Hot Dog Cart Insurance: Cost & Quotes From $7

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Updated: March 27, 2025 . 8 min read

Written by Ofir Sahar

CEO & Founder

Ofir Sahar

CEO & Founder

Some of the products on this page come from partners who may compensate us when you click on their links or take specific actions. This helps us keep our content free. That said, our opinions are our own and based on independent analysis.

 

Hot dog cart insurance is a short-term or long term insurance program for hot dog cart vendors. This isn’t an insurance policy that functions on its own. 

While you can get a generalized food cart insurance or mobile food vendor insurance for your hot dog stand or cart, consider getting a stand-alone commercial hotdog cart or hot dog stand insurance instead. 

If you are looking to start your own hot dog cart business or are already running one, having hot dog cart insurance ensures that your investment gets the best coverage. 

 

Hot Dog Cart Liability Insurance 

There are two types of hot dog cart liability insurance that you will need for your hot dog cart business. These are:

General Liability Insurance for Hot Dog Carts

Hot dog cart general liability insurance protects your hot dog cart business from incidents and accidents involving third parties while the cart is stationary but still open to customers. 

The hot dog cart general liability insurance of many carriers doesn’t only cover personal injuries or property damage. General liability insurance can be added with optional policies. Such optional policies are:

  • Rented premises liability coverage-If you’re renting a space for your hot dog cart, consider adding rented premises liability coverage to general liability insurance. This will refund costs if the rented space becomes damaged or destroyed due to a fire
  • Advertising injury coverage-Advertising injury coverage will cover attorney fees, administrative costs, and other legal expenses
  • Liquor liability coverage-This can be added to general liability insurance if you sell alcoholic beverages aside from hot dogs.

General liability insurance provides $1 million – $2 million coverage for personal injury claims and property damage claims. The amount of coverage from other exposures is taken from the same limit or have their own sub-limits depending on the insurance company. 

Hot Dog Cart Product Liability Insurance

With product liability insurance, you’re covered in the event that product-related lawsuits are brought against you or your business.

 Specifically, the product liability cover cushions you in the event of foodborne illnesses, food poisoning, physical harm due to wares your hot dog cart provides to customers, or hot dogs contaminated with allergens or debris. 

Hot Dog Cart Vendor Commercial Auto Insurance

Do you use a hot dog cart that’s pulled by an automobile? Consider buying commercial auto insurance for the vehicle. After all, a personal auto insurance won’t suffice. Moreso, continuing to use a personal auto insurance on a vehicle that’s used for business purposes will lead to problems later on. 

Commercial auto insurance has the following coverages which take care of the following exposures associated with using a vehicle for business purposes:

  • Auto accidents-Auto liability coverage will pay for the medical expenses of injured third parties. It will also reimburse the cost of properties that got destroyed or damaged.
  • Vehicle damage- Collision physical damage coverage will cover parts repair or replacement if your vehicle sustains damage after crashing into an object or another vehicle. 

Commercial Property Insurance for Hot Dog Cart Companies 

Insurance companies will ask you to get commercial property insurance if you’re the owner of a hot dog cart business owning multiple carts and employing people. Commercial property insurance protects you against:

  • Building damage-Commercial property insurance will cover repair expenses if the roofing, siding, walls, doors, windows, or any other structures of your hot dog cart business’s commercial building sustains damage due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils
  • Building destruction-If the commercial building of your hot dog cart business is destroyed by fire or extreme weather, commercial property insurance will pay for reconstruction costs so that you can resume business operations

Workers Compensation Insurance for Hot Dog Cart Companies 

If your employees were to get injured while on duty, workers’ compensation insurance will step in to protect pay for your employees’:

  • Medical expenses-ambulance fees, surgeries, therapies, and other medical expenses
  • Hospitalization-hospital bills if employee is admitted to receive comprehensive medical care for a work-related injury or disease
  • Medication-You can claim workers compensation insurance to pay for the prescription medicines an employee needs for a work-related injury or disease
  • Rehabilitation- it covers rehab expenses if an employee experiences an impairment due to a work-related injury or disease

Note that in most states except Texas, you are legally required to have workers’ compensation insurance to run your hot dog cart business. 

