Your kitchen moves. So does your cover.
Public & products liability for food served away from your own kitchen, cover for equipment on the move, and a broker who’ll place event and mobile catering risk properly rather than force it into a generic template.
Catering insurance
Usually includes
Public & products liability
Employers’ liability
Equipment & mobile units
Goods in transit
Premises & stock
Business interruption
One
conversation.
You explain the business once, and we take it from there.
Bespoke service
for your business
No two businesses are the same, so we start with yours rather than with a template.
Everything
quoted together.
The premises, your liability, your stock and the trade you would lose, priced in one go rather than piece by piece.
Know your cover
What is catering insurance?
Catering carries a different risk profile to a fixed restaurant. Food is often prepared or finished away from your own kitchen, equipment travels with you, and the venue isn’t always one you control. Cover is built around that, rather than assumed to be identical to a restaurant’s.
Protects your clients and their guests
A guest made ill by food served, or injured at an event. Public & products liability is what event organisers and venues will ask to see.
Protects your staff
Employers’ liability is required by law the moment you take on staff, wherever the job takes them.
Protects your equipment
Cooking equipment, vans and mobile units. Covered on the move, not just in a fixed kitchen.
Who it’s for
Whatever kind of catering you do.
✓
Event caterers
Weddings, corporate events and one-off occasions.
✓
Function caterers
Regular function and venue-based catering work.
✓
Mobile caterers
Operating from a vehicle or trailer, on the road between jobs.
✓
Fixed-base caterers
Working from a kitchen or premises rather than a vehicle.
✓
Licensed caterers
Where alcohol is served as part of the catering offering.
✓
Amusement & leisure catering
Catering attached to events, amusements or leisure venues.
What we cover
Cover built around how you cater.
We get to know how you work first, then build the policy around it.
Public & products liability
A guest made ill by food served, or injured at an event. That’s what this cover is for.
Employers’ liability
Required by law the moment you take on staff.
Equipment & mobile units
Cooking equipment, catering vans and trailers, covered on the move and not just at base.
Goods in transit
Food, drink and equipment on the move between events.
Premises & stock
If you also operate from a fixed kitchen or storage unit.
Business interruption
Keeps money coming in if a loss stops you trading.
Money & personal accident
Cash taken at events, and cover for you and your staff.
Legal expenses
Contract disputes, food-hygiene matters and the cost of defending a claim.
Cyber & data
Card data, the booking and till systems, and the takings lost when they go down in peak trade.
Who this cover tends to suit.
This cover is generally bought by catering businesses. It brings together public & products liability, employers’ liability (where staff are used) and cover for equipment away from a fixed base. It won’t suit every business. If your risk profile is different, tell us and we’ll pick it up when we speak.
Worth knowing
What to expect when you get in touch.
Vehicle or venue-based?
Mobile and fixed catering are placed differently.
Licensed or unlicensed
Serving alcohol changes the cover you need.
Events vs. Everyday work
One-off and regular catering carry different risk.
Fixed kitchen too?
Running a prep kitchen changes premises cover.
Every event has its own risks.
A wedding for 150 and a weekly office lunch run don’t carry the same risk, so we ask different questions for each.
Event catering
Function catering
Wedding catering
Corporate catering
Mobile catering
Vehicle-based catering
Trailer catering
Fixed-kitchen catering
Event catering
Function catering
Wedding catering
Corporate catering
Mobile catering
Vehicle-based catering
Trailer catering
Fixed-kitchen catering
Licensed catering
Unlicensed catering
Amusement catering
Private chef services
Buffet catering
Outside catering
Festival catering
Hospitality catering
Licensed catering
Unlicensed catering
Amusement catering
Private chef services
Buffet catering
Outside catering
Festival catering
Hospitality catering
Why Vara
Bespoke service for you & your business,
without the big-firm minimum.
01
Equipment on the move changes the premium
Mobile risk, event risk, equipment on the move. We know what moves a caterer’s premium and what doesn’t.
02
Cover that reflects how you work
Event catering and everyday function catering carry different risk. We build the policy around your actual pattern of work.
03
Staff cover that holds up
Casual and event staff trip up a lot of policies. We set employers’ liability up properly, whatever your staffing pattern.
04
We present the risk right
Mobile or fixed, licensed or not, event size. How it’s presented to insurers changes what you pay. We know how to frame it.
You talk to a person. The machines do the typing.
Free review of your catering cover and costs.
Told catering’s too varied to place easily? Not for us. Leave your details and we’ll call you straight back. One conversation covers the lot.
What the review covers
We go through the policy you have now, so you can see what it does and doesn’t cover against equipment on the move, food served away from your own kitchen and whether you also run a fixed base.
We point out the terms that catch caterers out most often, mobile and fixed-base cover being treated differently among them, so you can check yours.
We approach insurers on our panel who write catering, and come back with what they’ll offer.
We explain each option in plain English, including what it doesn’t cover.
If it’s not a risk we can place, we’ll tell you straight away rather than leave you waiting.
No obligation to switch. You decide what fits.
Rather not wait? Call us on 0333 091 3663
Good to know
Catering questions, answered straight.
What insurance does a catering business need?
I cater from a van. Is that different to a fixed kitchen?
How does catering for weddings differ from everyday events?
Am I covered if I also run a fixed kitchen or prep space?
Is this a specialist product, or a fit into something else?
Vara Commercial Insurance · 0333 091 3663
Vara is a trading name of Koral AI Operating Company Limited. Vara is an appointed representative of Innovative Risk Labs Ltd, under Firm Reference Number 1060955. Innovative Risk Labs Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, under FRN 609155. We are registered in England and Wales under Registered Company Number 17256222. Registered office: 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF.