As food trucks continue to gain in popularity, there’s an ever-greater need for food truck insurance policies to protect these mobile businesses. There are several types of coverage that every food truck proprietor should have before they begin serving the hungry masses.
In this article, we at the Home Media reviews team will examine the coverage food truck owners need to protect their mobile restaurant investments. Since you’ll need to work with an auto insurer to cover your food truck, we’ve also researched the best car insurance providers to help you make the best decision for your needs.
Food Truck Insurance Overview
As a combination of a vehicle and a business, food trucks have unique insurance needs. A personal auto insurance policy doesn’t cover a vehicle that’s being used for business purposes, which is why you need extra protection if you plan to operate a food truck. To safeguard your mobile restaurant, you’ll need a commercial auto insurance policy and general liability coverage.
Commercial auto insurance covers a vehicle and any permanently attached appliances or equipment. Along with a commercial auto policy, food truck operators need a business owners policy. This typically includes the following types of coverage:
- Bodily injury liability: This pays for the medical expenses of other parties after an at-fault accident.
- Property damage liability: In the event of an at-fault accident, this coverage pays for damages to other parties’ vehicles and property.
- Medical payments: Known as MedPay, this type of coverage pays your medical expenses if you’re involved in an accident.
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist: This covers medical bills and property damage from accidents caused by drivers without sufficient coverage.
These coverage types are just the beginning when it comes to food truck insurance. If you have employees, you’ll need workers compensation insurance to help with medical costs if people are injured on the job. It’s also a good idea to look into a business owners policy (BOP), which combines the major property and liability coverages into one insurance policy.
Specialized Coverage Options for Food Trucks
Not all food trucks are the same. Some vendors, like ice cream trucks, sell prepackaged items, while large concession vans have grills or fryers on board. Thankfully, some insurance providers offer customized coverage options to suit food truck owners’ needs. These specialized insurance policy options include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Equipment breakdown: When covered equipment or appliances fail, this type of policy helps with damages and lost income.
- Spoilage: In the event of an equipment failure or power outage, spoilage insurance covers the cost of unusable food.
- Food contamination: If your food service is shut down due to contamination, this kind of policy will help with business interruption and any necessary equipment repairs.
- Restaurant liability: This type of coverage can help with any property damage or injury costs your business causes to customers, such as medical costs if a customer suffers from food poisoning after a visit to your truck.
- Restaurant property insurance: This commercial property coverage offers protection for business property that suffers physical damage due to a covered event. For instance, it would come in handy if a grease fire were to damage your food truck’s exhaust hood or additional insured pieces of essential equipment.
Food Truck Insurance Cost
The cost of food truck insurance varies according to the type of food being sold, the equipment attached to the vehicle, your location and the types of coverage you need. As with personal policies, the best way to find cheap commercial auto insurance is to compare insurance quotes from multiple providers.
Although costs will vary, food truck business owners can expect to pay anywhere between $2,500 and $4,500 per year for coverage on average. These estimates combine commercial auto and general liability insurance. Your actual cost will depend on factors like how much coverage you need, what type of truck you operate and the deductible you choose.
Our Recommended Food Truck Insurance Providers
There’s no shortage of options when it comes to business insurance and commercial auto coverage. Our team recommends Geico, Progressive and Farmers Insurance because these insurance agencies offer a wealth of coverage options at affordable prices.
*Ratings are determined by our editorial review team. Learn more about our scoring methodology below.
#1 Geico: Affordable for Most Drivers
AM Best Financial Strength Rating: A++
Better Business Bureau (BBB) Rating: A+
As one of the big names in the auto insurance industry, Geico combines a strong reputation for customer service with high industry ratings from AM Best and the BBB. When it comes to auto insurance coverage, it’s known for its affordable rates and quality coverage for many types of drivers.
The popular provider also offers a host of commercial auto insurance products that can be a good fit for food truck owners. From restaurant insurance to workers comp coverage, you can find the coverage you need for your mobile business with Geico.
Keep reading: Geico insurance review
#2 Progressive: Low Rates for High-Risk Drivers
it comes to commercial insurance needs, the company offers customized coverage for small businesses.
For food trucks in particular, this ranges from necessary commercial auto and professional liability insurance to coverage for equipment damage and customer illness. The insurance carrier also offers savings opportunities that food truck owners may qualify for, such as discounts for business experience and bundling policies.
Keep reading: Progressive insurance review
#3 Farmers Insurance: Custom Coverage for Food Trucks
AM Best Financial Strength Rating: A
BBB Rating: A
Farmers Insurance has a reputation for excellent customer service and offers a wide range of coverage options. The company’s restaurant business insurance products are a great choice for food truck owners. Its range of options offers coverage for everything from customer illness to vandalism. You can also purchase additional coverage for food contamination, spoilage and equipment breakdowns.
Keep reading: Farmers Insurance review
Food Truck Insurance: Conclusion
Your food business is important, and you want to ensure that you find the best provider for your unique food truck insurance needs. Insurers that offer quality auto and business liability coverage at affordable rates will be a good fit. Our team recommends reaching out to multiple providers for free quotes so you can compare your options to find the best choice for you.
Food Truck Insurance: FAQ
Our Methodology
Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best car insurance companies. We collected data on dozens of auto insurance providers to grade the companies on a wide range of ranking factors. The end result was an overall rating for each provider, with the insurers that scored the most points topping the list.
Here are the factors our ratings take into account:
- Cost (30% of total score): Auto insurance rate estimates generated by Quadrant Information Services and discount opportunities were both taken into consideration.
- Coverage (30% of total score): Companies that offer a variety of choices for insurance coverage are more likely to meet consumer needs.
- Reputation (15% of total score): Our research team considered market share, ratings from industry experts and years in business when giving this score.
- Availability (10% of total score): Auto insurance companies with greater state availability and few eligibility requirements scored highest in this category.
- Customer Experience (15% of total score): This score is based on volume of complaints reported by the NAIC and customer satisfaction ratings reported by J.D. Power. We also considered the responsiveness, friendliness and helpfulness of each insurance company’s customer service team based on our own shopper analysis.
*Data accurate at time of publication.
