Food Cart Insurance: Guide & Quotes from $11

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Though simple and just a small venture, your food cart business needs insurance too. Insurance will protect your food cart businesses from financial losses if the unexpected happens. It also protects customers. Last but not least, insurance is required if you’re planning to sell at festivals, special events, sports events, farmer's markets, and flea markets.

Carriers providing coverage for delis, concessions, restaurants, food trucks, food trailers, and other related businesses also underwrite food cart insurance. In this guide, know what this is, how much it costs, and the best companies.

Food Cart Insurance: What is It?

Food cart insurance is a tailored policy comprising different types of insurance for businesses. The features of food cart insurance vary from one carrier to the next. That said, it’s normal to find coverage that’s either lackluster, comprehensive, or too much for your needs.

Is It Crucial to Get Covered?

Is there a need for mobile food cart insurance? The answer is affirmative. The choice of food cart insurance policy to purchase depends on the risk you want to mitigate and how much you are willing to pay for protection. Here are some of the benefits associated with having a food cart business insurance:

• Protects your business, especially small businesses

• Keeps your food cart business running

• Boosts your credibility

Food Cart Liability Insurance

Liability coverage is commonly included in tailored coverage for food cart businesses. In other words, all mobile food cart insurance policies have this regardless of the underwriter. Note that there are many types of liability insurance. Even so, the most useful for food cart businesses are general liability insurance and product liability insurance.

General Liability Insurance for Food Cart Businesses

It might not happen sooner or later but a day will come when your food cart’s operations will cause personal injuries or property damage to third parties. General liability insurance protects you against this peril. By having this insurance, your food cart business can cover:

• Medical expenses - General liability insurance will cover medical expenses if a customer, vendor, or any other third party who your food cart business injured files a claim and asks for compensation for pain and suffering

• Reimbursements - When your food cart business damages a third party’s personal effects(phone, clothing, bag, etc.), general liability insurance will kick in and cover reimbursements on your behalf if a claim is filed

• Legal expenses - If the person who your food cart business inflicted personal injuries or property damage decides to take the matter to court, general liability insurance will help pay for attorney fees, settlements, administrative costs, and other associated expenses

General liability insurance is a very comprehensive insurance coverage. You can even say that the protection it provides is already enough for a food cart business and other small ventures. There are add-ons to general liability insurance providing enhanced protection against risks. These are:

• Advertising injury coverage - Advertising injury coverage will take care of attorney fees, administrative costs, settlements, and other legal expenses if a third party sues your food cart business for slander, libel, false advertising, copyright infringement, and other types of reputational or advertising harm

• Rented premises liability coverage - Rented premises liability coverage will cover expenses if fire damages or destroys a space your renting or leasing to conduct your food cart business’s operations

• Liquor liability insurance - General liability insurance will offer liquor liability coverage if your food cart business sells alcoholic beverages. Liquor liability coverage will cover expenses if you over-served customers with alcoholic drinks or sold liquor to minors

Product Liability Insurance for Food Cart Businesses

Product liability insurance is included in food cart insurance. This is very useful when a customer files a personal injury claim and accuses your food cart business of causing it by selling poorly prepared food or spoiled food. Coverage applies on attorney fees, compensatory payments, administrative costs, and other legal expenses.

Note that general liability and product liability insurance are enough if you’re making money as a small food cart business. But if you’re the owner of a large food cart company, a tailored food cart policy will offer other useful protection.

Food Cart Business Worker's Compensation Insurance

Almost every American state requires businesses to get worker's compensation insurance to take care of staff. Employees who sustain an injury whilst working in your food cart business will experience burns, lacerations, or incur a work-related disease.

The law provides that you need to cover employees who got injured or sick due to work. This is where workers' compensation insurance comes in. It covers the following:

• Medical treatment/procedure - Your employee will need surgeries, therapies, and other medical treatment/procedures after sustaining lacerations, burns, cuts, or illnesses. The job of workers' compensation insurance is to cover the expenses for these

• Hospitalization - Medical professionals might request your employee to stay in the hospital after sustaining a work-related injury or disease. In connection, workers' compensation insurance covers this situation by taking care of hospital bills until your employee is discharged

• Medication - Workers compensation insurance provides the money your food cart businesses’ employee can use to buy the medicines needed to fully recover from a work-related injury or disease

• Rehabilitation - Your employee will need rehab if he or she sustains an injury or disease that impairs specific bodily functions. This is also covered by workers' compensation insurance. Specifically, the policy will cover therapist fees, rehabilitation equipment, and other related expenses

• Lost income compensation - Workers' compensation insurance will cover lost wages if an employee of your food cart business can’t work due to a work-related injury or disease. Coverage for lost wages is a weekly allowance equal to two-thirds or 67% of the average weekly wage. For example, if your employee makes $1,467 per week, compensation for lost income will be $982.89

• Death benefits - If your food cart business’s employee dies due to a work-related injury or disease, workers' compensation insurance will cover funeral expenses and give dependents an allowance equal to two-thirds or 67% of the average weekly wage

Workers' compensation insurance covers full-time, part-time, and foreign employees. Volunteers and interns aren’t covered.

Is Not Getting Workers Comp Insurance for Your Food Cart Business Punishable?

