Flipping burgers, filleting fish, grinding coffee beans – the fast-paced world of the food industry leaves no spare time to be left worrying about whether you have the right business insurance. When it comes to insuring your small food business, sometimes it can feel like there is an overwhelming choice of policies and policy options to choose from.
Why do I need insurance for my food business?
Whether you are serving up fancy dishes in a restaurant, coffees in a café or tacos in a take-away shop or food van, the reality is there are certain risks that come with working in the food industry. There can be many unpredictable events, like the dreaded nightmare of your customers contracting food poisoning, somebody slipping over a freshly mopped floor, or even loss or damage to your business assets, all of which can result in seriously damaging the financial health and reputation of your business.
So, what can do to help prevent your business from crumbling if a disaster was to strike?
Fortunately, there’s an insurance policy for that!
With a whole menu full of cover for your business, you can find protection for your legal liabilities, assets and revenue if the tables were to unexpectedly turn for the worse.
Some types of insurance policies might even be compulsory, for example, Public Liability insurance is often required when you take out a commercial lease; while Contents, Glass and Business Interruption are a smart selection to also include as part of your overall business insurance plan.
What types of insurance should food businesses consider?
Public Liability Insurance
Dishing up food and beverages to the public everyday exposes your business to a whole variety of risks and the potential for a liability claim to be made. And it’s not just the customers you have to worry about. Something as simple as a supplier tripping over at your business premises could end up costing you more than a few boxes of groceries!
Public Liability insurance is designed to protect your business against such claims by covering your legal and defence costs, and any compensation that is awarded as a result of third-party accidental injury or property damage because of your business activities.
Within the food business, some common types of claims that you may face include:
Slips and falls – think of potential hazards like spilt food, beverages and a whole host of other slippery surfaces which create a recipe for accidental disaster, especially in high traffic areas.
Food poisoning – no small food business owner ever wants to hear that one of their customers experienced food poisoning caused by food that you have prepared or served them. A food poisoning scenario could more than sour your business reputation with the potential for multiple lawsuits to occur, and without insurance in place, you’re the one who will have to foot the bill!
Business Insurance
You’ve combined all the key ingredients of long hours, hard effort, and money that go into making a small business dream a reality, making it equally important to have the right cover in place to protect your business’ assets.
The success of your food business relies on many elements like the kitchen and all of its equipment, the fridge stocked with produce and counter tops, right down to the forks, knives, chairs and tables.
Think of Business Insurance as your safety blanket to provide protection for your essential items if they were affected by fire, storm, accidental damage or theft. It can also provide cover against any financial loss resulting from an insured interruption to the business.
Business Insurance offers a range of cover options to choose from, allowing you to tailor a policy to suit the unique needs of your business. Here are a few types of cover to consider:
- Contents – protect your business contents or stock against insured events like fire, storm and other perils. Think about the possible financial devastation it could cost your business if you had to replace the contents of the kitchen if it was destroyed by fire – a common cause of claims for food businesses.
- Glass – covers the cost of replacing internal and external glass which may be damaged or broken. This may be caused by an accident, theft or vandalism and extends to cover windows, mirrors, porcelain and illuminated signs. You may want to consider this form of cover if your business has a large glass shopfront, and it may also form part of the requirements if you lease your premises.
- Business Interruption – could your business afford to shut up shop for a period of time due to an unexpected insurable event? Take a minute to think about how long it would take to rebuild your kitchen and replace all of your contents if you suffered major damage caused by fire, storm or other perils.
You can rest easy at night with Business Interruption insurance. It provides cover for loss of income and the increased costs of running your business when you are unable to operate at full capacity due to damage caused by an insurable event.
*It is important to note that this kind of cover is only available if you insure Building or Contents.
- Machinery Breakdown – offers protection for the related costs of repairing or replacing insured machinery following breakdown. Working within the food business, you rely on your refrigerators to keep your stock fresh, as well as deep fryers and ovens to produce your final product. That’s why protecting them with the right cover is essential. You can also select an extension of cover that provides protection for loss of stock if your fridge encounters motor burnout or your premises experiences a power failure resulting in spoiled food.
- Money – chances are you handle cash every day, meaning protecting it is important to keep your business running! This cover can protect money which belongs to your business and that is either lost, stolen or damaged whilst on your premises, in transit to or from your premises or held within your personal care.
Did you know?
On average, restaurant and café owners pay approximately $75 per month for their Public Liability insurance policy.
That’s a wrap!
No need to get into a jam when it comes to arranging insurance for your food business. Take some time to think about the things that keep your doors open every day and whether you could afford to operate without them. Or what could happen if a third-party made a claim against you for injury or property damage.
Visit BizCover.com.au to get a quick quote and give yourself peace of mind in minutes.
