There’s always a market for food and drink, so starting a catering business can be a great way to break into the food and hospitality industry. But when you’re serving food and drink to the general public, there’s always a need to protect yourself against claims for illness, injury or possible allergic reactions, etc.
What is catering insurance and who needs it?
Catering insurance is a specialised insurance package designed to protect your catering business when preparing, serving and supplying food and drink. The policies will usually offer coverage whether you’re operating from fixed premises, a food van, a mobile pop-up restaurant or at external events.
Typically, catering insurance will cover you against food poisoning claims, food allergy claims, injuries and burns to your employees and the general public, property damage at venues, equipment theft and business interruption due to injury or illness.
The upfront costs of an annual catering insurance can be a drain on your cash flow. Taking out flexible, short-term finance, like an iwoca Business Loan, allows you to borrow what you need to cover your insurance costs.
With iwoca, there are no early repayment fees and you only pay interest on the funds you draw down from the loan.
Is catering insurance mandatory in the UK?
Not all policies contained in a catering insurance package are mandatory. However, employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement for all employers. If you employ anyone (including casual staff), you must have employers’ liability cover.
Public liability cover (protection against claims from the general public) isn’t a legal requirement but is often required by markets, councils, venues and event organisers.
Key types of insurance for catering businesses
A catering insurance package will include a mix of different policies that cover you, your staff and your business against a variety of potential risks and claims.
Let’s take a look at the main types of insurance that will make up your catering insurance – and how each type offers you protection:
- Public liability insurance protects the business against claims for accidental injury or property damage to members of the public or clients. This is crucial for accidents like slips on spilled food, or damage to a venue's property while you’re providing catering services.
- Product liability insurance is vital for food businesses. It covers legal costs and compensation if a customer suffers illness or injury (e.g., food poisoning or allergic reactions) as a result of the food or drink products you’ve served.
- Employers' liability insurance is a mandatory legal requirement if you have employees. This insurance covers the cost of claims if an employee becomes ill or is injured as a result of working for the business. This includes all employees, including temporary or casual staff.
- Business contents insurance and equipment insurance both protect your valuable assets, such as ovens, fridges, utensils, mixers and furniture against theft, fire, flood, or accidental damage. Policies will usually also cover your IT assets and other non-catering office equipment.
- Stock insurance covers you against the loss or damage of perishable and non-perishable food ingredients and prepared stock. This will typically also include spoilage due to power cuts or refrigeration failures.
- Business interruption insurance provides you with cover for lost income and operating costs if an insured event temporarily prevents you from trading. This could include events like a major fire or flooding of your commercial kitchen.
- Professional indemnity insurance covers you against claims relating to professional errors or negligence in advice or service. This could include providing incorrect allergen information on a menu, or making a costly mistake in event planning that leads to financial loss for the client.
- Goods in transit cover and cash in transit insurance protect your valuable stock and your cash and takings while you’re in transit to or from a catering site.
- Event cancellation insurance provides compensation if a booked event is cancelled due to reasons outside your control, causing a loss of income.
What does public liability insurance for catering cover?
As a catering business, public liability insurance protects you against claims of accidental injury or property damage to third parties at external sites, like events or client premises. It covers legal defence costs and compensation up to the policy limit – a crucial area of protection for safeguarding the business's finances.
This policy is essential for covering accidental damage (e.g., staining a venue's carpet) or slips on spilled food. However, it requires the business to pay an excess and has exclusions where you won’t be covered for certain claims.
Specialised cover for caterers: catering vans, trailers and mobile units
As well as the usual standard policies included in a catering insurance package, it’s worth considering other specialist insurance that may apply to your business.
For example, if you run a mobile catering business, where transport is an essential part of the service, you may need extra coverage when out and about.
Here are a few optional policies to consider.
- Catering van insurance is specialist motor coverage that’s required for modified vehicles that contain built-in catering equipment. This could include cooking equipment like liquid petroleum gas (LPG) installations, fryers and serving hatches. This cover is distinct from standard commercial vehicle insurance due to the increased risk of fire or damage during business use.
- Catering trailer insurance covers your trailer against risks like theft, accidental damage and weather events. Crucially, the towing vehicle requires its own separate motor insurance policy, as the trailer unit won’t be covered by the car's standard policy.
- Mobile catering insurance is a specialist bundle of insurance cover that combines key protections like public liability, employers' liability, equipment cover, goods in transit and protection for your van and/or trailer. It’s essential if you move between multiple markets and event sites.
Making sure you meet the conditions of your catering insurance policy
To ensure you’re always fully covered and protected by your insurance, it’s important to check the endorsements on the policy. This helps you understand what’s expected of the business when on site and providing your service and products.
As a caterer, these conditions can mean having up-to-date LPG certificates, fire safety and overnight security. It may also require you to have hitch-locks/wheel clamps on your vehicles, and you may only be covered when you operate in specific, declared trading locations.
Can I insure a van under a personal policy if I cater part-time?
No: personal motor policies will typically exclude business use for catering. If you use your van for catering, even on a part-time basis, you’ll need a specialist commercial/catering vehicle policy.
Why is this the case?
- When you use your vehicle for catering services, in the insurer’s eyes, you’re using the van for business purposes to earn income.
- This significantly increases the risk profile for your insurer, due to factors like higher mileage, carrying valuable goods/equipment, being on the road during peak business hours and the use of cooking equipment, etc.
- If you had an accident while driving for your catering business and your policy was only marked for personal use, your insurer would typically reject your claim due to this breach in the policy's terms of use.
