Listen up, food truck owners: your food truck business has risk.
What exactly does that mean? Well, in the complex world of insurance, “risk” means there’s a chance that something bad might happen to someone—or something—as a result of your business. There are loads of ways that insurance risk manifests, but it usually results in someone getting hurt, something getting broken, or getting something stolen—like your equipment. Does insurance risk sound vague yet? If so, don’t worry. We’ll get into it.
Okay. Here’s something of utmost importance to your food truck’s financial security. You’ll want to remember this:
It doesn’t matter how careful you are or the number of safety precautions you take. Your food truck business will always have risk.
Risk is an unfortunate reality of running a business, and the truth is there are several risks associated with owning a food truck. That’s why it’s important to protect yourself with Food Truck Insurance, which can reduce the out-of-pocket cost you experience when something bad happens.
Of course, it’s always better to avoid insurance claims if you can help it. And while you can never truly eliminate risk, there are ways to reduce it. Let’s explore some common risks that food trucks face, how you can reduce them, and how Food Truck Insurance can help if your business is involved in an accident.
WHAT IS FOOD TRUCK INSURANCE, ANYWAY?
Food Truck Insurance is a liability insurance plan designed specifically for food truck owners to protect you from the risks associated with the industry. As we mentioned before, accidents happen… a lot. If your food truck is involved in an accident, you could be liable to pay thousands of dollars. Without insurance, you may be required to pay out of pocket, which could financially devastate your business.
With Food Truck Insurance from FLIP, you can mitigate—and sometimes eliminate—the out-of-pocket cost associated with these expensive claims. Starting at just $299 per year or $25.92 per month, you can create a financial safety net that protects your food truck with up to $1 million in A+ rated general and product liability coverage, as well as up to $10K in business personal property coverage. Additional policy options are also available as needed.
If all this information makes no sense to you, don’t worry. We’ll go over the different kinds of coverage and what risks they protect you from later in this article. In the meantime, if you want to learn more about FLIP’s Food Truck Insurance plan, just follow the link below!
5 COMMON FOOD TRUCK INSURANCE RISKS & HOW TO
AVOID THEM
Injuring a Customer
If an individual gets hurt either during or as a result of your business operation—like if they trip and fall on your equipment—your business could face a third-party bodily injury claim. In today’s litigious society, third-party bodily injury claims are extremely common and can be very expensive to cover out of pocket—often costing a business thousands of dollars when found liable.
Luckily, it’s pretty easy to reduce the risk of injuring a customer by being mindful of how you set up and by establishing good safety precautions, like…
- Setting up in a safe location with few or no hazards
- Make sure any tripping hazards are labelled and easily visible
- Safely store your unused equipment where it can’t be seen or tripped over
In the unfortunate event that an accident involving an individual does occur, you can keep your food truck safe with a Food Truck Insurance plan that includes general liability coverage. General liability policies are specifically designed to protect businesses from the financial burden that arises from third-party bodily injury claims.
Causing Property Damage
Third-party property damage claims are another common risk associated with running a food truck. Similar to bodily injury claims, if your food truck operation results in damage to another individual’s property—whether it’s a broken phone or damaged landscaping—you could face a third-party property damage claim and be liable to pay thousands of dollars in expenses.
You can reduce the risk of causing property damage by taking care in how and where you set up your food truck. While setting up…
- Give your food truck lots of space to avoid any unfortunate accidents
- Make sure the area is free of obstructions or easy-damaged objects
- Communicate with the property owner to be aware of any potential hazards
Food Truck Insurance plans that include general liability coverage can help if you ever face a third-party property damage claim. In addition to bodily injury claims, general liability is also designed to financially protect business owners from the burden that arises from accidents that result in damaging an individual’s property.
Making A Customer Sick
As a food industry business, getting a customer sick is an inherent daily risk of running your food truck. There are many ways a customer can get sick from the food you served them—whether it’s foodborne illness, poorly prepared or expired foods, or even unmentioned incorrectly labelled allergens. Regardless of how it happened, sickness claims are a serious risk that can devastate your business’s reputation and revenue.
Safety measures can and should be made to reduce the risk of making a customer sick. When preparing and serving your food to customers, make sure to…
- Follow proper health and safety regulations as dictated by your government
- Use fresh ingredients. Never prepare or serve food past its expiration date
- Properly label any potential allergens, like dairy, gluten, and nuts
Getting a customer sick is a food truck’s worst nightmare made reality. If it ever happens to you, you will want to be protected with a Food Truck Insurance plan that includes a product liability policy. Product liability is designed to protect businesses from the financial burden that arises when their product injures someone—including getting sick from the food you served them.
Someone Stealing or Damaging Your Equipment
Food trucks and the equipment required to run them can be expensive. As such, they are often a prime target for thieves. Unfortunately, due to a lack of proper security measures, food truck equipment theft is pretty common. If someone steals or damages your equipment, it can cost tens of thousands of dollars to replace.
By implementing security precautions, you can protect your food truck, your equipment, and your wallet. When improving your truck security, consider the following:
- Setting up security cameras that cover all sides of your truck
- Protect external equipment—like generators—with cages welded to the truck
- Store your truck in a safe location, preferable inside and away from the public eye
Pro Tip: Most business personal property and inland marine policies only cover documented cases of theft. If you don’t have evidence that your gear was stolen, it may not be covered. If possible, when filing a claim for stolen equipment, include a police report and any video/photo evidence you might have in your possession.
If your food truck or equipment is damaged or stolen, don’t worry. Although it’s not guaranteed, in many theft cases, the stolen property is actually returned within 60 days. In cases when it’s not, Food Truck Insurance plans that include Business Personal Property or Inland Marine coverage are your best bet to receive financial help. These policies are specifically designed to help business owners when their equipment is damaged or stolen.
Falling Victim to Cyber Crime
Did you know that in 2020, more than 2,000 cyber security attacks occurred every day? Yeah, that’s one attack every 39 seconds. Additionally, one third of every cyber security attack targets a small business, just like yours.
As businesses that collect and store data—especially customer data—food trucks like yours are at risk now more than ever of falling victim to cyber theft. If that happens, your business could face thousands of dollars in expenses to recover or replace precious data, not to mention the third-party claims you might face from customers if their information gets swiped.
To reduce the risk of experiencing a cyber security breach, you can…
- Learn about the different cyber threats and how to avoid them
- Implement good cyber security policies and training
- Install spam filters and other anti-malware software on your computers
For extra protection, you can protect your business with a Food Truck Insurance plan that includes Cyber Liability coverage, which can protect you from the financially devastating effects of both first- and third-party cyber liability claims.
FOOD TRUCK INSURANCE PROTECTS YOUR FOOD TRUCK
FROM RISK
By educating yourself and your team about the risks associated with running a food truck, you can reduce the chances of accidents occuring. Unfortunately though, like we mentioned at the start of this article, it doesn’t matter what safety precautions to take, or how careful you are on the job, you can never fully eliminate the risk of something bad happening to your business. Without Food Truck Insurance, you run the risk of facing insurance claims alone when you have help to shoulder the burden.
FLIP provides food truck owners with A+ rated, comprehensive liability insurance at an affordable price. Starting at just $299 per year or $25.92 per month, you can protect your food truck with $1 million in coverage for general and product liability as well as up to $10K in business personal property coverage. FLIP also provides additional coverage options for those who need it, including professional liability, cyber liability, and more.
Getting covered with FLIP is easy—our online process takes less than ten minutes to complete. If you haven’t already, we definitely recommend checking out our Food Truck Insurance plan so you can have the protection your food truck needs when you need it the most.
