Do you own or plan to start a vending machine business? Probably, every day sees you contending with an endless to-do list, from buying goods to maintaining your machines and managing your employees.
It's not surprising for you to forget how devastating an unfortunate event can be. Like when running a wine business or a distillery, something bad might happen if not now, then soon.
So, it’s a good idea to insure your vending machine business. In this discussion, learn what vending machine insurance is, how much it costs, and more.
Risks haunt vending machine operators like you. Here are some examples:
A vending machine could injure a customer
Your snacks, candy, or drinks could expire and result in food poisoning
Your business location may experience a power outage, causing a loss of perishable foods
A worker could get injured while fixing one of your vending machines
Your vending machine could get stolen or damaged
A supply-chain issue happened. Your vending machine is out of products customers can buy. As a result, you have to stop your business for a while
These risks will result in extra expenses and lost income. This is why you need to get different kinds of vending machine operators insurance.
Your vending machine business will find these vending machine covers useful:
General liability insurance with products liability coverage
Cyber liability insurance
Commercial property insurance
Commercial auto insurance
Umbrella liability insurance
Property in transit insurance
Business owner’s policy
General liability insurance is the most common and highly recommended cover not only for a vending machine business but also food vendors,restaurants, cooking businesses, bakeries, farmers'markets, and coffee shops.
Vending machine liability insurance is your primary defense against a customer's claim for:
Bodily injury - A customer was buying food from the vending machine, and it got stuck. Instead of asking for your help, the customer rocked the vending machine. As a result, it fell toward him. The customer was crushed and sustained injuries
Property damage - Your vending machine released an electrical surge. Upon getting electrocuted, the customer dropped their phone, and it got broken as a result. The customer wants you to refund the value of the broken phone
Advertising and personal injury - Your vending machine's custom graphics copied the elements found in other vending machines owned by another individual. At the same time, the aggrieved person also accused you of stating defamatory remarks to interrupt his business
In connection, general liability insurance takes care of the following costs on your behalf:
Medical payments
Settlements
Defense costs such as attorney fees, investigation fees, administrative costs, etc.
Similar to groceries, caterers, vendors, and juice bars, insurance companies allow vending machine businesses to add product liability coverage to their general liability insurance. Product liability coverage will take care of defense costs, medical payments, reimbursement for property damage, and settlements if a customer files a claim for:
Food poisoning
Food-borne illnesses
General liability insurance provides $1 million-$2 million you can use for each bodily injury or property damage claim.
On the other hand, it provides $500,000-$1 million for each advertising injury claim.
The product liability coverage of general liability insurance provides $1 million for each claim for food poisoning or food-borne illness.
Can customers pay for your vending machine using a credit card or a mobile wallet such as Paypal or Venmo? Even though the feature is very convenient, it might also lead to data leaks if someone gains access to the vending machines’ system.
You will face extra expenses if important and confidential information is leaked. If you’re worried about this exposure, then get cyber liability insurance.
The cyber liability insurance for vending machine businesses offers $1 million-$2 million coverage. You can use this to cover:
Public relations costs for informing affected parties of the breach
Expenses for professional help needed to contain the breach
Lost income if you need to pause the operations of your vending machine business because of the breach
Defense costs and settlements if affected customers sue you for the breach
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Do you use your personal car to transport business stock, goods, or workers? In this case, decide to get commercial auto insurance.
There’s no problem if you continue getting covered with personal car insurance. However, once the carrier finds out that you’re using your personal car to restock the vending machine or collect earnings, your premiums might suddenly spike. Furthermore, coverage isn’t comprehensive.
Commercial auto insurance offers the best coverage since it offers protection such as auto liability coverage, physical damage coverage, and personal accident coverage.
Auto liability insurance for vending machine business will help you pay third-party bodily injuries or property damage if you cause an accident while driving to the location where your vending machines are installed.
Personal accident coverage will help pay for emergency medical treatment and hospital bills if you get injured after the accident. If you have passengers, then this policy will cover them too.
Physical damage coverage will take care of the damages to your vehicle. This policy comes in two forms; collision coverage and comprehensive coverage.
Collision coverage takes care of damage after you’ve collided with a vehicle or object while driving, hence the name.
Comprehensive physical damage coverage, on the other hand, takes care of costs if fire, theft, vandalism, weather, and other covered perils damage your vending machine business’s vehicle.
