Coordinate the policies
- Add the truck's operations to the restaurant's general liability
- Commercial auto for the truck
- Business property for the restaurant building or contents
- Workers comp that includes staff working on the truck
- Liquor liability if alcohol is served at either location
Watch the gaps
A restaurant package policy may limit coverage away from the premises. Tell the insurer about off-site operations so the truck is not excluded.
Two locations, two sets of exposures
A fixed restaurant is insured mainly around a building: the space, the kitchen equipment, customers who walk in and the income lost if a fire closes it. A truck adds road risk, equipment that moves every day and liability at events and parking spots that change weekly. Insurers often write these on different policies, so the job is making sure the policies fit together rather than overlap or leave holes.
Questions to ask your agent
- Does the restaurant's general liability list the truck's operations and off-site catering?
- Is the truck on a commercial auto policy with the right value for the kitchen build-out?
- Does business income cover the restaurant if the truck's kitchen also serves as prep space, or the other way round?
- Are employees who work on both covered under the same workers comp policy?
- Do event certificates come from the right policy?
Shared kitchens and commissaries
Many trucks prep food at a licensed commissary. If yours is your own restaurant, its property policy should cover food and equipment stored there. If you rent space in a shared commissary, the landlord's insurance generally will not cover your property, and the lease may require you to carry liability and name the commissary as additional insured.
Alcohol at either location
General liability policies commonly exclude liability for serving alcohol when the business sells it. If the restaurant has a liquor license and the truck pours at events, ask whether liquor liability covers both, because event permits may be separate.
Frequently asked questions
Can one agent handle both?
Often yes, and it can make coordination easier.
Should the truck and the restaurant be on one policy?
Not necessarily. What matters is that each exposure is covered and limits match contracts. An agent can show both package and separate-policy options.