Food Truck Insurance

If you own or lease a food truck, insurance is vital to give yourself, your business, and your customers as much protection as possible. At Paradiso Insurance, our team of commercial food truck insurance experts is here to offer guidance and help you find the best coverage at the right price.

Here’s a complete guide to food truck insurance.

Regardless of the size of your business or whether you’re just starting a new food truck venture, having the right mobile food truck insurance is a must.

Who Needs Food Truck Insurance?

If you cater food or drinks of any kind to the public or at private events, you need to buy commercial food truck coverage regardless of the frequency. The following are those who typically purchase food truck insurance.

Concession Trucks
Vending Trucks
Ice Cream Trucks
Mobile Food Trucks
Lunch Trucks
Catering Trucks

If you’re unsure whether you need to buy food truck insurance, please speak directly with a member of our team today. We can offer guidance and help you buy the best food truck coverage for your unique business needs.

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Different Types of Food Truck Coverage

General Liability

This element of your policy will cover you for damage to your property and personal injury. Essentially, your food truck business is insured against certain financial liabilities for which you could be held legally liable. Things such as people getting sick from your products, burned by your equipment, or damages to your physical truck; are usually covered by general liability insurance.

Product Liability

If a customer becomes unwell from a foodborne illness due to the food they bought from you. Having product liability insurance for your food truck will give you coverage for this type of scenario.

Damage to Rented Premises

It’s not uncommon for vendors to move locations, sometimes on a daily/weekly basis. From food truck rallies to farmers’ markets, this coverage element protects your rented space should there be any damage. For some trade events, this type of insurance is mandatory.

Contents Coverage for Food Trucks

This will cover essential items in your food truck that are not permanently fixed to the physical unit. It is also called business property insurance. It is typically offered a replacement cost or actual cash value basis. Replacement Cost insurance will give you a new replacement product and carries the highest premium, whereas an Actual Cash Value Policy deducts an amount for depreciation first before any payout.

Workers Liability Insurance for Food Trucks

If you hire employees in your business, worker’s liability insurance coverage is usually state-mandated. It can cover medical costs and wages should they have a workplace injury or become unwell.

What is covered by workers’ liability insurance?

Typically, workers liability insurance will cover events such as:

Employee work-related illnesses
Slips or trips while at work
Medical care, expenses, rehabilitation, and medication should they get hurt while working
Long-term. Or permanent disability payments
Death benefit for a work-related death

What is not covered by workers’ liability insurance?

Typically, workers liability insurance will not cover events such as:

Injuries or illnesses that are not related to the workplace or their job
The liabilities of customers

Commercial Auto Insurance for Food Trucks

This is one of the most important elements of your insurance, giving you and the business coverage for yourselves, the contents of your vehicle, permanently attached equipment, alongside any other types of liability coverage in place.

As a food truck owner, and because you use the vehicle for business purposes, you will protect yourself from damage and liabilities in transit.

Collision Coverage

This will cover damage to your food truck or any permanently fixed items that result from a collision with another vehicle, barrier, or object.

Liability Coverage

This will cover injuries to third parties while the food truck is in motion. It will also protect you from damages caused to any properties while in transit.

Comprehensive Coverage

This will cover incidents where you are not considered to be at fault. It can include things such as fire, theft, vandalism, and weather-related damages.

Truck Insurance FAQ

Here are some frequently asked questions that food truck owners generally ask before choosing the right food truck insurance company:

What Types of Food Truck Claims do People Make Most?

The most common food truck insurance claims are for fire and theft.

Theft claims are higher for theft because of the equipment and valuables that are often stored inside the vehicle. They are also more likely to be kept on the street overnight.

Fire claims are high because most food trucks use the equipment for cooking and are at a greater risk of a fire-related incident than other types of trucks.

What are the Most Uncommon Food Truck Claims?

The least common claims for food truck insurance are for food-related events, such as food poisoning and foodborne illness.

What does general liability insurance for food truck insurance cover?

General liability insurance will protect your mobile operation from accidents and incidents that involve a third party and while you are stationary and trading.

It covers:

Product-specific lawsuits – such as food-related events, injuries, and illness;
Property damage fines/lawsuits – such as damage to property by your vehicle;
Premise-related legal actions – such as customer slips and trips;
Legal expenses;
Advertising-related lawsuits – such as libel, personal injury, and slander.

What is not covered by general liability insurance for food trucks?

Some of the things not covered by general liability insurance are:

Auto accidents;
Employee-related incidents;
Events occurring while driving the food truck from one location to another.

Why do you need to buy general liability insurance for a food truck?

Landlords, vendors, and commissary kitchens will typically require owners of food trucks to carry at least $1M in coverage before they work with them.

What does food truck contents insurance cover?

Contents insurance will give you coverage for any vandalized items, items damaged in a collision, items that aren’t stored in the truck, stolen items, and items damaged by a fire or weather-related event.

What does food truck contents insurance not cover?

Contents insurance will not give you coverage for any items that are permanently fixed to a truck.

How is the cost of food truck insurance worked out?

Most food truck businesses operate uniquely, and there are many factors that can impact the cost of coverage.

Size of the business
Insurance provider
Equipment value
Area of operations
State policies
Type of equipment, such as refrigeration vs. cooking equipment
Coverage limits
Deductible
Type of policy, such as cash value coverage vs. replacement cost coverage