Vending Machine Business Insurance

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What is vending machine business insurance?

The vending sector has quite a spectrum of risks and exposures so it’s essential that you have insurance cover that meets the requirements of your business, insurance policies that cover exactly what your business needs.

There isn’t a straightforward “off-the-shelf” insurance policy that covers everything, you could result in either too much or too little insurance cover. Insurance policies for a vending machine business can comprise of many parts, it needs to cover the assets, or property of your business, in other words, its liabilities such as public liability insurance, and if you work from business premises, for example, it needs to cover your vending machine stock as well as consumable stock should your business provide restocking of the machines themselves.

What does insurance for a vending machine business cover?

If your business installs vending machines for instance, then one of the most important covers is public liability insurance, this covers you and your business if allegations are made against you for any loss, damage, or injury that you might cause to the public.

Typical examples of public liability claims, whilst commissioning a plumbed-in machine, it leaks, manoeuvring a vending machine where the flooring gets damaged, or simply leaving packaging on the floor for someone to trip over.

Like almost all liability insurance you have to have been negligent, your insurance company will pay for any legal costs to defend and if it is proven that you have been negligent then they will pay compensation that has been awarded against you or the business. The amount your insurer will pay is based on limits that have been purchased with the policy, this is called an indemnity limit.

A limit of indemnity is the maximum amount of cover an insurer will pay so it’s essential that you get this right, a typical indemnity limit for public liability is £2million and £5 million, although higher and lower are available. Just selecting the indemnity limit on price or premium cost itself could end badly. Speak to us about your liability insurance requirements, we can discuss your exposures and help you decide on the limit you require.

How to insure business premises correctly.

Like many businesses providing vending machine services, you will probably have premises that you work from, if so you must make sure cover is in place to protect your premises as well as your contents against the elements, amongst other exposures nature and society can throw at it.

If you do have premises, usually, you would purchase an insurance policy that brings many of the covers together, these are usually referred to as a Commercial Combined Insurance Policy.

What insurance does a vending machine business need?

We have already seen what Public Liability is and how important it is to a vending services company, but it’s much wider than this.

If you own the building you work from then you would need to make sure this is covered from damage caused by the elements, fire, water damage such as floods but also burst pipes, storms, and high winds, all of these have the force to stop you trading by causing damage to the fabric of the building.

Selling vending machines, water dispensers, coffee vend machines, or even tool lockers, new or used can soon mount up in value. Not only might you sell machinery and equipment, but if your business includes repair then you may have an amount of customers vending machines at your premises, then customers’ goods or stock insurance will cover all of this for you.

Contracted to keep customers’ vending machines full? Stocks of coffee, drinks, food, and anything else that a vending operator deals with can all be included under stock within the policy, you just choose the amount that needs covering.

Plant and Machinery, Hand Tools (think repair), racking, office equipment, and computer systems, and if your business involves repair and refurbishment , benches, pallet trucks, and forklifts are all covered in one place on one policy.

How do I calculate how much I should insure my business contents for?

This can sometimes be a bit complex, but simple in many ways, and you should probably speak to us about how to get the right amount of information.

Buildings Insurance is about the correct rebuild cost, not how much you bought it for, your local builder guestimate, or the pub amateur surveyor. Getting it wrong can be costly so a proper survey must be carried out by qualified surveyors, we can arrange these types of surveys for you, sometimes free of charge.

The amount your contents are insured for can be problematic but a little time spent understanding how it’s done not only ensures that you are correctly insured it also provides a good base for the future.

In simple terms it’s about how much it is to replace the items as new, it doesn’t cover your vending machines as this is stock and a separate item, but it does include things such as racking, work benches, computers, and computer systems.

You ideally require a bespoke policy, you insure for how much cover you need, not what a policy might automatically give.

Sometimes things don’t go to plan

When things go wrong, an unfortunate fire at your premises, storm damage to the roof, or a flood could mean that you can’t work, this is where essential covers such as Business Interruption Insurance will keep your business “in business” whilst you get back to where you were directly before the incident happened.

Business interruption insurance for a vending machine business will keep you going even if you can’t carry on working, it will continue to pay out until you are back in business or until your indemnity period ends.

