If you’re an aspiring chef or baker, your culinary dreams may run the gamut from opening a Michelin-star restaurant to bringing gourmet flavors to your local street corner in a food truck.
Whatever your goals are, make sure you include insurance in your business plan. Without it a liability claim could leave you with shattered dreams and more tears than a day spent cutting onions.
Without culinary insurance, you could be held liable for tens of thousands of dollars in damages. Or you could experience equipment loss from fire, vandalism, or theft and not be able to replace your items. Incidents like these could send your dreams up in smoke.
WHAT IS CULINARY INSURANCE AND WHAT DOES IT COVER?
There are many components to culinary insurance. Here, we break down each part of FLIP’s culinary insurance annual policy and explain what it covers.
What Is General Liability?
General liability coverage offers you protection against third party claims such as slip-and-fall accidents. Without general liability insurance, you could be
financially responsible for damages and
legal costs from bodily injury or property damage claims by third party.
What Is Products & Completed Operations?
This protection is extremely important to anyone in the culinary business. Your food is your product, so if your food were to make someone sick and they decide to sue, product liability would be needed to respond to these types of claims
What Is Inland Marine?
Inland marine is a type of business personal property that provides coverage to your property anywhere in the United States. Basically, if your property is vandalized, stolen, or damaged by fire your property would be covered up to the limit of the inland marine policy.
WHAT ADDITIONAL INSURANCE DOES MY CULINARY BUSINESS NEED?
Depending upon your operations, you may need additional insurance coverage. Some of the options you might want to consider are explained below.
Increased Business Personal Property/Inland Marine Limits
What would be the cost to repair or replace your damaged cooking equipment? If it’s more than the amounts below, then you may need to purchase additional coverage to increase your limits.
- $5,000 per article limit
- $10,000 aggregate limit†
You can increase your limits to the following for an additional $285.
- $10,000 per article limit
- $50,000 aggregate limit†
†Aggregate coverage is the most FLIP would pay for all claims in a policy period
Food Trailer Liability Coverage
If you have a food trailer, you need a trailer endorsement to provide coverage if a third-party is injured in, on, or around your trailer while it is unhitched and parked. Without a food trailer endorsement, your general liability policy limits will not apply.
Commercial Auto Insurance?
If you use a car, truck, or van in the operation of your business, your
personal auto insurance may not cover you if you are in an accident. FLIP offers commercial auto insurance to culinary businesses in 20 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.
Liquor Liability
If you sell, manufacture, distribute, or furnish beer, wine, or liquor, or if you sell foods made with alcohol, you could be sued if one of your customers causes an accident, damages property, or injures themselves or someone else.
FLIP now offers liquor liability insurance for businesses who serve liquor or liquor-based products.
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS?
We hope this helps you understand what culinary insurance offers and what insurance coverage your culinary business may need. If you have additional questions, our FLIP representatives are available during business hours. Please contact us at (844) 520-6992 or by emailing info@fliprogram.com.
All insurance policies have conditions, limitations and exclusions. Please refer to the policy for exact coverages.
BY ASHLEY BAKER
Ashley Baker writes about marketing, business, and insurance for small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Ashley is a former Licensed Massage Therapist. She has a background in writing for state political offices, newspapers and was the web editor for two regional magazine publications. When she’s not writing, she’s spending time with her family, attending college football games or kayaking. Find Ashley on LinkedIn, Instagram, or Twitter.