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Hot Dog Cart Insurance Cost  

On average, you will pay $56 per month or $672 per year. Hot dog cart insurance cost depend on a couple of factors, including:

  • The policies you choose for your hot dog cart business
  • Unique risks that your hot dog cart faces
  • The value of business equipment at the hot dog stand or the hot dog cart
  • Key operational factors including location and the hours you spend on the road, among others

Here’s a breakdown of the cost of the different insurance policies you need for your hot dog cart business.

Type of Policy Median Cost Per Month Median Cost Per Year  Policy Limit
Business owners’ policy costs for hot dog carts $105 $1,260 $1 million per occurrence 
Workers’ compensation $105 $1,260  None 
General liability  $45 $560 None
Commercial auto  $135 $1,620 $1 million

 

 

 

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Best Hot Dog Cart Insurance Companies  

Here are the best hot dog cart insurance companies. Read some of the reviews below to know their pros, cons, and pricing. 

CoverWallet 

Pros

  • A partner of Chubb, CNA, and other established insurance companies
  • Compare the pricing and offers of many carriers

Cons

  • Doesn’t sell hot dog cart insurance

CoverWallet doesn’t sell hot dog cart insurance. However, CoverWallet has food cart insurance and you can get covered through that. Premiums cost $22 per month or $264 per year.  Give some basic business information and CoverWallet’s online quotes comparison platform will show you the price and features of the hot dog cart insurance of  many carriers. 

Average cost: $22 per month 

Our rating: 8/10

 

NEXT 

NEXT doesn’t sell tailored hot dog cart insurance. However, you can get covered through its food cart insurance.  This company’s food cart insurance for hot dog vendors and other businesses offers general liability insurance, commercial auto, workers compensation, and commercial property insurance. 

Average cost: $25 per month

Our rating: 9/10

Pros 

  • Buy two or more insurance policies and get a 10% discount
  • Live certificate of insurance
  • Manage policies using the NEXT app
  • Instant coverage

Cons

  • Has a lot of poor reviews on Better Business Bureau
  • Doesn’t underwrite a specialized hot dog cart insurance

 

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Thimble

Similar to NEXT and CoverWallet, Thimble provides coverage through its food cart insurance for hot dog vendors and other similar businesses. Policies offered are general liability insurance and commercial property insurance. You can decide to get covered for the whole year or only for hours, days, and weeks. 

Average cost: $28.83 per month 

Our rating: 8/10

Pros

  • ACORD 25 certificate of insurance
  • Your coverage can be purchased as an annual or short-term policy
  • No hidden charges

Cons

  • Claims and other transactions can’t be filed or processed by calling
  • Doesn’t underwrite a specialized hot dog cart insurance

 

Hiscox 

Hiscox, founded in 1901,  has made a name for itself as a small business insurer that’s particularly perfect for microbusinesses like hot dog stands, which will often employ less than 10 people.

 If you are a smaller hot dog cart owner whose business address is still your home address, Hiscox hot dog cart insurance is the policy for you as you actually get a 5% discount off the premium. 

Average cost: $46.35 per month  

Our rating: 8/10 

Pros

  • You can file your claims and ask for quotes online
  • A mobile app is available for easy policy management
  • General liability coverage of between $300,000 and $2 million

Cons

  • Hot dog cart businesses in Alaska aren’t covered
  • Insurance is only available to smaller hot dog cart businesses

Progressive 

Progressive Commercial, founded in 1937, is recognized nationally as a reliable auto insurance provider. Its competitive edge has to be the nine commercial auto discounts provided to hot dog carts on the move.

An average policyholder will pay $187 per month and $2,244 per year for commercial auto. 

This cost might be higher depending on the number of hours the cart spends on the road and the size of the cart.

Average cost: $187 per month 

Our rating: 8/10 

Pros

  • Nine commercial auto discounts offered to hot dog cart operators
  • 24/7 claim handling
  • Mobile application available to help with managing the hot dog cart policy
  • Possibility of seasonal rate adjustment

Cons

  • You cannot file claims for the hot dog cart policy online

 

About the author

Ofir Sahar

Ofir is the founder and CEO of Insuranks. He established Insuranks in 2019 from scratch and has been running educational insurance websites since 2009 on a mission to help businesses...See full bio.

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