Hector runs a taco truck that rotates between office parks in South Lake Union, weekend brewery lots, and summer festivals around Seattle. The truck is a converted step van with a full commercial kitchen: flat-top grill, fryer, refrigeration, and a generator.
He had a commercial auto policy because the lender required it. A festival organizer asked for a certificate showing $1 million of general liability with the festival named as an additional insured, and Hector realized he did not have that.
What he asked for
General liability for the festival.
What the review found
The auto policy covered the truck as a vehicle, not as a kitchen. Collision and comprehensive covered the truck's value, but the policy's stated value was based on the original step van. The kitchen build-out had cost more than the van. After a total loss, he would have been paid for a used delivery truck.
Kitchen equipment had no coverage for breakdown or spoilage. A refrigeration failure on a hot day means thrown-out inventory and a lost service. Nothing covered it.
No general liability, and no products coverage. A customer who gets sick, or who is burned by spattering oil at the window, is a general liability claim. The auto policy covers injuries caused by driving, not by cooking.
Events required more than a certificate. Festivals and breweries want additional insured endorsements and sometimes liquor liability language, even though Hector did not serve alcohol.
What we put in place
We re-rated the truck on the auto policy at its stated value including the kitchen build-out, using his build invoices, and added coverage for the permanently attached equipment.
We added a general liability policy written for mobile food vendors, with products coverage for foodborne illness, a blanket additional insured endorsement so he can add a festival, brewery, or office park landlord without a new endorsement each time, and host liquor coverage for the events that ask about it.
We added an inland marine and spoilage package, part of how commercial property coverage works for a business with no building: the generator, portable equipment, and food inventory, including spoilage after a mechanical or power failure.
We also confirmed the commissary kitchen he uses required him to be insured and named it as an additional insured.
Why it mattered
That summer, the truck's refrigeration failed on the first day of a three-day festival. Spoilage coverage paid for the lost inventory, and business income covered part of the lost sales under the equipment breakdown endorsement. Hector was back open by day two with a rental reefer unit.
If you run a food truck
- Insure the truck at its built-out value, not the base vehicle's
- Buy general liability with products coverage for foodborne illness
- Get a blanket additional insured endorsement for events and venues
- Cover spoilage and equipment breakdown separately from the vehicle
More on restaurants and food businesses. Get a free policy review before festival season.