How much does catering insurance cost in the UK?
The price you’ll pay for a catering insurance package will vary greatly, depending on a number of business factors and the specifics of your own catering set-up, number of employees and risk profile, etc.
Average prices will rarely tell you the whole story around your insurance costs, but can be a good way to get a very approximate ballpark figure.
The chart below is based on average figures for a range of different business types, as researched by the insurance provider, Nimblefins.
| Type of business |
Average price range |
| Sole trader |
£48–£64 /year* |
| Partnership |
£60–£74 /year* |
| Limited company (1 director) |
£48–£64 /year* |
| Limited company (2 directors) |
£212–£269 /year* |
What drives the cost of a catering insurance premium?
Catering insurance packages are generally tailored to the precise needs of the insured, with costs defined by a variety of different factors that can push up the price.
Factors to consider can include:
- The cuisine and type of cooking: Cooking in a wok over a very hot flame, or deep-frying food, is inherently more risky than preparing a sandwich. Insurers will take into account the risk in your cooking and preparation operations.
- Business turnover: Your turnover will significantly impact the premium because it’s directly correlated with your exposure to risk. A higher annual turnover will generally result in a higher premium, as your insurer faces a larger potential financial loss from a major claim.
- Headcount and number of employees: The number of people in your team will directly influence the cost of employers' liability insurance. As this cover is a mandatory legal requirement, having a large number of employees increases the risk of workplace injury claims – resulting in a higher overall premium.
- Claims history: Your claims history is a critical factor, as insurers view past claims as an indicator of future risk. Having a history of frequent or high-value claims (e.g., several food poisoning incidents) will usually lead to increased renewal premiums or an uninsurable risk.
- Event size and footfall: The size of the events you’re catering will affect the required public liability limit and, therefore, the price. Catering at larger events with higher foot traffic elevates the risk of accidental injury claims. In turn, this means you’ll need higher coverage, driving up the premium cost.
- Van vs. trailer: Whether you trade from a self-contained van or a mobile trailer will impact the cost of your insurance, based on the different motor risks. A catering van requires a specialist motor policy due to its complex mechanics and use, which is typically more expensive than separately insuring a static, un-motorised catering trailer.
What’s the typical structure of a catering insurance package?
Typically, a catering insurance package will include base products such as public liability and employers’ liability coverage. This base can then be added to with policies such as business interruption coverage, stock insurance and van and/or trailer insurance if you’re running a mobile catering business
How can you save money on your catering insurance?
There are ways to reduce your risk profile in the eyes of the insurer and, as a consequence, reduce the overall cost of your catering insurance.
Cost-saving techniques can include:
- Higher excess: Choosing a larger voluntary excess on your policy shows the insurer you will absorb more minor claims, thereby reducing the base premium.
- Approved security: Installing and maintaining insurer-approved security measures helps to reduce your risk of theft. This could mean installing CCTV, monitored alarms and having robust locks to reduce your premium.
- Fire suppression: Equipping your premises or vehicle with certified, professional fire suppression systems substantially lowers fire risk in the kitchen. Usually, this will result in a cost reduction to reflect the lower risk.
- Staff training: Giving comprehensive, documented staff training to your employees demonstrates that you’re serious about health & safety. This might include training in food hygiene, food handling and safety procedures.
- Bundling various policies: Buy the essential policies you’ll need (like public liability, employers’ liability and contents insurance) and add other specific coverage as needed. This can work out significantly cheaper than buying the same policies separately.
- Paying annually: Paying the full premium upfront avoids the interest or administrative fees charged by the insurer for spreading the cost over monthly instalments.
To cover the upfront costs of investing in safety features, staff training or paying annual premiums, you need access to additional working capital.
An iwoca Business Loan gives you the opportunity to borrow between £1,000 and £1 million, with the money in your account in a matter of hours. Having this fast and flexible injection of capital makes it easier to reduce your insurance overheads, while keeping your catering business safe and fully protected.
How to choose the right insurance package for your catering business
Choosing the right catering insurance package is a major decision. It requires some proper research to understand which deals are available in the current market, and the specifics of the insurance policies your business will need.
Before you sign up with a particular insurance provider, make sure you consider all of the following factors about their catering insurance bundle:
- Make sure the package contains all the key policies you need, alongside the base public indemnity and employers’ liability coverage.
- Match the limits of the policy to the venue requirements and contract terms. You’ll often need up to £5m public liability coverage for larger events.
- Confirm the terms and exclusions in the policies for allergen, hot-works, LPG and deep-fat fryer warranties.
- Check the territorial limits such as transit cover and overnight storage conditions. Do these only cover the UK, or also the EU and beyond?
- Compare specialist insurance brokers vs direct insurers and which can offer you the best support and the most comprehensive deals.
- Assess the speed of claims support and the documentation that will be needed when making a claim – e.g., Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), temperature logs or portable electrical appliances (PAT) testing.
- Review the exclusions in the policy. Are things like cross-contamination and undeclared allergens included? And will your staff need training and recordkeeping to adhere with the policy requirement?
iwoca: flexible funding to reduce your catering insurance costs
Making the most of the potential insurance discounts and cost-saving opportunities is far easier when you have additional working capital to play with.
An iwoca Business Loan gives you fast, flexible access to additional funding, with no early repayment fees and interest charged only on the money you use.
Get that capital injection and start bringing down your risk and insurance costs.
Apply for an iwoca Business Loan
*prices and policy details are correct as of November 2025