Let’s say you want to deliver a vending machine to another location. However, your car is an SUV, and it can’t be used for the job you want to do. And so, you rented a pickup truck to transport the vending machine. Will your commercial auto provide coverage to the rented vehicle? The answer is no.
Your commercial auto insurance only covers the auto you own. That’s why if you want to get coverage for a rented or borrowed vehicle, then consider getting hired & non-owned auto insurance.
Hired & non-owned auto insurance will cover indemnification, settlement, and defense costs if a vehicle you borrowed or hired causes an accident.
Commercial property insurance protects the properties integral to the operation of your vending machine business. Let’s discuss how this policy works.
The building coverage of commercial property insurance recovers financial losses if the office of your vending machine business becomes damaged or lost because of:
Fire
Theft
Vandalism
Malicious mischief
Riot
Sprinkler leakage
Lightning
Weather
Volcanic action
Impact
Aircraft
The stocks and contents coverage of commercial property insurance will reimburse your losses if the vending machines, other equipment, and the goods to be sold become damaged or lost due to the perils we mentioned above. Vending machine prices aren't cheap and this is why commercial property insurance is very useful.
Insurance companies allow you to add food spoilage endorsement to commercial property insurance. Food spoilage endorsement will recoup your losses if the perishable goods inside the vending machine spoil and become unsellable due to:
Vending machine breakdown
Vending machine contamination
Power outage
How much coverage to get from commercial property insurance depends on the value of the business property you want to insure.
Remember that commercial property insurance provides $10,000-$165,000 minimum building coverage for vending machine businesses. Contents coverage, on the other hand, is $5,000-$60,000.
Let’s say your vending machines got utterly damaged. Since you don’t have the money to get it replaced, you went ahead and had it repaired. What’s tricky is that repairing the vending machine will take at least two months. This means that your business won’t produce revenues, and you might incur significant losses.
In such a case, there won’t be any problems if you purchase business interruption insurance. Business interruption policy shoulders bills, wages, loans, and other operational costs, while your vending machines are out of commission. With this policy ready and waiting, your vending machine business can keep losses at bay and recover quickly.
Do you employ people to maintain or restock the vending machine? If this is the case, consider getting workers' compensation insurance. Workers' compensation insurance pays your employees if they get injured while working.
This coverage is very useful for your business and other related ventures such as food delivery businesses, pizza delivery businesses, wineries, ice cream businesses, breweries, delis, liquor stores, concessions, food trailers, and food cart businesses
So when do you get workers' compensation insurance? It depends on the location. There are states that require you to get workers' compensation insurance the moment you employ 1 individual. Others, on the other hand, require you to get workers comp the moment 2, 3, or 5 people are working for you.
What specific things does workers' compensation insurance cover? How workers comp insurance works differ from state to state. But generally, workers' compensation insurance will help you pay:
Employee emergency treatment
Employee hospital bills
Employee medication
In case of death, workers comp will help you provide death benefits to the deceased spouse and children
Rehabilitation (if needed)
The amount of insurance money you’ll get from workers comp also varies from state to state. In general, workers comp pays two-thirds of the injured employee’s weekly average wage. Benefits last from three-seven years or until the employee is strong enough to work again.
Your employees can steal from you or vandalize the vending machines. If any of the two happen, you’ll suffer losses. And so, don’t forget to get employee dishonesty insurance.
To get employee dishonesty insurance, you’ll have to purchase crime insurance. However, it’s also possible to find carriers that offer employee dishonesty insurance as a stand-alone policy.
So what does employee dishonesty insurance cover? If you decide to purchase this policy, you’ll get coverage for:
Employee theft
Destruction of money or the vending machines
Fraudulent transactions
Forgery and alteration of your business’s financial documents
Fraudulent manipulation of your vending machines (e.g. the employee accessed your vending machine’s memory and gained access to credit card data and other sensitive information
Social engineering fraud
Employee dishonesty insurance is available in two ways:
If availed as a “loss discovered” policy, employee dishonesty insurance will pay losses resulting from an employee crime that happened during the policy’s duration, regardless of when the crime took place
If availed as a “loss sustained” policy, employee dishonesty insurance will only pay if you file a claim during the time the crime took place. In a nutshell, a “loss sustained” employee dishonesty coverage won’t cover undiscovered crimes in the past
Do you keep moving your vending machines from place to place? Your commercial auto insurance won’t cover the damage to your vending machines if they get damaged during the trip. And so, decide to get property in transit insurance.
