Food Truck Insurance: Cost, Liability & Quotes From $11

Food trucks or lunch trucks are one of the most promising and highly profitable businesses in America. But still, understand that there are many exposures associated with owning one. Some examples are customer lawsuits, workplace accidents, equipment breakdowns, and temporary suspension of business operations.

Many insurance companies provide tailored food truck insurance. This is a policy that’s composed of different business insurance coverages purchased by other ventures such as restaurants, food carts, delis, cooking businesses, catering businesses, breweries, food delivery businesses, and ice cream shops. 

This guide will take you through the intricacies of mobile food truck insurance. Know its inclusions, how much premiums cost, and where to get the best coverage at the most economical rates. 

Food Truck Liability Insurance

Liability insurance is a common inclusion in lunch truck insurance policies carriers underwrite for food truck owner-operators and companies. General liability insurance, public liability insurance, product liability insurance, and liquor liability insurance are the most popular food truck liability insurance coverages. Let’s discuss these ones by one.

Food Truck General Liability Insurance

Coverage for food trucks usually begins with general liability insurance. This food truck business insurance kicks in when a third party holds your business responsible for an accident. The language of general liability insurance for food truck includes the following perils:

• Third-party personal injuries-Food truck general liability insurance will cover the treatment of other food vendors, customers, and other third parties who got injured due to your food truck’s business operations. Coverage applies on ambulance fees, surgeries, first aid fees, and other expenses

• Third-party property damage-General liability insurance will provide funds you need to reimburse customers, vendors, and other third parties who had their phone, clothing, bag, and other personal effects damaged or broken due to your food truck’s business operations

• Legal expenses-This commercial food truck insurance will take care of attorney fees, administrative costs, settlements, and other legal expenses if persons, who suffered personal injuries or property damage because of your food truck, decide to take things in a court of law

Note that just like the general liability insurance for pizza delivery businesses,juice bars, grocery stores, coffee shops, farmers markets, and bakeries, general liability insurance for food trucks and food trailers can be added with optional policies:

• Advertising injury coverage-This optional food truck insurance coverage covers consultation fees, contingency fees, administrative costs, settlements, and other legal expenses if your food truck business is sued for slander, libel, copyright infringement, and other offenses considered as reputational or advertising harm

• Rented premises liability coverage- If your food truck is renting a space and the space becomes damaged due to fire, rented premises liability coverage will help cover reimbursements if the property owner files a claim

• Products and completed operations coverage-This food van insurance coverage is useful if your food truck business provides specialty services to customers. If a past customer decides to sue for personal injuries or property damage caused by a service your business provided, products and completed operations coverage will cover all of the associated expenses

We have to make it clear that general liability insurance doesn’t cover personal injury claims filed by employees, contractors, and other related business entities.

Public Liability Insurance for Food Trucks

Public liability insurance is an alternative option if you think that general liability insurance is either obsolete or too expensive. This type of mobile food van insurance is cheaper than general liability insurance. But note that, unlike general liability, public liability insurance doesn’t offer advertising injury coverage, rented premises liability coverage, and products and completed operations coverage as additional protection. In other words, it only takes care of personal injury claims and property damage claims third parties file.

Despite public liability insurance being the cheaper, and perhaps, the most appropriate coverage for your food truck business, choose to get general liability insurance. General liability insurance is scalable, meaning that you can always decide to get more protection from it as your food truck business grows.

Product Liability Insurance for Food Trucks

Your food truck business can also face claims filed because customers sustained allergies or food-borne illnesses due to poor food preparation or employee negligence. This exposure falls out of the scope of general liability insurance.

The food liability coverage that will give the protection you need is product liability insurance. This insurance, commonly useful for food vendors, concessionaires, and vending machine owners, will cover medical expenses of aggrieved third parties who got sick after eating the goods your food truck is selling. Additionally, you can also use product liability insurance to cover attorney fees, administrative costs, settlements, and other legal expenses.

Insurance companies sell product liability insurance as a stand-alone policy. However, this is also available as an additional coverage to general liability insurance.

