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Building a strong network in the catering industry can help propel the success of the business and grow to reach new customers, but caterers encounter a unique set of problems from foodborne illnesses to injuries. We’ve evaluated the best business insurance providers based on coverage, financial stability, customer satisfaction, and overall quality.
Simply Business provides insurance policies for a range of professions and small businesses.
For more than 200 years, the Hartford Insurance helped over 1 million businesses just like yours.
Coverwallet began its journey in New York City in 2015 operating under the Aon Insurance banner. At Coverwallet, you can access everything you need to keep your company well-protected at an unbeatable price.
Next Insurance leverages AI technology to streamline the process to purchase insurance, track claims, and manage policies at no additional cost.
With a 100-year history of insuring businesses, Hiscox is well-known across America and globally. With more than 500,000 small business customers, Hiscox is fully aware and trained in the unique risks a business can face.
Thimble provides business insurance that can be tailored to your business by the year, month, day, or even the job. At Thimble, the process to getting the right business insurance is simple, scalable, and flexible.
There are several inherent risks that come with operating a catering business, as you are assuming a lot of risk when you cater at an event. While sharing some similarities with restaurant insurance, catering insurance takes into account some of the challenges that come with catering events at an off-site location.
Catering insurance will generally protect the business from claims that result from workplace injuries, issues with foodborne illnesses, and other aspects of running the business. Because you are catering meals, the food has to be 100% safe to eat for the guests and you need to follow food quality standards.
Catering insurance could be especially helpful for wedding caterers because there is a lot of moving and dancing going on at a wedding, which in turn can lead to injuries or food spillages that could end up injuring a guest or worker. Generally, anyone who operates a catering business will need insurance, but not all caterers will need the same coverage. The following caterers (but not limited to) will generally need to get catering insurance to protect themselves in the event of a lawsuit:
Because catering is slightly different than operating a restaurant, there are different aspects of the business that need the protection that comes with insurance. While there is no one-size-fits-all insurance policy for caterers, there are generally a few types of insurance policies that all caterers need to consider.
A business owner’s policy is the closest thing to an all-encompassing insurance policy. Generally speaking, a business owner’s policy combines other types of insurance, such as general liability coverage, commercial property insurance, and liability protection.
If you decide to get a business owner’s policy, you can add optional coverage that can be beneficial to a catering business. These optional coverages could include cyber liability insurance and data breach protection, which will protect the business if there was a breach and confidential client information was released.
Business income insurance can often be overlooked but can cover the lost income that you’ll experience for events, such as fires, theft, and other weather-related events. Because caterers are often cooking food over open flames, protection from fires is recommended.
Most all businesses need some type of general liability insurance for their business. If you have a physical location where the food is cooked or provide services off-site, there is a possibility that an injury could occur and you would be held liable.
Having a general liability insurance policy could protect you, so you don’t have to pay court costs or legal fees out of pocket. This type of insurance will typically cover physical injuries, medical expenses, and third-party property damage.
For all the things that a general liability insurance policy does cover, there are some things that it does not. For example, general liability insurance won’t cover workers’ compensation injuries, motor vehicle accidents, and damage from natural disasters like earthquakes and tornados.
If you are employing any workers that are either part-time or full-time, you will need to look into workers’ compensation insurance. It’s not only a good idea—it’s required in some states. As the name suggests, workers’ compensation insurance will compensate your employees in case they get injured while working on or off-site for the business.
The catering business can be especially dangerous, and workers’ compensation is very useful for caterers. Injuries can result from a variety of different instances, such as slipping while delivering food to guests, burns to the skin while cooking food, and many other different scenarios that you can think of.
This type of insurance will usually cover medical bills, surgical procedures, and prescription medicines needed after an injury. However, it’s important to note that workers’ compensation will not compensate workers for their pain and suffering after the injury occurs.
A key limitation to catering insurance is that if your court costs or settlement is more than what your policy covers, you will have to pay that difference out of pocket. This could be a significant amount of money if you get sued for a serious accident.
The cost of catering insurance will vary based on the policies you have and the coverage that you select. A caterer can expect to pay $70 per month for a business owner’s policy, which amounts to about $840 per year. A typical catering business owner’s policy plan will get you about $1 million in coverage.
General liability insurance is a foundational type of insurance coverage that most businesses will need. For caterers, they will typically pay about $40 per month or about $480 per year for a policy with about $1 million in coverage
For worker’s compensation, you can expect to pay about $35 per month which amounts to about $420 per year for coverage up to $1 million.
Catering insurance may seem like an unnecessary expense if you are working with a tight budget, but it is recommended if you want to protect yourself and employees from lawsuits that could arise. Here are a few factors to consider:
Insurance for caterers looks like it can be costly at the surface. However, it would be more costly to get sued without having the right coverage.
