As we look forward to a ‘new normal’ over the coming weeks and months, this is an environment where a number of industries are needing to adapt and adjust to meet new restrictions & guidance.

We insure a large number of catering trailers / vans and often these will be supporting our showmen, however due to the current situation it looks as if our showmen will be unable to operate for some time.

Insurance for a catering van is quite different to that for a restaurant, so whether you serve sandwiches to festival goers or burgers to hungry drivers, you need to make sure your policy is tailored to your needs.

Here are a couple of things that you should consider when arranging insurance for your catering van:

Public Liability Insurance

This goes without saying! You are in a public space and therefore could be blamed for things such as an injury to a member of the public or damage to their property.

An example here may be where you accidentally spill a hot drink over a customer when handing it over or, for example, a member of the public inadvertently gets food poisoning after eating something you have served.

You should consider the right level of cover and make sure that there are no exclusions which risk you being unable to claim in the event of an incident.

If you face a compensation claim your public liability insurance could cover the cost of this as well as any legal fees that you incur.

Employers Liability Insurance

As with any business, you need to make sure that you have the right type of business cover in place. If you employ staff, it is a legal requirement for you to have employers’ liability insurance in place.

This would cover you for things such as where an employee or ex-employee is injured from say a burn from an oven or grill.

Vehicle Insurance

A benefit of the cover that we provide is that your policy can be tailored to cover the various areas that you need it to. This includes vehicle insurance to cover you for any road traffic accidents.

Other Insurances

It is also wise to include things such as stock insurance and cover for legal expenses (which can quite quickly end up hitting your bank balance) as well as any expensive equipment that you may rely on.

It is also wise to review any specific insurances that you may need depending on what food you are serving and where you are serving it. This is there the help of a broker really does make a big difference!