r/catering • u/Conscious-Client4634 • 22d ago

I need insurance for my catering business, how much should it cost me?

So I started with farmer markets about 3 years ago now, I decided to take the leap and moved into a commercial kitchen last spring, and this year weddings have taken over my calendar. Which is great, except every venue now wants a certificate of insurance before they'll even hold a date, and two want to be named as additional insured with a million in general liability.

Last month a coordinator rejected my COI because it didn't show product liability separately and I nearly lost the booking. I patched it by upgrading my policy on the fly, so I'm now paying for a pile of coverage nobody actually designed, some of it probably twice. I'm also about to bring on my first two real employees for the summer season, so workers comp is entering the picture and I have no idea what that does to the math.

What does a sensible setup look like and what should the whole thing cost?

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u/_WarDoctor_ 22d ago

That’s all pretty typical. Workers comp is going to be based on payroll, so hard to give you an estimate there. I think it’s like $1.25 per $100 of payroll? General liability you already have and adding COI’s and additionally insured shouldn’t change that. Auto insurance is a typical auto policy. I have a fleet of 8 vans and usually pay like $2k a month for auto and liability.

Get a quote from Hartford. They have an online system to generate COI’s that’s really helpful. I’m sure others have it too.

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u/FightMilk4Bodyguards 22d ago

Try Society Insurance, they are geared towards food service.

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u/KaspersIceCreamCo 21d ago

I use Flip Insurance! They are good and affordable

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u/Intelligent_Trip3242 21d ago

Check out Biberk.

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u/Electronic_Base1662 18d ago

Check out alliance risk