Fast food insurance
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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,250 reviews
Claims paid in 24 hours
For 80% of settled claims
Why do you need fast food restaurant insurance?
From pizza to curry to kebabs, from storage to preparation to delivery. Running a fast food restaurant involves a lot of moving parts. Mistakes and accidents happen – and even a top hygiene rating can’t totally remove the risk of allergies and food poisoning. The good news? Insurance helps you prepare for the worst case scenario.
- Peace of mind that you, your employees and your customers are covered against injury and illness
- Freedom to focus on making food and not on what could go wrong
- Protection against expensive damage to your business premises and fixtures and fittings
What does fast food restaurant insurance cover?
You know your fast food restaurant better than anyone else – and we understand that every restaurant owner has different concerns. If you employ people at your restaurant, you must have employee liability cover. And as with most brick-and-mortar businesses, you may also need public liability insurance. Beyond that, you can tailor your insurance to suit your business.
Public liability insurance for fast food restaurants
In case your fast food business causes injury or property damage.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.
Stock insurance
In case something happens to the products or materials you keep in stock at your fast food restaurant.
Business and office equipment insurance
In case something happens to your fast food restaurant’s business and office equipment.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs from running your business.
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or outside of work.
Public liability insurance for fast food restaurants
In case your fast food business causes injury or property damage.
What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- damage that you or your employee cause to someone else’s belongings in your fast food restaurant (remember, if you have staff working for you, you must have employers’ liability insurance – it’s a legal requirement)
- injury that you or your employee cause to someone else while working, or as a result of your work
- illness suffered by a customer as a result of consuming food or drink from your fast food restaurant
- accidents and injuries related to food delivery (including theft, damage to customer property, slips and trips) but not incidents involving a vehicle
For example:
- a customer slips on a ketchup spillage on your restaurant floor and breaks their wrist in the fall
- a member of your staff accidentally spills a scalding hot tea on a customer who’s waiting to collect an order
- a customer sues you because you served them spoiled food, or because they suffered an allergic reaction to your takeaway delivery
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- employees falling ill or getting injured as a result of being employed by your fast food business
**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:
- your trainee chef cuts their hand open while trying to clean a blender in the kitchen, so they’re suing you for providing an unsafe work area
- one of your delivery drivers is assaulted when delivering food, so they’re suing you for damages
Stock insurance
In case something happens to the products or materials you keep in stock at your fast food restaurant.
What’s typically covered by stock insurance?
- the cost of replacing your prepared food items and raw ingredients if they’re lost, stolen or damaged
For example:
- your fresh vegetables and meat go off due to your fridge developing a fault, so you have to throw them all away
- a burst pipe in your kitchen causes a flood, and the water destroys the dry ingredients you keep in the storage room
- a large food order gets ruined in transit because the boxes topple over in your van as you’re delivering them to the venue
Read more about stock insurance
Business and office equipment insurance
In case something happens to your fast food restaurant’s business and office equipment.
What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?
- accidental damage to the business equipment or fixtures and fittings you use in your fast food restaurant
- loss or theft of your business equipment or fixtures and fittings
- flood and fire damage to your business equipment or fixtures and fittings
For example:
- a customer stumbles into your food display unit, smashing the glass
- your pressure fryer, barbecue grill, dough mixer and toaster are stolen from your restaurant overnight
- a new employee operates your kebab machine incorrectly and breaks the unit, so it needs to be repaired
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs from running your business.
What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
- legal costs you’re responsible for paying as the owner of your fast food business, such as resolving disputes with your employees
- legal claims and compensation payouts to do with trespass, nuisance or property damage
- investigations by HMRC, as well as tax and compliance disputes
- remote support in the form of a tax advice helpline, a confidential 24/7 legal helpline, and crisis communications expertise if your restaurant’s reputation comes into question
For example:
- your fast food restaurant is being investigated by HMRC, and you need help dealing with the enquiries into your tax affairs
- an ex-employee is accusing you of harming their mental health due to the working practices at your restaurant, so you need to defend yourself in court
Read more about legal expenses insurance
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or outside of work.
What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?
- injury or death, outside work as well as at work, for anyone you’ve named on the policy
- lost income, medical costs and hospitalisation benefit
For example:
- you get first degree burns after accidentally splashing yourself with hot oil from your deep fat fryer
- your employee falls off their bike and suffers multiple fractures while riding to work
- you get concussion playing rugby with friends at the weekend
Read more about personal accident insurance
How much does fast food insurance cost?
Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.
Prices start from £6.77 per month
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes
How we work out example prices We take the highest price from the bottom 10 per cent of all our customers paying in monthly instalments (based on data from 1 Jan 2021 - 31st August 2021). Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Example fast food restaurant insurance quotes, real prices
£91.10 /month
£809.82 /year
A small fast food restaurant with a small fryer that's serviced annually and doesn't offer catering
- 2-3 years' experience
- Limited company
- 1 employee
- Based in Cambridge
Public liability
£2,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Contents/business equipment
£5,000
Stock
Not included
£108.43 /month
£963.81 /year
A medium sized fast food restaurant with a fryer that's serviced annually and who offer catering
- 5+ years' experience
- Limited company
- 5 employees
- Based in Swindon
Public liability
£5,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Contents/business equipment
£25,000
Stock
£10,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 13 May 2020). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.
What kind of excess should I expect?
An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.
| Insurance cover | Lowest excess | Highest excess |
|---|---|---|
| Public liability | £100 | £2500 |
| Employers' liability | No excess | No excess |
| Stock | £100 | £500 |
| Contents | £50 | £750 |
The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.
How it works
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We handle claims, so you can get on with business
How do I choose insurance?
Making sure you have the right type and level of business insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.
Is public liability enough for third party property damage?
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Does fast food insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Is public liability enough for third party property damage?
In some situations you may need more than public liability to cover certain kinds of property damage. Learn about stock 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.
Does fast food 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 caterer - excluding mobile vans) or cleaning insurance?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
If you provide these services alongside building work, make sure you’re covered:
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.
Talk to an expert
Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am - 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am - 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am - 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am - 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am - 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm
Call our team
How do claims work?
Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive. The figure below is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.
£30 million in claims paid out in 2019
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2019
Example claim
Having fast food insurance through Simply Business has saved fast food restaurants thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Marcello saved more than £5,800
A delivery driver had dropped off a takeaway order from Marcello’s fast food restaurant (name changed for privacy). The food had leaked out of the delivery bag, and Marcello's customer slipped and fell in the spilled food. The customer then sued the restaurant for damages. Fortunately Marcello had taken out insurance in case something like this ever happened to him.
Insurance payout
£5,840.00
Covering the cost of the accident
Marcello's costs
£100
The excess amount stated in Marcello's policy terms
Chosen by 800,000 small businesses
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Fast food insurance FAQs
Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about fast food insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
It can do – but you’ll need to make sure you take out public and product liability insurance as part of your policy.
Public and product liability insurance protects you against claims relating to accidental injury or illness caused by your business. The “product” part refers to the items a business sells, which for you means food and drink.
And it’s important to know that if you employ people at your fast food restaurant (including family members), you’ll only be covered for their actions if you have employers’ liability insurance too.
There are several key types of cover for most restaurants.
Because your area of work involves coming into contact with other people, you’ll likely consider public and product liability insurance to be essential. It covers your restaurant against accidental damage or injury.
And you probably have people working for you, which means you’re legally required to have employers’ liability cover – even for casual workers and temporary staff.
Are you personally responsible for insuring your restaurant’s premises? You’ll want to look into building insurance.
Beyond that, there are a few more options that could give you peace of mind:
Want to protect your restaurant’s equipment and fixtures and fittings? It’s worth thinking about contents cover.
Interested in protecting yourself and others against the financial consequences of accidents, whether at work or outside of work? That’s what personal accident insurance is for.
Worried about legal costs you might face as the owner of your restaurant business? You can take out legal protection insurance.
Still feeling uncertain about what insurance you need for your restaurant? You might find it helpful to read our guide on assessing the risks.
No, this should be covered separately under a motor insurance policy.
If you have employers’ liability cover as part of your fast food insurance policy, you would be covered if your delivery drivers get injured while they’re delivering an order but not currently on the road (for example, falling down the stairs in a customer’s block of flats).
You can choose the payment type that suits your business and cash flow best. Some customers prefer to pay in one go, while others prefer to pay a regular monthly amount, like you do with lots of other bills. Simply Business offer three ways to pay for your policy:
- one-off credit or debit card payment
- BACS payment
- Direct Debit
If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly instalments.
This will depend on whether you have employers' liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers' liability insurance.
If you employ people, you're required by law to have employers' liability insurance.
There's one exception here. Family businesses that aren't incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers' liability insurance. The government defines a "family business" as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers' liability insurance, it's important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn't cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.
We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions
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