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The appeal of being a vendor is obvious. Whether you’re selling food via food truck, restaurant, or bakery; selling t-shirts at an event, re-selling used goods at the flea market, selling handcraft on busy streets, or selling homegrown fruits and veggies at the farmer’s market; one thing remains the same. You’re free!
In today’s discussion, we will give you a basic overview of what vendor insurance coverage is, how much it costs, and why sellers should purchase a vendor insurance policy.
Along the way, we’ll also give you some helpful tips for getting cheap vendor insurance and show you how to get free vendor insurance quotes.
As vending is a low-risk industry, insuring your small business is usually quite affordable. So, how much does business insurance for vendors cost? It costs $33 per month for a $1 million general liability coverage. This totals to $396 per year.
Do I Need Vendor Insurance?
Yes. Vendors face a lot of risks.and yes you need That’s why mobile food vending insurance is important because it provides protection. Some of the risks it aims to guard against are:
Customers will be comfortable to buy if there’s a vendor insurance policy. Insurance reassures that, when something goes wrong, customers can go after a vendor’s coverage and get some reimbursement. In this sense, being insured doesn’t only protect vendors but their customers as well.
Customers can sue vendors for injuries. The probability of facing a lawsuit isn’t only possible when the vendors were really the one at fault. Lawsuits might also result from mere allegations of causing injuries to customers.
Vendors can avoid expensive settlement fees and legal costs by having vendor liability insurance with general liability coverage. General liability coverage applies when a customer experiences an injury and the vendor is at fault. Aside from injuries, general liability will also cover property damage. Types of property covered are phones, clothes, bags, and other personal belongings in the customer’s possession.
Liability insurance for food vendors works best if it has general liability with products liability and public liability coverage.
Food vendors commonly face a lawsuit from the public after causing a fire. Lawsuits arising from fire accidents cost $56,000 for property damage and a minimum of $10,321 for personal injuries. And so, it’s important that public liability coverage is part of food vendor liability insurance. Also, aside from food vendors, public liability is also useful for food trucks.
Vendor event insurance is a type of vendors insurance coverage with terms that, as the name implies, takes effect when a vendor is involved with:
In addition, depending on which carrier offers it, vendor event insurance provides a certificate of insurance. A certificate of insurance is a document testifying a vendor is insured and won’t transfer any liabilities to the event organizers.
It is a 24-hour general liability insurance policy having products and completed operations coverage and product liability coverage. Other inclusions are tools and equipment insurance and event cancellation insurance. The general liability insurance in this specialized insurance plan has a $500,000-$1 million limit.
Food vendor insurance for festivals that offer basic general liability and contents coverage fit festival food vendors best. General liability will take care of slips and falls, tripping, and fire breakouts festival food vendors may cause due to poor crowd and space management. On the other hand, contents coverage will provide protection against theft and stock damage. We recommend getting these during musical festivals.
Festival food vendors using mobile food trucks can also opt to use mobile food truck insurance . Coverages are general liability and commercial auto liability. General liability is useful if someone trips on the cables and wires of the mobile food truck.
It’s also possible for someone to slam on the food truck carelessly and get injured; general liability also provides coverage if this happens. On the other hand, commercial auto liability will be handy if the mobile food truck rams into another mobile food truck, a random person’s car, or a festival facility.
Compared to most other food vendors, hot dog concessions represent the lowest risk. However, there’s always the possibility of your cart blazing in flames and burning people and their property. And so, it’s best not to underestimate the usefulness of hot dog cart insurance.
Another common scenario is that you could lose control of your cart, and it could crash into somebody’s car or personal property . This makes it imperative to maintain a simple hot dog cart liability insurance policy.
Vendors in flea markets sell secondhand items. Unlike brand new items, no one checks antiques for quality and consumer safety except the vendors themselves. And so, flea market vendors face risks that potentially defective products bring.
Flea market vendor insurance provides general liability and products liability coverage. General liability coverage protects flea market vendors from false advertising and personal injury claims. On the other hand, product liability will cover any resulting costs when a customer bought a defective second hand item.
Just like flea market vendors, farmers market vendors can easily face lawsuits. Slip and fall accidents are the most common reasons. Contributing factors are:
In connection, farmers market insurance for vendors can shoulder such an amount as it may provide $1 million for personal injuries, $400,000 for damaged customer property, and $5,000 for damages to business personal property.
