Food trucks are extremely popular in the Pacific Northwest, and provide an opportunity for communities to come together at events, and support local small business owners.
Whether you have a brick and mortar restaurant and are adding a mobile food truck to your operations, your focus is strictly mobile food trucks, or you prefer the street food cart type of operation, we can offer you the appropriate business insurance coverages to protect you should you have a loss that could disrupt your business operations. Certificates of insurance requests are turned around quickly when you need them for events such as fairs, farmer’s markets, expositions, or festivals.
Types of food businesses we can insure include ice cream trucks, sushi trucks, lunch wagons, taco trucks, waffle trucks, street fair food concession trailers and carts, mobile kitchens, ghost kitchens, catering trucks, and many more.
Insurance Coverages Relevant to Food Truck Businesses
Commercial Auto Insurance
If your truck is mobile and not a cart or trailer pulled by another vehicle, you need to insure it as a Commercial Auto. This will offer you liability insurance while driving the truck, and also covers the truck for physical damage or theft if you purchase collision and comprehensive coverage.
General Liability Insurance
Liability insurance for food trucks protects you from slip and fall types of accidents, as well as illnesses caused by your food product.
Property Insurance
Building: If you own the building your restaurant operates out of, you will want to insure the structure itself from fire, storm damage, vandalism, and other situations that could damage your property.
Equipment & Contents on the Truck: If the equipment is not permanently attached to the truck or cart, you should insure it as business personal property (contents) or on an “in transit” policy if it’s mobile as is the case in this industry. Think in terms of your food inventory and detached equipment, especially your generator if you have one, and any iPads or other mobile computer devices you use for processing customers’ payments. You want to protect yourself from theft of these items.
Business Income
If you have a covered insurance loss that causes you to close the business temporarily, this coverage helps pay for the net premium lost during this time so that you can retain your employees and get back on your feet as soon as possible.
Food-Borne Illness
Even though you follow all of the Department of Health guidelines to keep your business as clean and healthy as possible, your customers may still get sick as a result of a food-borne illness, and you want your insurance to protect you from these types of claims.
Liquor Liability
While not as common for food trucks, if you serve alcohol and have a liquor license, you’ll need liquor liability insurance coverage to protect you from this exposure.
Ask English!
Question
Kristie English, M.Ed.
Principal / Agent
If my food truck has wheels, but we don’t drive it since it’s stays in one parking lot most of the time, do I really need liability insurance on the truck?
Answer
Unless you remove the wheels to make it immobile, most insurance companies will require you have liability insurance in order for them to offer coverage on the actual truck itself. There’s a good chance you’ll forget to call your agent when you do need to move the truck and decide to drive it, and of course there’s more risk when you’re driving the truck on the roads, than while it’s sitting parked in a lot.
Questions?
We're here to help you understand the best options for protecting your food truck business.
Call us at (833) BIG-TREE / (425) 673-7948, or use our online form to request a quote.
