Compare takeaway insurance quotes

A policy for a hot food shop brings together cover for the premises and kitchen equipment, your stock, and claims from customers who are hurt or fall ill. Fast food outlets, pizza and kebab shops, and Chinese or Indian takeaways can all compare it here.

Quotezone sends one form about your shop to UK providers, and they contact you with prices to weigh up.

What does takeaway insurance usually cover?

Most policies are built from sections you choose, so a rented counter-only shop and a freehold shop with a flat above can buy very different mixes. The usual sections are:

• Buildings or contents: fire, flood and break-in damage to the shop, fryers, ovens, counters and signs. Tenants often insure contents only. Our commercial property insurance page covers the property side in more depth.
• Stock: food, drinks and packaging, sometimes with cover for stock spoiled when a fridge or freezer fails.
• Public liability: a customer slips on a wet floor or is scalded by a hot drink at the counter (business.gov.uk).
• Product liability: a customer says your food made them ill. business.gov.uk lists this as a separate cover for anything you sell or supply (business.gov.uk).
• Employers’ liability: compulsory for most businesses with staff, at a minimum of £5 million (GOV.UK).
• Business interruption: replaces lost takings if a covered event, such as a fire, shuts the shop (business.gov.uk).

Do I have to register my takeaway before I open?

Yes, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and registration must be made no later than 28 days before trading begins (GOV.UK). GOV.UK treats anyone who cooks, prepares, stores or sells food as a likely food business.

In Scotland, GOV.UK points food businesses to Food Standards Scotland and the local council instead (GOV.UK).

Your food hygiene rating also matters. In Wales and Northern Ireland the law makes you display it at or near each customer entrance (Food Standards Agency), and a poor rating may prompt questions from insurers.

Fryers, fire and late-night opening

Deep fat fryers and the extraction ducts above them are what insurers ask about most. They often set conditions, such as professional duct cleaning at set intervals with written records, and an automatic suppression system over the range.

Whoever controls the premises is also responsible for a fire risk assessment, revisited whenever the kitchen or layout changes (GOV.UK). Those rules apply in England and Wales, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own.

Hot food or drink sold from 11pm to 5am counts as late night refreshment under the licensing rules for England and Wales (GOV.UK). Late trading can change your premium, so give the insurer your real hours.

Delivery drivers and your shop policy

Your shop policy will not cover the cars, vans or scooters that take orders out. Each one needs motor cover, with third party as the legal minimum on UK roads (GOV.UK), and delivery work normally needs a policy that includes hire and reward.

If drivers use their own vehicles, ask to see their certificates. Our courier insurance page explains the options for food delivery drivers and riders.

Allergens and food complaints

Food businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland must tell customers when food contains any of the 14 listed allergens (GOV.UK). That applies to phone and app orders as well as the counter.

If a customer claims an allergic reaction or food poisoning, the claim would normally fall under your public or product liability. Insurers will want to see allergen records, cooking temperatures and cleaning logs.

Fast food, kebab, pizza and Chinese takeaways

Insurers price each kind of shop on what you cook and how. A pizza shop with a stone oven and drivers is not the same risk as a kebab shop with two fryers and late opening. Describe your menu and kit accurately.

Fish and chip shops have their own page, fish and chip shop insurance, because frying is the whole business there.

Signs, glass and shutters

A broken shopfront can close you for days. Many policies cover accidental breakage of glass and illuminated signs, and some add emergency boarding up, but limits for signs can be low.

Insurers may also ask about roller shutters, alarms and cash handling at night. A safe and a policy of emptying the till before closing can make a difference to the terms you are offered.

Price factors for a takeaway

Quotes for takeaway insurance vary because each insurer weighs your shop on its own terms. The main factors are:

• what you cook and whether you use deep fat fryers
• your opening hours and whether you deliver
• the rebuild cost or contents value you insure
• your turnover and the number of staff
• security, fire precautions and past claims

Example: a late-opening pizza shop

For illustration, picture a pizza shop that rents its unit, opens until midnight and has two delivery drivers. It would usually insure its contents and stock, take public, product and employers’ liability, and check its drivers carry the right motor cover.

A sandwich bar that shuts at 3pm with no fryer and no deliveries has a simpler risk, so its quotes may look quite different.

Comparing quotes for your shop

Fill in a short form with your shop details, opening hours and the covers you want. Providers on the Quotezone panel then send takeaway insurance quotes, so you can weigh up cover limits and excesses as well as the price.

Get your takeaway quotes now.

You might also need

If you also run a sit-down dining room, restaurant insurance may suit you better. A kitchen on wheels needs catering van insurance rather than shop cover.