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Takeaway insurance

Join over 1,900 takeaway restaurants like you with PL cover from £3.19 per month*

Get tailored quotes in 7 minutes

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  • UK-based expert support, online and on the phone
  • Get covered and all your documents the same day
  • Compare tailored takeaway insurance from trusted brands
Takeaway employee passing food over the counter

Compare quotes from leading brands

  • Hiscox insurance
  • Axa insurance
  • Zurich insurance
  • AIG insurance
  • Churchill insurance
  • RSA insurance
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Rated 4.7/5

Based on 39,760 reviews

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Claims paid in 24 hours

For 80% of settled claims

What's on this page

  • Why is insurance important?
  • What does it cover?
  • How much does it cost?
  • How do I choose insurance?
  • How do claims work?
  • FAQs
  • Helpful articles

Why do you need takeaway insurance?

A fryer accident. Pizza allergens. An unfair dismissal claim. As popular as your place might be, busy takeaways come with unique risks and challenges. From public liability cover to legal expenses and employer protection, a takeaway insurance quote picks out what you need, letting you focus on the queue outside, not the what-ifs on every service.

  • peace of mind for you, your customers and employees
  • pizza shop insurance, deliveries and fried food – we cover hundreds of takeaways
  • £1 million public liability cover minimum

Start your quote

What does takeaway insurance cover?

No one knows your shop, customers and community like you do – and certainly not your food. Public and product liability cover is usually a top priority for our takeaway customers, plus insurance for expensive equipment, stock and appliances. And don’t forget employers’ liability insurance – it’s a legal requirement for most businesses with employees.

Public liability insurance

In case your takeaway causes an injury, illness or property damage.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance for takeaways?

Claims against your business for:

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

If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.

For example:

  • you’ve spilled oil on the floor and a customer slips, breaking their wrist
  • an employee splashes hot water on a customer who’s waiting to collect an order
  • you’re sued by a customer who’s had an allergic reaction to your takeaway delivery

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

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

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

  • an injury or illness that comes 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:

  • your trainee chef cuts their hand while cleaning a blender, and claims the work area is unsafe

Building insurance for takeaway shop

In case something happens to your takeaway premises.

What’s typically covered by building insurance?

  • the cost of repairing damage to the structure of your building (or rebuilding it from scratch)
  • damage to fixtures and fittings
  • damage to underground pipes and cables you’re responsible for

For example:

  • your building is badly damaged after a deep fat fryer catches fire, and your takeaway shop has to be completely rebuilt
  • you need to replace your takeaway’s floorboards and internal doors, which have been damaged by flooding
  • your shop front is vandalised and you need to replace three large broken glass panels

Read more about buildings insurance

Stock insurance

In case something happens to your prepared food, ingredients, packaging and other materials.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

  • loss, damage or theft of things like your fresh or frozen produce, prepared food items, packaging and other materials you use to stock your business

For example:

  • your refrigerated meat goes off due to an electrical fault, and you need to replace everything
  • a burst pipe in your kitchen causes a flood, destroying your stored dry ingredients
  • while in transit, a large food order gets ruined in the back of your delivery van

Read more about stock insurance

Contents insurance

In case something happens to your takeaway’s fixtures and fittings or operational equipment.

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

  • accidental damage to your takeaway’s fixtures and fittings, or the equipment you use to run your business
  • theft, flood and fire damage

For example:

  • a customer stumbles into your food display unit, breaking the glass and frame
  • your pressure fryer, barbecue grill and dough mixer are stolen from your restaurant overnight
  • an employee breaks your brand new kebab grill

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you have to pay legal costs while running your takeaway business.

  • 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 popular local takeaway

For example:

  • if you’re investigated by HMRC (or selected at random for an audit), this cover could help with the tax enquiry costs – for you and any other directors, as well as for the business
  • you’ve dismissed an employee and need to defend your legal rights

Read more about legal expenses insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident – at work, or elsewhere.

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 a finger while taking the kids out at the weekend, keeping you off work
  • a Christmas temp shuts their hand in your shop door, causing lasting nerve damage

Read more about personal accident insurance

How much does takeaway 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 £3.19 per month

Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.

Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes

Start your quote

10% of our customers paid up to £38.32 a year for a public liability insurance policy between 1st April 2023 - 30th June 2023. Equivalent to £3.19 per month based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.

Example takeaway business insurance quotes, real prices

maltings insurance

£67.98 /month

£604.28 /year

Small family-run takeaway

  • 1-2 years' experience
  • Sole trader
  • 1 employee
  • Based in Wellingborough
  • Public liability

    £2,000,000

  • Employers’ liability

    £10,000,000

  • Contents

    Not included

zurich insurance

£134.88 /month

£1198.89 /year

Large takeaway which uses a fryer (serviced annually)

  • 5+ years' experience
  • Limited company
  • 5 employees
  • Based in Northampton
  • Public liability

    £5,000,000

  • Employers’ liability

    £10,000,000

  • Contents

    £15,000

How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 03/03/2023). 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

Main building

£200

£4000

Stock

£200

£4000

Contents

£200

£4000

Employers liability

No excess

No excess

Public liability

No excess

£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

  • Pick what goes into your policy

    Only pay for what you need

  • Get prices from a range of insurers

    Choose the best fit for you

  • Buy online in minutes

    Get your documents the same day

Start your quote

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Compare policies from a range of trusted insurers

Buy online or over the phone in minutes

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.

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 takeaway 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 courier insurance or private chef insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

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

Other types of 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.

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

0333 043 8527

Online

Contact us on our website whenever suits you

Phone

Call our insurance experts during office hours (calls are charged at a local rate)

FAQs

Find answers to common insurance questions

How do takeaway insurance 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.

£39 million in claims paid out in 2022

Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2022

The figure above is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.

Example claim

Having takeaway insurance through Simply Business has saved shops and businesses thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.

Stavros saved more than £3,750

A fire at Stavros’s takeaway has caused damage to one of his fryers, interrupting his trade. Fortunately it was put out quickly with an extinguisher, but Stavros needs to claim for fire damage (name changed for privacy).

  • Insurance payout

    £3,755.75

    Covering the cost of fire damage

  • Stavros’ costs

    £100

    The excess amount stated in Stavros’ policy terms

Chosen by 900,000 small businesses and landlords

We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 900,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.

  • Compare and buy in minutes

    Documents arrive today

  • Rated 4.7/5

    Based on 39,760 reviews

  • Here to help

    Help from UK-based experts

  • 24/7 claims

    Make a claim any time

Insurance for takeaway shop 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 takeaway shop insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.

  • Businesses selling hot food and drink face similar risks to other catering businesses. However, public and product liability insurance is a popular cover for hot food takeaways, because it protects you against slip-ups and accidents, or injuries caused by your product. For example, if a customer was to burn themselves while handling their food, this cover could protect you from an expensive injury claim.

    Many insurers offer between £2 million and £5 million of insurance, which usually includes both public liability and product liability cover.

  • If you’re employing people as delivery drivers (or in most other capacities), employer’s liability insurance is usually a legal requirement. From there, many takeaway businesses find public and product liability cover useful, in case any claims are made for things like food poisoning or an allergic reaction to your food.

    Stock insurance is also a popular cover for takeaway delivery businesses, as it can cover your goods while they’re on the road, and contents insurance is designed to protect you for things like damage to your food while it’s out for delivery.

    Worried about something happening to you or your delivery employee while they’re out and about? Personal accident cover can pick up the cost, for example if someone assaults one of your team during a delivery.

  • Public and product liability insurance is often an important cover for restaurants – it’s designed to protect you if someone is injured or suffers an illness, or their property is damaged, because of your business.

    Are you hiring staff? If so, you’re usually required by law to take out employer’s liability insurance, even if it’s for a contractor team member, or casual and temporary staff. You’ll face fines of up to £2,500 a day for anyone you haven’t covered correctly.

    From there, you can pick and choose from other specific protection for your restaurant’s stock, equipment, fixtures and fittings and the building(s) you use. Our restaurant insurance policies are flexible – you can bundle everything into one policy or go for just one or two covers, depending on what you need.

  • 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

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

Helpful articles for takeaway restaurants

Takeaway owner handing food in a bag to a customer

2 Oct 2019 • 6-minute read

The opening a takeaway guide for new business owners

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