Everybody knows that you must be extremely careful and hygienic when it comes to preparing, handling, and delivering food to other people – so it goes without saying that your insurance is going to be a little different than the basic policies. Whether you’re producing ready meals, operating a Michelin restaurant, or delivering fast food – insurance is critical for protecting yourself, your equipment, your employees, and most importantly – your customers.
So, the question lies – what exactly do you need insurance for? We’re here to answer that for you:
- The dreaded food poisoning
The last thing you want, and need, is a customer becoming ill from something that you have provided them – if someone was to make a claim concerning food poisoning, then you would be covered if you have public liability insurance.
- A foreign object located in foodstuffs
If you’re selling a pre-packaged meal with plastic wrapping – it may be possible that some of the packaging may have fallen into the meal itself. If this is sharp – this can potentially harm the customer. Or another example includes someone with a nut allergy accidentally eating nuts within your product without you stating that there are nuts included. Product liability will help you with things like this – covering legal costs no matter what your involvement with the product line.
- Asset breakage
Have you ever thought about what you would do if your oven or fridge broke down? In theory, you would end up losing a lot of stock and customer – and, therefore, consequently losing income. Business interruption insurance can cover you against the loss of income concerning these issues – so you will be able to keep losses as a minimum (reducing your stress levels significantly!).
In conclusion, the three main types of insurance that you will need to take out if you have a food-handling business are:
Public Liability Insurance: this insurance type ensures that you are covered if a member of the public claims they have been injured (or received food poisoning) from one of the products that you have produced.
Product liability insurance: giving you that extra layer of protection if someone complains about a specific product (covering you against any legal claims of injury or damage).
Business interruption insurance: this helps you if you find yourself being unable to trade due to an unexpected interruption (such as your oven or fridge breaking).
At We Insure Small Business, we operate a family-run small-business insurance broker offering a complete range of specialist insurance policies – tailored to your industry. We provide business insurance products to cover ALL eventualities from compensation claims, legal costs, injury, and property damage. For more information on how we can guide you in the right direction, or to get your free, no-obligation quote – contact our expert team today on 01244 207877, or email us directly at info@weinsuresmallbusiness.co.uk.