Short answer, yes. A food truck is a vehicle, a kitchen, and a small business all rolled into one, and a regular car policy isn’t built for any of those jobs. (Still weighing a truck against a storefront? Our breakdown of opening a restaurant in Denver is a good gut check on costs.)
Your personal auto policy is out. This is the one that bites people. Personal auto policies generally exclude vehicles used for business, so if you’re heading to a gig on Tennyson Street and someone rear-ends you, the claim can get denied the moment the adjuster sees a fryer in the back. The truck needs commercial auto in Colorado, no way around it.
Denver wants proof before you open the window. Along with your commissary agreement and menu, the city expects to see insurance when you apply for your mobile food license. General liability is the other core piece, the coverage for a customer who gets sick or trips over your generator cord.
Festivals and breweries ask for more. Most events want a certificate of insurance, and plenty want to be added as an additional insured. That just means your policy protects them too if something at your truck goes sideways. It’s usually quick to add, but ask a week ahead, not the morning of.
Hire anyone, add workers’ comp. Colorado requires it once you have an employee, even a part-timer. Hot oil, tight quarters, a kitchen that moves. Burns happen.
The stuff people forget.
- Equipment and spoilage coverage for when the freezer quits in August
- Theft or vandalism while the truck sits at the commissary overnight
- Business income if a covered loss parks you for a few weeks
We’re independent brokers at Uncle Sheldon Insurance, and we line up Denver food truck coverage for folks parked everywhere from RiNo to Civic Center Eats to brewery lots out in Englewood. Happy to answer questions, no pressure either way.