Workers' compensation insurance is required except in Texas. Failure to purchase the coverage is punishable by law. Expect to face stiff fines or get imprisoned for months or years. It all depends on which jurisdiction your food cart business is located. That said, here are some examples:

• Failure to get workers' compensation insurance in Utah will result in the following fines or penalties

• A cease and desist order against your food cart business, prohibiting business operations in any location within the jurisdiction of the state

• Loss of exclusive remedy - a legal protection granted by the state to businesses where employees can’t sue employers who have workers' compensation insurance for work-related injuries or diseases

• A minimum penalty of $10,000

• In California, food cart businesses that don’t get workers comp insurance commit misdemeanor punishable by a $10,000 fine, one year imprisonment in the county jail, or both

• Food cart businesses in Florida that fail to get workers comp insurance are prohibited from conducting business operations until coverage is purchased and all fines are duly paid. Fines will amount to twice what employers would’ve paid for workers' compensation insurance premiums, annually or monthly, depending on which applies

• In Colorado, food cart businesses that fail to get workers' compensation insurance will be fined $500 multiplied by the days coverage isn’t purchased. So if your business didn’t get workers comp for 7 days, you’ll face a $3,500 fine

Food Cart Business Commercial Property Insurance

Commercial property insurance is a must when owning multiple food carts and running a highly profitable business. With this insurance policy, you can cover the following:

• Building damage - If fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils caused damage to your food cart business’s warehouse or office, commercial property insurance will provide the money you can use to get damaged structure fixed

• Building destruction - Commercial property insurance will cover reconstruction expenses if your food cart business’s office or warehouse is destroyed by fire or extreme weather

Note that commercial property insurance comes with additional inclusions. These inclusions are:

• Stocks and contents coverage - Stocks and contents coverage will recoup losses if food ingredients, office furniture, business documents, and other valuable items become lost or damaged due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils

• Business equipment and tools coverage - Business equipment and tools coverage will recoup losses if the cooking equipment and other objects used to prepare food become lost or damaged due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils

Food Cart Food Spoilage Coverage

Imagine a situation where pest infestation or equipment defects cause food or raw ingredients to become spoiled and unusable. Your food cart business will surely lose a lot of money when this happens. This is why it’s smart to get food spoilage coverage. If the food or ingredients spoil due to power interruption, equipment defect, pest infestation, employee negligence, etc., food spoilage coverage will recoup losses up to the limits stated on its terms.

Commercial Auto Insurance for Food Cart Businesses

Commercial auto insurance is a vital coverage for your food cart business. This policy will safeguard your vehicle. Besides, it will also protect the food preparation equipment inside the automobile. Commercial auto insurance covers:

• Bodily injury liability coverage - Takes care of your responsibility to pay third parties after causing injuries

• Property damage liability coverage - Takes care of your responsibility to pay third parties upon damaging their personal belongings

• Personal injury coverage - Takes care of your own injuries caused by an accident

• Collision insurance coverage - To protect your cart if a crash occurs

• Uninsured motorist coverage - Protects you and your food truck during collisions with an underinsured or uninsured driver

Food Cart Business Interruption Insurance

Risks can cause your food cart business’s operations to stop temporarily. This is why it's smart to get business interruption insurance. While business is closed and income isn’t generated, business interruption insurance will cover employee wages, loans, mortgages, and taxes. Business interruption insurance provides coverage for 30 days. However, you can extend the duration to 360 days through an endorsement.

Employment Practices Liability Insurance for Food Cart Business

Your food cart business’s employee will sue for wrongful termination, sexual harassment, discrimination, missed employment benefits, and other offenses considered violations of employee rights. In such a situation, employment practices liability insurance will cover attorney fees, compensatory payments, administrative costs, and other legal expenses for you.

Food Cart Business Employer’s Liability Insurance

When you don’t have workers' compensation insurance, employees can’t sue for negligence after experiencing a work-related injury or disease. Employer’s liability insurance will help with this. In practice, this insurance will cover attorney fees, administrative costs, settlements, and other legal expenses for you.

Hot Dog Cart Insurance

A specialized hot dog cart insurance or hot dog stand insurance is usually sold as a liability-only insurance product - meaning that it only includes general liability insurance and other related policies protecting the policyholder from costly client claims. Consider getting this instead of generalized food cart insurance or mobile food vendor insurance if you're a hot dog vendor.

Coffee Cart Insurance

Food carts selling coffee beverages can opt to get a specialized coffee cart insurance offering general liability insurance with a $2 million limit, product liability insurance with a $2 million limit, inland marine insurance with a $10,000 limit, and cyber liability insurance with a $100,000 limit.

Ice Cream Truck Insurance

Mobile ice cream shops and other related businesses will do better with ice cream truck insurance. Typically, policies included in this insurance product are commercial auto liability insurance, general liability insurance, physical damage coverage, and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

Food Concession Trailer Insurance

is best suited for those running food concession trailers and concession stands. Policies included are general liability, products and completed operations, products liability, commercial auto, and commercial property insurance.

A Breakdown of Food Cart Business Insurance Cost

On average, food cart business insurance costs $45 a month or $540 a year for a $1 million general liability policy. But know that pricing depends on the types of coverage you plan to get. Look at the table showing the average cost of specific policies food cart businesses usually get.

For further reference, here’s another table showing the pricing of the best food cart business insurance companies.