are often not as good as those from newer companies.
- In some cases, you may be required to get insurance through an agent.
2. Insurance brokers
Brokers make it possible to get access to trucker insurance from multiple providers all in one place.
Examples: Simply Business, commercialinsurance.net, Smart Financial, or CoverWallet
Pros:
- Fast and easy to get multiple quotes from different insurers all in one place.
- Able to compare coverages and premiums on a single screen.
- The online application process is usually straightforward, even for coverage as complex as food truck insurance.
Cons:
- You may have to complete an online transaction by speaking with a representative over the phone.
- Limited opportunity to customize coverage.
- It may be more difficult to get expert help and support than through a traditional insurer.
3. Specialized food truck insurance agencies
Insurers that specialize in food truck and restaurant insurance can advise you on the coverage that’s right for your business.
Examples: FLIP and Insure My Food.
Pros:
- Able to get advice and service from professionals who understand food truck coverage.
- Provides access to insurers that specialize in food truck coverage.
- Best way to customize coverage.
Cons:
- Coverage may be more expensive than through brokers.
- May not be able to get service 24 / 7.
- Insurers may not be licensed to provide coverage in all states.