Food Truck Liquor Liability Insurance

Liquor liability insurance for liquor stores, bartenders, bars, distilleries, wineries, and wine retailers is available if your food truck is selling alcoholic drinks. When a customer accuses your business of overserving him or her with alcohol that resulted in property damage or personal injuries, liquor liability insurance will cover costs such as attorney fees, settlements, administrative costs, etc. Coverage also applies if your business served or allegedly served minors with alcoholic drinks.

Depending on your choice of carrier, liquor liability insurance is available as a stand-alone policy or an optional coverage to general liability insurance.

Food Truck Auto Insurance 

Food truck auto insurance is what carriers call commercial auto insurance. Commercial auto insurance is a coverage for vehicles used for business purposes, in this case, the truck or van you’re using to sell food in different places. A typical commercial auto insurance for food trucks provides the following coverages:

• Auto liability coverage-Your food truck might cause a vehicular accident. It will be very problematic if third parties got injured or had their property damaged as you’ll need to cover them. Auto liability coverage takes this burden off your shoulders. Particularly, it will cover the the treatment or reimbursement of third parties who incurred personal injuries or property damage due to an accident your food truck caused 

• Physical damage coverage-Your food truck will eventually incur damage due to frequent use. Of course, you have to keep it in tip-top shape or else customers won’t be enticed to buy. Cover your food truck’s parts repair or replacement by adding physical damage coverage, which is available as collision coverage or comprehensive coverage. Collision physical damage coverage will cover your food truck's parts repair or replacement if it incurs damage after hitting an object or another vehicle. Comprehensive physical damage coverage will take care of replacing or repairing your food truck’s parts if the damage is caused by fire, theft, vandalism, hail, windstorm, and other covered perils 

• Rental reimbursement coverage-Insurance companies will offer rental reimbursement coverage when you add physical damage coverage to commercial auto insurance. When you’re food truck is under repair and you need to hire another food truck, rental reimbursement coverage will recoup rental or lease expenses 

• Medical payments/personal injury protection-The function of medical payments coverage and personal injury protection coverage is to cover your food truck’s driver and passengers (if there are any) in case of vehicular accidents. Personal injury protection takes care of medical treatments, after hospital visits, lost income, compensation, and in case of death; funeral expenses. On the other hand, medical payments coverage is the least comprehensive because it only covers medical and funeral expenses. Ask your insurance company which of these two should be purchased in your state

There are a few things you need to remember about the coverages in commercial auto insurance. First, you can't use auto liability coverage to cover accidents your food truck caused due to its involvement in a criminal offense. Second, physical damage coverage doesn’t cover aftermarket parts. Also, it won’t take care of damage caused by rollovers. 

Workers Compensation Insurance for Food Trucks 

You need to provide coverage for employees who got sick or injured due to your food truck’s business operations. Workers' compensation insurance shoulders this responsibility on your behalf. By having workers' compensation insurance, you avoid using personal funds or business funds to pay for the following:

• Medical treatment/procedure-Accidents will happen while your food truck’s employee is working. As a result, your employee will sustain lacerations, cuts, burns, contusions, concussions, or other injuries. Work-related diseases might be contracted too. Workers' compensation insurance will cover the expenses for the surgeries, therapies, and other medical treatments/procedures needed so that your employee can fully heal. 

• Hospitalization-Workers compensation insurance will cover bills if your employee is admitted in a hospital for days, weeks, or months. That said, this insurance sees to it that your employee enjoys adequate medical attention upon sustaining a work-related injury or disease 

• Medication-Workers compensation insurance helps your employee buy the medicines needed to fully heal from a work-related injury or disease. 

• Rehabilitation-Your employee might suffer from the impairment of bodily functions upon sustaining a work-related injury or disease. He or she will need rehabilitation, as a result, to fully recover or at least adapt to the impairment. Workers' compensation insurance will cover rehab expenses. It will pay for therapist fees, rehabilitation equipment, and other related expenses

• Lost income compensation-An injured or sick employee will request a leave to recuperate. As provided by law, your food truck business must cover lost wages. Workers' compensation insurance takes care of this. It provides a weekly allowance as compensation for lost income. This weekly allowance will be equal to two-thirds or 67% of the average weekly wage

• Death benefits-Workers compensation insurance shoulders funeral expenses and gives financial aid to dependents if your food truck’s employee dies from a work-related injury or disease

