Food Truck Car Insurance: Compare Rates, Discounts, & Requirements [2023]

Food trucks are famous for start-up business ventures these days, offering professional chefs, at-home cooks, investors, and entrepreneurs the opportunity to grow their mobile businesses. As a food truck owner, though, serving delicious food is not your only responsibility. Your food truck isn’t just your vehicle, it is your business, and as such, you and your food truck must be adequately protected by having the necessary commercial car insurance in place.

Since most states require car insurance, it should be no surprise that your food truck must have a current car policy in place so your mobile business can remain mobile.

However, having the proper commercial car insurance for your food truck to drive around town is one of many coverages you will need. As the owner of your food truck business, you want to make sure that you have the right combination of policies in place to cover the business aspect of your food truck business.

Keep reading to learn more about food trucks, the types of insurance coverage you will need, and the potential cost to you as a food truck owner.

What is food truck insurance?

Since your food truck is more than just a personal vehicle, you will need more than just your average car insurance policy to ensure your assets are protected. Just like you need homeowners insurance to protect your home against a loss, business owners need specific policies, too.

As a food truck owner, your business will utilize a car, van, or truck for commercial business purposes. Using a personal vehicle presents some unique risk factors for food trucks and food truck owners. While some risks are more common than others, they can include all the scenarios listed below.

• A customer or bystander injuring themselves on your equipment or your property
• Individual stealing or damaging your business equipment
• A customer getting sick from the food they purchased at your truck
• A fire or other disaster destroying the equipment in your truck

Besides potential risks from within the business, food truck owners must also account for the extra time spent on the road, which can easily lead to more car accidents while you are conducting business. Accidents are just another reason why it is crucial to have the right combination of insurance policies in place to protect you, your food truck, and your wallet.

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What types of insurance are available to food truck owners?

Now that you have successfully launched your food truck business, it is time for you to find the types of insurance policies you will need.

While it’s true that there is no “food truck car insurance” company, per se, most insurance providers will offer the various policies that a food truck owner needs. Let’s see how much insurance you need.

While each state may have its own requirements for insuring your food truck, here’s a list of the essential insurance policies you will need for your food truck. 

• Commercial car insurance
• Commercial property insurance
• General liability insurance
• Workers’ compensation insurance

With one of these policies, in conjunction with the others, your food truck will not be adequately insured. Find out what insurance coverage is required for a food truck in North Carolina.

Commercial Car Insurance

Since your personal vehicle is now used for business purposes, your vehicle must be covered under a commercial car policy. Commercial car insurance protects your vehicle in the line business, whether delivering food, parking and serving food, transporting employees, or driving to work locations.

A commercial car policy often covers:

• Liability (if you or an employee causes an injury while operating the vehicle)
• Medical payments if anyone is injured
• Coverage against uninsured drivers
• Physical damage to company vehicles

Learn more about personal injury protection coverage. These coverages, however, are only enough when bundling them with other insurance policies.

General Liability Insurance

As a mobile restaurant, you risk being liable for causing personal harm to your customers, not just other vehicles. For example, suppose a customer is rendered ill with food poisoning from what you served out of your food truck. As the business owner, you would be held liable. On another occasion, let us suppose you or an employee backs your food truck into something and causes damage on someone else’s property. In this case, you could also be held liable. 

This policy covers

• Physical injury: If an employee or your food truck injures a customer.
• Property damage: If your food truck damages nearby buildings or vehicles.
• Food poisoning: If a customer claims your food was the source of their illness.

These are just a few reasons why having general liability insurance is so important.

Commercial Property Insurance

No food truck is complete, nor can it conduct business, without the equipment needed to serve your delicious, handheld meals. With the cooking equipment and utensils proving invaluable to your business’s success, it is only logical to protect these assets. Fortunately, commercial property insurance will cover anything you use for your business that isn’t attached to the vehicle, from pots, pans, and stoves, to unforeseen events like fires, floods, theft, and more.

Workers’ Compensation

You won’t need workers’ compensation if you work in your food truck daily and have no plans to hire employees. 

Suppose you have a few employees. In that case, whether full-time or part-time, it is essential to remember that your employees are not covered under your general liability insurance because they are a part of your business operations.

With workers’ compensation, if an employee is injured while on the clock, this policy will pay for their medical expenses and lost wages. This coverage is required in most states and is essential in protecting your business from lawsuits filed by injured employees.

Factors That Affect the Cost of Insurance for Business Vehicles

The process of choosing your insurance carrier can be overwhelming. Several factors go into selecting not just the best insurance for your business vehicles but the best commercial car insurance company for your business vehicles at the best prices. 

Due to the nature of the business, food truck insurance can be costly because of the multiple policies necessary to operate your business correctly. Many factors can affect the insurance cost for business vehicles, including location, property value, payroll (if you have employees), the coverage limits you choose, your deductibles, and the actual cash value of your property and equipment. Learn more about collision and comprehensive coverage.

Many factors will determine the cost of your business vehicle insurance that overlap with your primary car insurance risks, including

• Vehicle: What’s your vehicle’s year, make, and model? Calculate how much your car might cost you.
• Drivers: How many people drive your vehicle? More drivers equal more risk.
• Driving record: Are you a high-risk driver? Tickets and claims can affect premiums. Learn how to compare car insurance rates with a bad driving record.
• Mileage: How many miles a day do you drive? Lower mileage can save you money.

These are a few elements that can determine how much your insurance policy will cost. There may still be other factors that will affect the cost of your coverage. Find out whether car insurance can be paid monthly.

Tips for Finding the Best Policy for a Food Truck Business

First, it is essential to remember that no matter how much insurance coverage for food trucks you get, it is vital that you find the best companies to insure your business vehicle. Start with companies offering discounts for bundling all your policies, and go from there.

Most big-name insurance companies offer the commercial insurance you’ll need for your food truck. Each company, however, still has its own rates, discounts, and eligibility requirements. To find the best commercial car insurance quote, you should start by comparing companies.

While there are no set prices for food truck insurance, it is essential that you, as a food truck owner, do your research and start putting together a financial plan to calculate the median cost of the policies you will need. Find out what insurance coverage is required for a food truck in California.

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The Bottom Line: Key Points to Remember When Insuring Your Food Truck

Here are a few critical pieces of information to keep in mind when insuring your food truck:

• A food truck is both a vehicle and a business.
• As a business, you will need multiple policies to protect your food truck adequately.
• General liability, commercial property insurance, a commercial car policy, and workers’ compensation are the central policies needed to get your business up and running.
• You can find the best rates by shopping around for multiple insurance carriers and researching which companies offer discounts for bundling multiple policies.

Now it’s time to get your business up and running and get your food truck on the road.

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