Business · By industry · Food trucks
For food trucks and trailers in Washington: a kitchen that is also a vehicle, parked somewhere new each week. The insurance questions follow the setup: the truck on the road, the propane and fryer inside it, and the events that ask for a certificate before you can sell. Below are the areas to examine with an insurance reviewer. One policy does not cover all of them.
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What to review
Festivals, markets, breweries and property owners usually ask for a certificate of insurance before a truck can sell, often with the organizer as an additional insured. General liability responds if a customer slips at the service window or a foodborne illness claim is made. Ask whether the policy includes products and completed operations, whether additional insured status is available by endorsement, and whether the limits match what events require.
A food truck is a commercial vehicle first. It needs commercial auto; a personal policy is unlikely to fit a vehicle built for business. A trailer raises its own questions: the tow vehicle's policy, the trailer's physical damage and who is liable when it is detached at an event. If employees drive their own cars for supplies, hired and non-owned auto is the question.
The build-out is where the value is: the hood, fryers, griddle, refrigeration, generator, wrap and plumbing. A commercial auto policy may cover the chassis and leave the equipment out, or cover it only to a limit. Ask how attached equipment is valued, how equipment you carry separately, such as tents and point-of-sale gear, is treated, and how a loss is handled while the truck is rebuilt.
Open flame, hot oil and propane in a small steel box are the obvious exposure. Ask how the policy treats a fire that starts in the cooking equipment, a propane leak and damage to the venue or neighboring trucks. Spoilage after a generator or refrigeration failure is usually not covered unless spoilage or equipment breakdown coverage is added. Ask about business income coverage for time off the road.
L&I requires a permit and inspection for food trucks and trailers, covering the vehicle and its built-in equipment; plans are required when the unit has propane piping, commercial cooking equipment or a larger electrical service, and an approved unit carries an L&I insignia. County health departments issue the food-safety permit, and local building departments decide where trucks can operate. L&I's classification plan places food, drink and candy vendors selling from food trucks, booths, push carts and mobile stands in classification 3905-01, restaurants in 3905-00 and catering in 3909-00; confirm your own assignment with L&I, because the assignment follows the work performed, not the business name.
Washington is a state-fund state: most employers insure workers' compensation through L&I rather than a private carrier. L&I assigns each employer one or more risk classifications by the nature of the work, each with its own base rate, and adjusts the employer's rate by its experience factor. Employer's liability, sometimes called stop-gap, is not part of the state fund and is bought separately. If the truck also caters, ask L&I how that work is reported.
If your health permit ties you to a commissary kitchen, its agreement may require coverage and make you responsible for damage. If you serve alcohol at any event, liquor liability is a separate coverage that general liability commonly excludes, and the venue will usually ask for it. Larger events and corporate clients sometimes ask for higher limits, which is where a commercial umbrella comes in.
During a festival service, hot oil ignites under the hood. The fire is put out, but the truck's interior, the cooking line and the organizer's canopy beside it are damaged. Several policies may be involved: auto or equipment coverage for the truck and build-out, general liability for the canopy, and business income, if purchased, for the weeks off the road. Whether each responds depends on how the fire started and each policy's cooking-equipment terms. A real claim depends on the facts and the policy.
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