Takeaway insurance
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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,376 reviews
Claims paid in 24 hours
For 80% of settled claims
Why do you need takeaway shop 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
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 for takeaways
In case your takeaway causes an injury, illness or property damage.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your takeaway.
Building insurance for takeaway shop
In case something happens to your takeaway premises.
Stock insurance
In case something happens to your prepared food, ingredients, packaging and other materials.
Contents insurance
In case something happens to your takeaway’s fixtures and fittings or operational equipment.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you have to pay legal costs while running your takeaway business.
Personal accident insurance
In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident – at work, or elsewhere.
Public liability insurance for takeaways
In case your takeaway causes an injury, illness or property damage.
What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?
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.
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 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 business 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 £6.56 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 Sep 2021 - 31st Feb 2022). Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Example takeaway shop insurance quotes, real prices
£66.30 /month
£589.31 /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
£111.50 /month
£991.11 /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 27/08/2020). 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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
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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.
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Does takeaway insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
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
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.
£28 million in claims paid out in 2021
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2021
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 800,000 small businesses and landlords
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 800,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.
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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
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