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 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 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
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.
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 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.
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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.
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
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
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 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
| | Monthly Cost | Yearly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial property insurance | $62 | $744 |
| Commercial auto insurance | $75 | $900 |
| Workers compensation insurance | $58 | $696 |
| Equipment breakdown insurance | $25 | $300 |
| General liability insurance | $45 | $540 |
For further reference, here’s another table showing the pricing of the best food cart business insurance companies.
| | Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| CoverWallet | $39 | $468 | Food cart insurance quote comparison online |
| Thimble | $42 | $504 | Short term insurance for food cart businesses |
| State Farm | $58 | $696 | Customizable food cart business insurance |
| Progressive | $65 | $780 | Business owner’s policy for food carts |
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Many food business insurance companies are available in states that offer food cart business insurance. As a food cart business owner, it is necessary to:
Compare food business insurance quotes
Understand the type of insurance that's suitable for your food cart business
Get different deals
Ensure you identify cheap food business insurance rates for your food cart business from the best insurance companies.
Below are the most popular food cart business insurance providers. Read to know their pros, cons, and pricing for a $1 million general liability coverage.
Offers 24/7 claims filing
Experienced representatives
Allows customers to compare food cart insurance quotes from several companies for competitive pricing
Not a food business insurance provider
CoverWallet compiles the quotes of different food cart insurance companies so you can get the best coverage at an affordable rate. With CoverWallet, compare the quotes of different companies and choose which fits your needs best.
Best for Food cart insurance quotes comparison online
Average cost: $39 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Provides short term insurance policies for food cart businesses for events
Only offers the basic policies food cart businesses need
Food cart businesses looking for short-term coverage should try Thimble’s food vendor insurance. This insurance product covers food carts, concession trailers, concession stands, and other related businesses. Coverage can be purchased by the hour, day, or week. Policies included are general liability insurance with products liability or products and completed operations, and professional liability insurance.
Best for: Short term insurance for food cart businesses
Average cost: $42 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Excellent customer service
Offers customizable food shop business
Filing a claim to State Farm can be stressful
State Farm insurance doesn't advertise specific food cart insurance. But it offers commercial auto and food shop insurance policies, which cover food cart businesses. State Farm commercial auto insurance coverages include:
Collision coverage
Auto liability insurance
Personal injury protection
On the other hand, State Farm food shop insurance offers:
Spoilage
Equipment breakdown
General liability
Employee dishonesty
Data breach and identity theft
Property coverage
Loss of income and food contamination
And more
Best for: Customizable food cart business insurance
Average cost: $58 per month
Our rating: 9/10
Offers a comprehensive BOP for food cart businesses
Easy quotes
Expensive
Progressive food cart insurance offers a very comprehensive business owner’s policy for food cart businesses, which can be added with cyber insurance and workers comp for more protection. Note that this company also offers commercial auto insurance for food truck business with the minimum requirements mandated by state laws.
Best for: Business owner’s policy for food carts
Average cost: $65 per month
Our rating: 10/10
If you want to get insurance for your food cart business, then conduct thorough research to know the different types of insurance policies available. But don’t stop there; compare quotes to find the one that really suits you.
Start comparing quotes by using our free online quote comparison tool. To start, click the “Get Quotes” button and provide some details.
Use anyone except Employers. Period. They are non-transparent and shameful. After I complained long enough to warrant a call from a supervisor, the supervisor called back from a PRIVATE NUMBER (no caller ID), left a message that they are not reversing their decision (without any communication with me), and failed to leave a phone number for me to call back. She was hiding! They also fact find via email and phone calls, which is terrific for speed and communication. However, after setting a precedence of email or phone calls, they send time sensitive information via email, without any heads up... they are hoping you miss it and forfeit via expiration. Evil policies. Go elsewhere.
This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
As long as they cover your line of business, you're literally covered! best rates, best coverage, best online experience, best professionals, can't be happier that I chose them!
Not all those who wander are lost.
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