An indemnity period is the length of time that your insurer will continue to pay so it’s essential that you get this right, too short a period and you risk the payments from insurers ending before you are fully back in business, not good! Speak to us about this as it can be a complex issue that needs to be right.

Does my Van insurance cover the contents?

Collecting and delivering machinery or supplies for restocking? A Van or Commercial Vehicle insurance will only provide insurance cover for the vehicle itself; it rarely covers the contents of the vehicle. This is where you need a Goods in Transit insurance policy, this will protect the contents of your vehicle.

Moving that vending machine to your new customer, or collecting a used one should they be damaged, stolen, or even dropped from the vehicle this cover, subject to its terms and conditions will replace what has been lost, with the cost of some vending machines this can soon become quite substantial.

Goods in Transit insurance for a vending machine can be easily added to a combined policy ensuring your goods are protected from your premises to their final destination and back.

Does my business need insurance if I employ anyone?

Usually, if you employ people in your business you must have Employers Liability Insurance, it a legal requirement. There are exceptions but this cover must be in place even if you have voluntary workers or work experience, even if someone is offering their services even for free then they will be classed as an employee, yes, people do work for free!

Employers Liability Insurance will provide cover up to £ 10 million as standard, should someone that works for you become injured for instance they could against claim you, this could be costly.

A typical example is that whilst manoeuvring a large coil vending machine for cold drinks into place an employee damages their back. Whilst the injury might very well be their negligence the legal costs to you, or your business could be substantial. Employers’ Liability insurance, just like other liability covers will pay the legal costs to defend your business as well as any compensation that you or your business needs to pay.

Product Liability insurance

Does my Van insurance cover the contents?

Collecting and delivering machinery or supplies for restocking? A Van or Commercial Vehicle insurance will only provide insurance cover for the vehicle itself; it rarely covers the contents of the vehicle. This is where you need a Goods in Transit insurance policy, this will protect the contents of your vehicle.

Moving that vending machine to your new customer, or collecting a used one should they be damaged, stolen, or even dropped from the vehicle this cover, subject to its terms and conditions will replace what has been lost, with the cost of some vending machines this can soon become quite substantial.

Goods in Transit insurance for a vending machine can be easily added to a combined policy ensuring your goods are protected from your premises to their final destination and back.

Does my business need insurance if I employ anyone?

Usually, if you employ people in your business you must have Employers Liability Insurance, it a legal requirement. There are exceptions but this cover must be in place even if you have voluntary workers or work experience, even if someone is offering their services even for free then they will be classed as an employee, yes, people do work for free!

Employers Liability Insurance will provide cover up to £ 10 million as standard, should someone that works for you become injured for instance they could against claim you, this could be costly.

A typical example is that whilst manoeuvring a large coil vending machine for cold drinks into place an employee damages their back. Whilst the injury might very well be their negligence the legal costs to you, or your business could be substantial. Employers’ Liability insurance, just like other liability covers will pay the legal costs to defend your business as well as any compensation that you or your business needs to pay.

Product Liability insurance

What could possibly go wrong… you may ask?

As a vending machine business involved in the re-stocking or supply of food, drinks, and other items it’s essential that product liability insurance for a Vending Business is in place, this usually comes attached to public liability and is an essential part of your legal defenses.

Wherever food or drinks are concerned there is always the risk that you could be held responsible for food poisoning even if you have had no connection with the manufacture of the product itself. In these scenarios, it’s possible should a claim occur pass the responsibility back to your supplier.

If there is contamination from the machine itself such as water or other products dispensed from  the machine, this could be a wholly different story, and the claim could start and stop with you if you are responsible for the servicing and maintenance of the vending machine.

What other insurance covers do I need for my vending machine business?

Commercial Vehicle insurance

It is an absolute must if you are moving vending machines about the country, cover is available either Comprehensive, Third Party Fire and Theft, or Third Party Only, just like you would insure your car.

Most insurance for a van would be comprehensive cover as it provides any accidental damage that you might do to it, bending a wind, reversing into something as typical examples. Third-Party only covers you for damage or injury to someone else, Third Party Fire & Theft provides exactly as it says, including damage by fire or theft to your vehicle.