Sandwich Shop Liability Insurance
Sandwich is an all-time American favorite. And so, sandwich shops have a high volume of customers. Proving this point is the fact that 47% of all American adults eat one or two sandwiches on any given day.
The probability of accidents happening in a sandwich shop increases as the number of customers rises. With that said, no matter how much care the owner or the manager observes, a customer can get injured sooner or later.
Sandwich shop insurance offering general liability coverage provides protection when customers file a claim for their injuries. It provides $1 million up to 2 million basic coverage. For policyholders who want to get more, carriers can extend the coverage up to more than $5 million depending on the sandwich shop’s financial standing
General liability insurance will take care of lawsuits against a sandwich shop as well as the settlement fee for the plaintiff.
The most common causes of general liability lawsuits customers sue sandwich stores for are slip and fall accidents, which result in bruises, contusions, lacerations, and property damage. In the foodservice industry, where sandwich shops belong, it’s estimated that 1 million customers suffer from slip and fall accidents every year. Here are some examples of sandwich shops that faced a lawsuit after customers slipped and fell:
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A Delaware woman sued a sandwich store after she stepped on a leftover sandwich the employees failed to clean up.
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The court ordered a sandwich store to pay a sum of $541,792 over the death of a customer who slipped and fell on its premises.
Customers can also file a lawsuit for food poisoning, and experts estimate that 128,000 people get sick and 3,000 people die because of it annually. In sandwich stores, the most common types of sandwiches customers order are peanut butter, cold cut, egg, hotdog, sausage, poultry, and fish sandwiches. Sandwiches using these ingredients can poison the customer provided that food preparation is poor. The table below outlines the injuries a customer might get from eating these:
| Type of Sandwich | Possible Injuries | Cost of Settlement for Personal Injury Claim |
| Peanut Butter | Skin reactions and digestive problems | $20,000 |
| Cold Cut | Listeria (convulsions, loss of balance, confusion, headaches, and stiff neck) | $80,000 |
| Egg | Salmonella (diarrhea, fever, stomach cramps) | $10,000 |
| Hotdog/sausage | Staphylococcus aureus infection (boils/abscess) | $50,000 |
| Poultry | Campylobacter infection (bloody diarrhea, fever, stomach cramps) | $36,000 |
Food poisoning is covered if the sandwich bar insurance offers products liability coverage. This policy takes effect when the sandwich store is held liable for mishandling food and selling expired or spoiled goods to customers.
Also read:
BOP for Delis & Sandwich Shops
Carriers offer sandwich and delicatessen insurance as a business owners policy. The coverages included in this business insurance for delis and sandwich shops vary from carrier to carrier. And so, we made a table showing the features of this deli and sandwich shop business insurance from different carriers:
| Company | Coverages in Business Owners Policy for Sandwich Shops and Delis |
| AXA | - Public liability insurance (includes product liability in its terms)
- Contents Insurance
Employers liability coverage |
| Aegis | - Commercial property insurance
- General liability insurance
- Workers comp insurance |
| World Insurance | - General liability with product liability coverage
- Equipment breakdown coverage
- Commercial auto |
It’s best to get a sandwich shop or deli insured using a business owners policy. As compared to getting stand-alone insurance policies one after another to get comprehensive coverage, getting business owners policy is more practical as this allows for faster insurance application and claims processing.
Also read:
Contents Coverage
Deli and sandwich shop insurance offering contents coverage is a plus. Contents coverage will kick in the moment an accident or natural disaster destroys the goods a delicatessen or sandwich shop is selling. Moreover, it provides coverage for specialty equipment not covered under equipment breakdown policies such as vegetable cutters, tomato slicers, cheese melters, and speed ovens.
Why Get Commercial Auto Coverage?
Business owners policy for delis and sandwich shops offer commercial auto coverage most of the time. But still, carriers give the policyholder the liberty to exclude this if they don’t really need it. Getting commercial auto insurance is only feasible when:
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The deli shop has its own van or mini-truck to deliver goods to clients
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The deli shop runs a food truck business to increase sales
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The deli shop uses its own van or mini truck to source stocks from suppliers
With that said, if a deli or sandwich shop doesn’t do any of these, then there’s no need to get commercial auto insurance coverage in the meantime, and it's better to have a business owners policy offering general liability, products liability, and contents coverage.
