What is catering insurance?

Catering insurance is commercial insurance specially designed to cover the liabilities involved in your catering business. Intended to protect against the risks that can come with serving food to large crowds, including damaged equipment, third party injuries, and property damage, catering insurance is an important tool for responsible catering companies.

As a caterer, your clients trust you to deliver excellent food at their special events to please their guests, and the venues you work with trust you to provide quality service without damaging their space. But what happens when something goes wrong? While serious accidents and lawsuits from disgruntled clients are not necessarily common occurrences, all it takes is one bad situation to provide a high-cost roadblock you can’t overcome. Catering insurance can be surprisingly affordable and coverage options depend on business size, revenue expectations, and unique job functions, making it essential that you speak with an insurance professional to ensure you have the right fit.

Catering insurance comes in numerous forms designed to protect against a wide range of accidents and issues. Policies come in many types, but most caterers should find adequate coverage from a combination of general liability, liquor liability, and off-premises insurance policies.

This form of liability insurance covers the general risks assumed by someone working with the public, ranging from customers tripping on your cords to clients burning themselves on your dishes. Food service professionals of all types rely on these policies to protect themselves from lawsuits related to injuries, illnesses, and accidents, whether a claim has merit or not.

As much as you’d like to believe your clients and customers are responsible adults, this does not mean they will be when alcohol enters the picture. Whether you serve liquor or allow guests to bring their own, accidents involving intoxication are frequent and dangerous. Liquor-related claims can be pricey, making insurance a must.

Insurance policies vary greatly, but your general liability policy may not protect you when you’re on someone else’s property. Instead of risking damage to your products and equipment while travelling, in storage, or at other locations, an off-premises policy is a form of property insurance that can keep you covered when you’re on the road, as well as providing coverage should you cause damage to another party’s property.

Whether your catering company is a small business you run alone or a large operation hosting hundreds of functions a year, insurance for caterers is vital to your success. From protection against drunken accidents to offering a safety net should your equipment or food cause problems, the right insurance policy may be the difference between failure and continued success.

If you have any questions about insurance for your catering business, or would like some no obligation quotes, give us a call any time. You can reach our team of business insurance brokers by phone at 1-800-731-2228 or by email at commercialsales@nullmitchinsurance.com. We’ll come up with a package of coverage that caters to your business.