Most artisans set up at flea markets, farmer’s markets, festivals, or events. As such, craft vendor insurance is a policy designed to cover mishaps that could happen at vending locations. Carriers offer this as short-term insurance or standard policy for artisans such as sculptors, weavers, metalworkers, potters, and clock smiths.
Your individual business insurance quotes may vary depending on the size of your business, the city you do business in, how many employees you have, gross sales, and what you sell, but this should give you a rough estimate of what to expect. In general though, the average vendor insurance cost is $30 per month or $360 per year for a $1 million general liability insurance coverage.
| Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Best for | |
| CoverWallet | $8 | $96 | Vendor insurance quotes comparison online |
| Thimble | $10 | $120 | Short term vendor insurance |
| NEXT | $25 | $300 | Food truck vendor insurance |
| Hiscox | $33 | $396 | Online vendor insurance |
| Geico | $38 | $456 | Food trucks and mobile food vendors who need to bundle commercial auto and vendor liability insurance |
| Allstate | $45 | $540 | Vendors with growing business |
| Nationwide | $60 | $720 | Vendor insurance with no deductible |
| Act Insurance | $80 | $960 | Arts and crafts vendors |
There are a number of factors that determine your insurance rates. However, here are a few tips if you want to make sure that you get cheap vendor insurance:
Get all the best quotes from leading providers in a click of a button!
Vendors easily find their needed coverage with CoverWallet . This company offers general liability, workers comp, commercial property, and other essential policies to food vendors, flea market vendors, and more.
Pros
Best for: Vendor insurance quotes comparison online
Average cost: $8 /month for vendor general liability coverage
Our rating: 10/10
Thimble’s coverage is available for vendors in trade shows, conferences, festivals, markets, and flash retails. Thimble customers, who already bought an entertainment and events policy, can purchase vendor insurance as an add-on.
Best for: Short term vendor insurance
Average cost: $10 /month for vendor general liability coverage
Our rating: 9/10
NEXT is one of the leading insurtech companies right now. The company states that it’s 100% dedicated to small businesses. At present, NEXT is helping 130,000+ customers. NEXT allows customers to enjoy discounts when buying more than one insurance policy. It also provides instant proof of insurance through its mobile app.
Best for: Food truck vendor insurance
Average cost: $25/month for vendor general liability coverage
Our rating: 8/10
Hiscox provides coverage to online vendors selling furnitures, clothes, and other consumer products. Vendors already working with this company enjoy fast claims process, worldwide coverage, and flexible payment options.
Best for: Online vendor insurance
Average cost: $33 /month for vendor general liability coverage
Our rating: 7/10
Geico is one of the largest insurance providers in the United States, and they offer customized policies .So, whether you’re looking for Geico B2B vendor insurance, mobile food cart coverage, or flea/farmer’s market liability insurance, a Geico agent can hook you up with a comprehensive policy designed to cover all of your needs.
Geico also offers great rates on commercial auto policies.
Pros
Best for: Food truck and mobile food cart vendors who need to bundle commercial auto and vendor liability insurance
Average cost: $38/month for vendor general liability coverage
Our rating: 6/10
Allstate’s vendor insurance is composed of general liability coverage, product liability coverage, and commercial auto coverage. With that said, this is perfect if you’re a vendor selling numerous goods using customized trucks or vans. In addition, the company even has an online tool on its website to hasten claims filing and processing.
Average cost: $45/month for vendor general liability coverage
Best for: Vendors with growing business
Our rating: 5/10
Get all the best quotes from leading providers in a click of a button!
Nationwide’s vendor insurance is offered in partnership with K&K insurance. Coverage extends to bodily injuries and property damage , premises, products and completed operations, and false advertising. Additional options also allow you to avail short-term policies, negate deductibles, and cover loss to property, stock, or inventory.
Average cost: $60 /month for vendor general liability coverage
Best for: Vendor insurance with no deductible
Our rating: 4/10
Last but not the least is ACT Insurance. The vendor insurance from this company is highly tailored to the needs of small businesses. Coverage isn’t that hefty. However, the pricing is one of the fairest in the market. ACT Insurance covers all types of vendors but mainly focuses on the needs of the ones selling arts and crafts.
Best for: Arts and crafts vendors
Average cost: $80 /month for vendor general liability coverage
Our rating: 3/10
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Disclosure: Insuranks.com is an independent educational comparison service and an advertising-supported publisher. Some of the companies/offers that appear on the website are from our partners which we may receive compensation from. This may influence which companies/offers we write about and where and how it appears on the site. However, this does not impact our assessments. We solely highlight companies, products, and offers that can help you make smarter insurance decisions.
