Hey, my name is Tenay and i live in california Los Angeles , I have a home-based bakery, i am now looking for liability insurance.
I want to know since i have never shopped for business insurance what is the going rate? I just got a quote for $350.00 a year with a million dollar coverage. is that too much, or is that not enough? please someone tell me what you know, cause i dont know anything!

Tenay,

I live in California and have a home based bakery. That quote is a very good price. I have been quoted as much as $600.00 a year. Would you mind sharing the name of your company and agent?


Thanks

Cascades

As far as I know, you cannot have a home-based bakery (or any food service business) in California.. unless you have a completely separate commercial kitchen. I would check with your local department of agriculture or department of health and human services and find out about that before you pay for a policy.

That's a good price though.. mine was $300 for the year same coverage.

Thank you for your responses,

jkalman,
Actually it is illegal to sell food to anyone that was cooked out of your home, in Cali. So when I say home-based i mean my office is at home, I rent a kitchen from a bakery up the street but thanks for looking out for me.

Cascades,
and I got that quote thru www.2insure4less.com and a lady or man ( i'm really not sure what it was) named Abir Walters called me the number is 714-962-2045 just tell her or him you were refered by Tenay Travis. but try the website first, you might get it for less.

That's what I thought (about Cali's regulations). That's a great quote then.

You might want to check out The Hartford insurance company. I pay right around $350 per year for $2,000,000 in coverage.

Thanks for the info. I do have a separate kitchen on my property. Maybe that's why my quote was so much higher.

I'll check into it though--- Thanks again

Cascades

I have 2 mill in coverage and pay about $550 a year. It's up for renewal, so I may start shopping.

Jkalman,
just to let you know, you can have liability insurance and not be a legal business.
When I did Pampered Chef and Arbonne I carried a 1/2 million policy just in case.

Rates vary by state and even county/city, so it can be very hard to compare other areas to where you are.

And, under most circumstances, insurance will not cover an illegal activity. So if you were insured and not legal and had a claim, it would not pay. Insurance is a contract, and if you do not abide by the terms of the contract, there is no coverage.

Just an FYI from someone who works in the business.

I have a home based cake business and it is insured through Farm Bureau for $150 per year 1M coverage. Hope this helps.

I live in MA and just got a qoute for 1M its 500 a year. The insurance man told me to wait longer before getting it becasue I dont do enough business. I do about 10,000 a year he told me to wait till I am at 20,000
not only that we have like 2 companies here that will insure home bakeries most wont do it especially because I have a dog. She stays in the bed room when I am baking. ( she is lazy and sleeps all day anyway)
I hope I never have a problem!

As long as the dog is out of the kitchen while I am baking and decorating its fine in my town. Other towns in MA have different rules. Thank god because I couldnt give her away!

I am surprised how low everyone has been talking about what they are paying, so I asked my DH, and he said our policy doesn't just cover liability, but it also covers business interruption, that is if my kitchen catches on fire or if we have a hurricane and it flattens our house...Home owners insurance will pay for some things, but they won't pay for replacement of loss business, and inventory loss (like all that sugar and fondant you have in storage!)

Yep. There is insurance, and then there is insurance.

Sounds like you have good coverage. So many people just want to check it off their list and get the cheapest thing out there, but then when they have a claim to file, they either aren't covered, or aren't covered adequately. Liability, property, business interruption (sometimes called business income and extra expense), those are important coverages.

For example, if a home baker were to have a total loss fire in her home, it could take many months to settle the claim. If her income from her business was vital, life would be even more difficult if she had only liability coverage for her business. And if that fire was in a townhouse or a condo...the claim could take FOREVER to settle and rebuilding is somewhat at the mercy of your neighbor's insurance company. If your company is the only one ready to settle, you can't rebuild if you don't have neighbors on either side putting up their structure.

We don't want to think about these things, but if you are going to have insurance, it is a good idea for it to actually help you if you need it.