Commercial Property Insurance for Food Trucks 

Commercial property insurance is useful if you’re running a thriving food truck business with its own office and storage facility. The primary function of this insurance is to protect you against the following:

• Building damage-Commercial property insurance will recoup losses if your food truck business’s office or storage facility becomes damaged due to fire, theft, vandalism, extreme weather, and other covered perils 

• Building destruction-When fire and extreme weather destroy your food truck business’s office or storage facility, commercial property insurance will provide the money you can use to cover reconstruction expenses 

Aside from your food truck business’s office or storage facility, there are other business assets that need to be insured. And so, commercial property insurance has the following add-ons that provide enhanced protection:

• Stocks and contents coverage-Stocks and contents coverage will recover financial losses if items inside your office or storage facility, not considered as tools or equipment, become lost or damaged due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils

• Business equipment and tools coverage-Equipment and tools coverage will recoup losses if the cooking and food preparation equipment of your food truck business becomes damaged or lost while in the storage facility due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils. Note that this coverage doesn’t help if equipment and tools got lost or damaged while being used 

Inland Marine Insurance for Food Trucks

Inland marine insurance is very useful for a food truck business. When equipment and other objects inside become lost or damaged while your food truck is traveling, inland marine insurance will cover losses. 

Food Truck Food Contamination and Spoilage Insurance

Ingredients are perishable goods.  When these become contaminated or spoiled due to equipment defects, power outages, or employee mistakes, expect your food truck business to incur a lot of losses. Food truck insurance carriers underwrite food contamination and spoilage insurance to cover this exposure.  

So what does this insurance do? Food contamination and spoilage insurance will recoup the money you used for buying food ingredients that got spoiled or damaged due to the aforementioned reasons. Contamination due to pest infestation is covered or not covered depending on your choice of carrier. 

Aside from recouping losses, food contamination and spoilage insurance will also take care of the cleaning or maintenance expenses for the contaminated equipment your food truck business is using to store, process, and prepare food. 

Ice Cream Truck Insurance

Insurance companies sell tailored insurance for ice cream trucks. Coverages offered by ice cream truck insurance are general liability insurance, commercial auto insurance, commercial property insurance, and business interruption insurance. 

General liability insurance for ice cream trucks covers bodily injuries and property damage. Commercial auto insurance has medical payments coverage, auto liability coverage, and physical damage coverage. Commercial property insurance covers the contents inside your ice cream truck. 

Catering Truck Insurance 

A catering truck is different from a food truck. And so, insurance companies also underwrite catering truck insurance. Inclusions are general liability, commercial property, and commercial auto insurance for catering van and trucks. Catering van insurance cost is $41 per month or $492 per year. Factors that affect the cost of mobile catering van insurance are location, claims history, business experience, revenues, number of employees, and more.

Mobile Coffee Van Insurance

Mobile coffee van insurance offers general liability, commercial property, and business interruption insurance to the policyholder. There’s also equipment breakdown coverage that protects the coffee preparation equipment installed inside the coffee van. For food cart vendors selling caffeinated drinks, insurance companies offer coffee cart insurance having general liability insurance with tools and equipment coverage. 

Mobile Food Vending Insurance

Mobile food vending insurance for food vendors offers general liability insurance, equipment breakdown insurance, and commercial property insurance. Optional coverages are loss of income coverage and inland marine insurance. 

Food Truck Insurance Cost

Food truck insurance cost isn’t the same for all customers. But in general, food truck insurance average cost for a $1 million general liability coverage is $39.36 per month or $472.32 per year. Here’s a table showing the rates of the best food truck insurance companies so that you get a further idea about the cost of premiums. 

Insurance companies consider many factors when figuring out your food truck insurance price. The most common determinants are location, business history, claims history, risk management programs, and number of employees.

So how do you get a cheap food truck insurance quote? One way to save costs is to pay premiums for the whole year instead of food truck insurance monthly premiums. Another method is to compare many insurance quote for food truck. By comparing quotes, you’ll get an idea of the rates and offers of numerous food truck insurance program. Start doing so here by clicking the “Get Quotes” button.