Sandwich Shop Insurance

Opening a sandwich shop or deli requires lots of startup capital and hard work. Without proper insurance, sandwich shop owners could lose everything they put into their businesses in a fire, burglary, or other incident. Sandwich shop insurance policies help protect the resources owners pour into sandwich shops from many potential risks. Sandwich shop insurance (also known as deli insurance) is a specialized form of commercial insurance that’s uniquely crafted to meet sandwich shops’ insurance needs. Most policies are written as package commercial insurance policies, combining several coverages into a single, convenient policy.

Any foodservice business that mainly serves sandwiches ought to consider getting a sandwich shop policy. This includes sandwich shops, delis, and any other eateries that serve up sandwiches. Regardless of whether they’re called sandwiches, pita pockets, hoagies, subs, po-boys, or grinders, primarily serving sandwiches exposes a business to a common set of risks -- and sandwich shop policies are specifically designed to protect a business from many of those risks. Food trucks and caterers who serve sandwiches might have many similar insurance needs. There are other food truck insurance policies and catering insurance policies available that are more suited for these businesses, though.

The individual coverages included in sandwich shop policies can often be adjusted for a particular shop’s situations, so the exact coverages that policies offer can vary. Nonetheless, there are a number of common coverages that many sandwich shop policies offer as either standard or optional protections: General liability coverage, which businesses in many industries use to protect themselves from common risks; building coverage, which may be necessary if a sandwich shop owns the building it’s in contents coverage, which might protect small wares, ovens, storage equipment, cash registers, seats, tables, decorations and other items; equipment breakdown coverage, which might help pay to have broken-down equipment repaired; product liability coverage, which may offer protection if mishandled food spreads a food-borne illness; and food contamination coverage, which might cover perishable food that spoils during a covered incident.

Sandwich shops that provide delivery services may be required to carry commercial auto insurance coverage. Shops that have company vehicles for making deliveries often need owned vehicle commercial auto coverage, and those that ask employees to use their own vehicles for deliveries frequently need non-owned vehicle commercial auto coverage. Some deli insurance policies offer these coverages, but not all do. Shops that need one of these coverages should work with an insurance agent to either find a deli policy that has auto coverage or purchase a stand-alone commercial auto policy.

Deli insurance policies usually aren’t designed to provide workers compensation, health, or disability coverage. Sandwich shops that want or need these insurance coverages usually get them through stand-alone policies.

The incidents that a sandwich shop policy covers are determined by its terms, conditions, and exclusions. With the right coverages in place, a policy might cover incidents like if an oven malfunctions and causes a fire, a power outage causes food to spoil, and a burglar breaks into a sandwich shop.