Insurance for business

Product liability, Workman's Comp and personal property insurance are a must. Do you deal with a present agency now? If not, consult the Yellow Pages for someone who handles commercial policies. Get a quote and then get another quote from another agency. Compare cost and coverage limits.

I am also just starting. We are ordering a trailer and will need insurance I guess just like car insurance. Also will need liability insurance. How much is too much on liability? I don't want to be a target. Does anyone have a favorite company? Do I need workman's comp if my only employee is my husband? I don't want to do him bad.

2 Greyhounds
aint cut myself in years (too bad anyway) just get the liabilty and trailer insurance.
things will be fine
jack

one other thing grey,
you are hiring a contract worker therefore i have to buy my own benefits lol

I put in an application today. Will find out if I'm thinking right. I went with a $500 deductible and $300,000 liability, which is the company's minimum. So will get quote and shop some more.

Who did you go through?

Please update yhis pose with your final finds as this will be very useful

Very interested in this topic too.

I'm looking into TAPCO through my Allstate agent now, but would love to get recommendations on types and amounts of coverage to get for a BBQ concession/catering business, and also a breakdown of insurance costs you are currently paying and the names of other good insurance companies that cater to us.

funny this post should reappear.
peggy is getting our liability through tapco which also has our homeowners policy. it is my understanding that they are the danish arm of llyods of london.
she is getting 500k coverage. originally she was going for 300k but the 500k is to satisfy the farmers market where she has us signed up to start may 14th.
as soon as i know what that cost is (hey i'm just the cook. she is front of house )i can forward that to you
jack
ps. good to see things are coming along for you roots man

Hi, I am waiting to hear back from a company I requested event only (they dont do it based on individual events), rather they do it based on what my sales are projected (i.e., how many times I am going to be out, and with increase amounts of times out=increased risk). My trailer and supplies I have covered through my auto carrier...based on my car/truck account...and got pretty reasonable rates.

If you have an Auto Owners, give them a try.

What an eye opener. Most companies won't insure "mobile restaurants". I've got 1 quote so far and am waiting for call backs from 4 other independant agents. I find it strange that they are not very interested in my business, it's like pulling teeth to get them to call you back and get a quote.

Anyway, for the new vehicle and trailer, valued at $70K with a $300K coverage and $1,000 deductible the quote was $2,411 (only covers things permanently attached). For $1MM liability coverage witha $2MM over ride the quote was for $2,041. Workers Copm for 1 employee making $20K, the quote was $1,400.

What have others found?

Are you sure you need workmans comp on an employee at $20,000 salary? What's the cut-off? Your liabilty might already have them covered.

See my previous post.

rootsman,
it is almost as much fun as getting hurricane insurance isn't it???
florida is one tough state for getting any type of insurance.
hang in there
and if you can give hogfarmers idea a try
sorry i can't be of much further help but i do know what you are going thru
jack
ps. run this idea by your lawyer. make your 20k employee a private contractor. it should relieve you of comp responsibilities and gives him a tax break on mileage to and from work,tools ect. just a thought

Thanks for the suggestions. Workers comp is not required with less than 4 employees, but I'm just exploring all my options right now.

I tried to go cheap. $300,000 liability with the $500 deductible. The people we want to business with require $500,000 liability. Also, it has to name them.
I'm using the Allstate agent I have my vehicles insured through. I'll let you know when I get my latest quote.
And Jack had better not hurt himself, because we have no workers comp! It's just him and me!
Peggy

The last time I talked with my agent, Tapco would be the company that would supply my liability insurance. Allstate has bailed out of homeowners in Florida as much as they can, as I have heard, after Hurricane Andrew hit Miami several years ago. I know our homeowners policy was cancelled then. We still have auto policies with them, but our homeowners is with tapco. Tapco is also owned by Lloyds of London, I understand, and must be willing to take on high risk. Everybody wants to make a living.
Peggy

If you live in FL I'd also love the contact info for your agent. It would be nice to speck with someone that wants the business and has a clue.

OK, this is what I've done. I started out with $300,000 commercial insurance coverage for the truck and trailer, thinking I'd go with $300,000 business liability. When I found a place I wanted to vend, they required $500,000 liability with them listed. I went through Allstate who had covered our vehicles. I got the $500,000 liability for right at $1,000 per year. I am required to carry the same amount of commercial which raised our yearly premium by $130.
Both have a $500 deductible.
I'm sure I could find a better deal somewhere else, but wasn't getting anywhere except frustrated. So now, at least we are set up to start making money to pay for the insurance! I asked the agent what I need to do per event, if I change places and they need to be put on the policy. She said just call and they would change that information per event.
Hope this is helpful.
Peggy

Thanks Peggy! The info was helpful and greatly appreciated. Insurance and permit requirements really diminish some of the benefits and flexibility of being a mobile restaurant. Personally, I wanted to be in a different spot each day of the week, but be consistent from week to week and thought my biggest hurdle would have been the lease cost or convincing each loaction to lease me the spot for one day per week.

You live and learn and keep trying to make the best of it.

Peggy are you classified as a caterer or food concession?

Rootsman, we can do either. If we cater, we have to be careful what part of town we will be in, as the historic parts don't allow trailers. We're ok to sell beside the road, also, but we have to get an approval from the county then for the location. It has to have restrooms available for our use. I really don't want to go that route. I'm still learning as I go. We're classified as a mobile food vendor on the state license. The city requires special landscaping if we set up along the road, as well as the restroom availability. I suppose you could find a store that isn't doing too well, like our kmarts, that would agree to you referring people to use their restrooms, in the hopes of raising their business.
Peggy