Property in transit insurance is a stand-alone coverage or inclusion in commercial property insurance. But note that no matter how it’s offered, the policy functions the same way. This insurance for vending machine reimburses losses when:
The vending machine unloaded from the vehicle during the trip and got damaged
The vending machine got lost while in transit
The vending machine caught fire while in transit
You got involved in a vehicular accident, and the vending machine got damaged as a result
In a lawsuit, your general liability insurance may hit the ceiling. Here's where commercial umbrella liability insurance comes in to provide additional coverage. For instance, if a court case costs $100,000 but the general liability insurance only gives you $50,000, the umbrella policy will be your savior and cover the extra $50,000.
You can qualify for a business owner’s policy (BOP). A business owner’s policy fuses different kinds of insurance into one comprehensive protection for your business.
Most BOPs combine general liability and commercial property insurance. On the other hand, some may offer more options, such as:
Commercial auto insurance
Employee dishonesty insurance
Cyber liability insurance
Workers compensation insurance
Commercial umbrella liability insurance
Those who install their vending machines at the airport can opt to get covered through specialized airport vending machine business insurance. Policies included are:
General liability with product liability coverage
Commercial property insurance with equipment breakdown coverage
Luckily, vending insurance costs don't have to break your bank. On average, owners pay $38 a month or $456 a year for vending machine insurance offering a $1 million general liability policy.
Diverse factors come into play in determining the cost of vending machine insurance coverage. The following are the most common:
The number of machines you need to insure
The type of products you vend
The number of workers you have
Your business location
Your chosen policy limits and deductibles
Your chosen insurer
To further give you an idea of vending machine insurance costs, here’s a table showing the rates of the best vending machine insurance companies:
Monthly Rates | Annual Rates | Best for | |
---|---|---|---|
NEXT | $17 | $204 | Best overall; Fastest general liability insurance for vending machine businesses |
CoverWallet | $25 | $300 | Vending machine insurance quotes comparison online |
Tivly | $29 | $348 | Comparing vending machine insurance quotes over the phone |
Hiscox | $33 | $396 | Business insurance with generous policy limits that can serve as vending machine insurance, candy business insurance, etc. |
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Here are some reviews of the best vending machine insurance companies. Know their pros, cons, and monthly pricing for a $1 million general liability coverage.
Best overall
Issues an online proof of insurance instantly
Great customer service and reputation
Excellent rates
Outstanding value for money
Get a 10% discount if you buy two or more insurance policies for your vending machine business
Couldn’t find any
NEXT’s vending machine insurance offers workers compensation, general liability, and commercial property policies. You can bundle your general liability and commercial property insurance in a BOP. NEXT’s general liability insurance for vending machine operators provides $1 million coverage for each claim.
Best for: Best overall; Fastest general liability insurance for vending machine businesses
Average cost: $17 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Allows you to compare vending machine insurance quotes online
Offers its own vending machine insurance coverage by modifying the offers of its partners
Online certificate of insurance
CoverWallet's vending machine insurance policies are underwritten by third-party companies
CoverWallet, with its partners, crafted a tailored vending machine insurance product that bundles general liability and commercial property policies. Free certificate of insurance, fast online quotation, and easy policy management are the strongest points of CoverWallet’s insurance for vending machines.
Best for: Vending machine insurance quotes comparison online
Average cost: $25 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Compare vending machine insurance quotes over the phone
Call and get covered quickly
Responsive customer service
Takes you to partners if it can’t provide coverage
Doesn’t issue online quotes
Tivly (formerly CommercialInsurance.NET) offers general liability, workers compensation, cyber liability, and commercial auto insurance to vending machine businesses. This company doesn’t issue online quotes. And to get covered, you need to talk with a representative who will create a tailored coverage.
Call Tivly now to compare quotes over the phone.
Best for: Comparing vending machine insurance quotes over the phone
Average cost: $29 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Offers generous policy limits starting from $1 million up to $5 million
Doesn’t underwrite a specialized vending machine insurance
Hiscox doesn’t have an insurance product tailored for vending machines. Nonetheless, since the company insures a wide range of businesses, you can still get covered.
There are two options for getting insured with this company ; (1) insure your vending machines through Hiscox’s portable equipment insurance (2) qualify for retail insurance. By choosing to work with Hiscox, you’ll enjoy generous policy limits plus risk management services.
Best for: Business insurance with generous policy limits that can serve as vending machine insurance, candy business insurance, etc.
Average cost: $33 per month
Our rating: 9/10
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!
It really can't get any better than this... wow