Catering insurance

Public liability insurance

In case your catering business causes an injury or property damage.

What’s typically covered by catering public liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• damage to someone’s property, because of your catering business
• an injury or illness caused by your business activities or products
• accidental damage or injuries caused by your employees

For example:

• one of your employees drops a dish and stains the carpet in a venue you’re catering for
• some canapés you’ve prepared for a wedding reception contain nut traces and cause an allergic reaction
• a worker at your venue burns their hand on a container you’ve filled with hot food

What you’ll need additional cover for

• a catering trailer – jump to our mobile catering insurance for cover that’s built to fit your mobile catering business.
• If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your catering business.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• an injury or illness that happens as a result of working for you (including temps and casual workers)

**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

For example:

• one of your wedding season temps scalds themselves while using a pressure cooker
• your head chef slips on some oil in the stock room, damaging their lower back

Tools insurance

In case something happens to your catering kit.

What’s typically covered by tools insurance?

• the specialist tools you use for catering, like handheld or portable electronic equipment
• loss, damage or theft

For example:

• you drop and smash a set of expensive champagne flutes
• your employee damages a set of funnels and measuring equipment while setting up for the day

Read more about tools insurance

Stock insurance

In case something happens to your catering ingredients or materials

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

• loss, damage or theft of things like your fresh ingredients, specialist flours or packaging materials

For example:

• your stock of ready-prepared sauces and fresh meat goes bad, due to an electrical fault
• a fire destroys your branded uniforms, linen and tableware

Read more about stock insurance

Business and office equipment insurance

In case something happens to the equipment you use to run your business

What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?

• theft of the equipment you use to operate as a caterer, from your laptop to your new sous vide
• loss of your equipment
• flood, fire or accidental damage

For example:

• a fire in your prep area damages essential equipment, including an oven and plate warmer
• your pastry chef damages a cake mixer, and you have to change the menu at the last minute

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you have to pay legal costs connected with your catering business

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

• legal costs associated with day-to-day operations, like an employee dispute
• legal costs associated with property damage, nuisance or trespass
• HMRC, tax and compliance issues, if they come up
• includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline and crisis support to help you protect your reputation, as a highly recommended caterer

For example:

• your client is refusing to pay the deposit for their wedding catering service, and you need to raise a legal case
• a contractor you’ve hired for the busy summer season brings a legal case against you

Read more about legal expenses insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident – at work, or off-duty

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

• injury or death of anyone you’ve chosen to cover in your policy – whether this happens at work or elsewhere
• lost income, hospital bills or other medical costs associated with the accident

For example:

• you break your leg while at your son’s sports day, keeping you out of the kitchen for two months
• your office manager shuts their hand in the front door while locking up, causing a serious injury

Read more about personal accident insurance

Can I just cover my most expensive catering tools?

Make sure you cover the total cost of replacing all your tools or you’ll only get a proportion of your claim paid out if something happens to them. Learn about tool cover.

Which type of workers do I need insurance for?

Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.

If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.

Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.

Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?

Depending on what you use to do your work, you may need other covers.

You may need more than tools insurance – for example, business equipment insurance if you have a work laptop, plant insurance if you use machinery.

Does catering insurance cover my work correctly?

Make sure you’re picking the right cover to protect you properly. It’s important to know that if you have another trade or job, you’ll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider private chef insurance or courier insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:

• Catering van insurance
• Restaurant insurance
• Home baking insurance
• Cafe insurance
• Ice cream van insurance
• Insurance for cafés
• Pub insurance
• Fast food delivery insurance
• Food stall insurance
• Delicatessen insurance
• More food and drink insurance

Other types of insurance

• Limited company insurance
• Self-employed insurance
• Freelance insurance
• Consultant insurance
• Contractors insurance
• Sole trader insurance

Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.