What is food truck insurance?
Food trucks and carts continue to present an appealing option for people looking for quick, handheld meals, allowing ambitious chefs to make a name for themselves with relatively little expense. Food truck insurance offers a more customizable solution for food truck operators to protect themselves and their businesses.
To insurance companies, the mobility of these trucks poses a unique risk profile: unlike brick-and-mortar restaurants that remain static, food trucks combine a high-risk foodservice environment with the liabilities of a vehicle that has the potential to move from place to place. Perils such as fires, injuries from kitchen tools and equipment, food-borne illnesses, vandalism, and theft are very real concerns when it comes to running a mobile food business. Learn more about the coverage that you need to keep your food truck or cart protected.Â
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What insurance do you need for a food truck?
To ensure sufficient insurance protection for a mobile food truck, you’ll need several coverages to work in tandem with one another. You’ll need commercial auto insurance geared toward small businesses to cover the vehicle, its contents, your employees, and your two sources of liability: the truck and the business.
Insurance for a food truck
You’ll need a commercial auto insurance policy because the truck is essentially a business. Like personal car insurance, this will cover physical damage sustained by the truck in the event of a collision, along with comprehensive coverage and liability coverage. It does not cover the contents of the truck.
Insurance for kitchen equipment and food truck contents
Commercial property insurance would cover business property like stoves, pots and pans, food, and even computing equipment like point-of-sale systems. Any items used for your business that are not affixed to the truck would be protected via property coverage from certain perils like fire, weather-related events, theft, and vandalism.
Liability insurance for food trucks
While a commercial auto policy offers liability coverage, it only covers damage caused while the vehicle is moving — like if a pedestrian is injured by the driver operating the truck. Commercial general liability insurance operates independent of auto liability, covering damage caused during the course of running the business. If your food truck business is sued by a customer alleging your food made them ill — your commercial liability coverage would handle legal fees and representation, even if you lost the lawsuit.
Insurance for food truck employees
Employees are not covered by commercial general liability policies because they’re part of the business operation. If an employee suffers a bodily injury while working, workers compensation insurance pays for their medical expenses and lost wages. Workers comp is mandated for most employers on a state level and is a critical safeguard to protect your business from potential lawsuits filed by employees.
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Insurance for a food trailer
What insurance do you need to cover a food trailer that’s towed by a vehicle? In addition to commercial insurance for the property, liability, and workers comp policies found above, you’ll need an endorsement to extend your commercial auto insurance policy to cover the towed trailer for comprehensive and collision. Otherwise, the commercial auto policy will only cover the vehicle towing the trailer and the trailer itself would typically only be insured for liability. If the trailer were damaged while parked or in a collision, your insurer would not cover the property damage.
The extent of liability coverage for the trailer may vary, typically relying on weight — applicable for trailers weighing 2,000 pounds or less — so be sure to check with your insurer when purchasing additional coverage. Coverage for comprehensive and collision are worth buying for the peace of mind.
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Where to get mobile food truck insurance
Due to the prevalence of food trucks, quite a few insurance companies specialize in or primarily offer insurance for mobile food businesses. Major insurance companies offer plenty of insurance options for mobile eateries, as commercial and business insurance policies are common cornerstones of their portfolios.
If you already have a personal policy with any of these insurance companies, look into a quote for bundling it with your existing business policy.
- GEICO
- Progressive
- Nationwide
- Farmers
- State Farm
- Travelers
- Liberty Mutual
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About The Zebra
The Zebra is not an insurance company. We publish data-backed, expert-reviewed resources to help consumers make more informed insurance decisions.
- The Zebra’s insurance content is written and reviewed for accuracy by licensed insurance agents.
- The Zebra’s insurance editorial content is not subject to review or alteration by insurance companies or partners.
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- The auto insurance rates published on The Zebra’s pages are based on a comprehensive analysis of car insurance pricing data, evaluating more than 83 million insurance rates from across the United States.