Wedding Catering Insurance – cover for all eventualities
Summer’s almost here and that means it is high season for weddings. Catering for weddings can be financially and emotionally rewarding – you become part of someone’s special day, making happy memories that will last forever. But what happens if something goes wrong? Unfortunate events will not only spoil the Big Day itself, they could cost you your business if you’re not covered by the right insurance. Read our guide to wedding catering insurance essentials, so you can concentrate on what you and your customers really care about – creating great food to keep even the most demanding brides and wedding guests happy.
Protect your business
Equipment failure, flood, theft, food poisoning. Unfortunately, despite the very best preparations and planning, you never quite know when a mini-disaster is going to happen. Protect yourself from claims from your customers and their guests with public liability insurance.
The Consumer Rights Act sets out clearly what consumers can expect. With so much attention and money spent on weddings, it’s no surprise that if promises don’t live up to expectations your customer will take legal action against you. That means when you’re buying your wedding catering insurance you need to consider common complaints and every potential eventuality to make sure you’re covered.
Some common wedding catering disaster scenarios:
Food poisoning
You could face a claim for both physical pain and emotional suffering if the food you supply contains harmful bacteria, which causes food poisoning. There could also be other costs to consider. For example, if the bride and groom are unable to go on honeymoon because of food poisoning you could be liable to cover that too. Your insurance broker can advise you exactly what will be covered by your public liability insurance whilst the Nationwide Caterers Association offers lots of help and tips on food health and safety standards.
Food allergies
If you’ve been advised that a guest has an allergy but supply contaminated food you could face a hefty claim depending on the severity of the reaction.
Can’t get food to the venue
If you need to get your food from your base to the venue you need to make sure your business is covered if a situation arises where your business vehicle (and the food!) can’t get there because of an accident or breakdown.
Quality of food
Your customers deserve the very best on the day. If the quality of the food is spoiled because of equipment failure or negligence, or just isn’t what they are expecting, they have a right to ask for their money back. Insurance can help cover your legal and compensation fees.
Not enough food
If you’re supplying food to a venue away from your business base things can easily go wrong, such as damage or loss in transit, resulting in not enough food being supplied on the day. Again, your customer has a right to request compensation, so make sure your insurance covers this.
Don’t forget your employees
It’s not just angry brides that you’ll need to protect yourself from. Guard against claims against you from your employees with Employer’s liability insurance. This is a legal requirement if you employ any members of staff, even if they are part-time or subcontracted. Without you could face hefty fines, and in the case of a claim being made against you, big bills for legal fees and pay outs.
Injuries such as slips and trips and burns are all common in the catering business, and this insurance can also cover legal fees in the case of claims of unfair dismissal.
Personal injury insurance
Could your wedding catering business continue without you? If you have an accident and can’t work, personal injury insurance will cover you for lost income.
Getting the best price
As with all insurance, you can save money if you shop around for the best deals from specialist catering insurance providers or you can get an experienced broker to do the running around for you.
At Park Insurance we offer a one-stop shop for all your wedding catering insurance needs. Because we specialise in catering insurance we really understand your business. This puts us in an excellent position, as we know what to ask you to make sure you get the exact level of cover you need. With over 20 years experience we’re also well connected with specialist catering insurance providers, so we can negotiate a great price with no compromise on your cover for your peace of mind. And if anything unfortunate does happen, you’ll know you have a dedicated account manager to speak to, so any claim can be dealt with swiftly with the minimal hassle.
Help keep the bride calm by showing her you’ve got great insurance – it’s one less thing for her to worry about and a whole lot less for you to worry about.