California Catering Truck Insurance

Catering truck insurance

Not many agents/brokers write catering truck insurance as they don't have a contract with companies that will write that type of coverage. There's a certain type of knowledge needed to write the risk with catering truck insurance properly. There are basically (2) categories of operators:

They are, hot trucks and Mobile Food Preparation Vehicles (MFPV), which allow food to be prepared as customers order, and cold trucks, Industrial Catering Vehicles (ICV), which sell only prepackaged foods.

The hot trucks have at least a driver, (which is usually the taxpayer), and a cook, who may be a family member. The cold trucks in most instances, only need a driver since it is a self-service vehicle, however, they are not limited to just the driver.

The average cost of the trucks is approximately between $50,000 - $100,000. The trucks may be owned by one individual, serving as the owner/operator, or several individuals may own a fleet of trucks and lease them to various individuals to operate; or they can be individually owned and then leased to another individual to operate.

The drivers/owners of food trucks are linked to specific commissaries stocking and storing their trucks overnight. The commissary is a wholesale supermarket where the drivers are able to buy food and supplies in bulk. The trucks are assigned to a commissary and are required to park their vehicles there overnight for washing, unloading, and morning loading of food.

The drivers purchase their goods for sale at the commissary, although you may discover that outside purchases were also made. The Department of Health Services have very strict requirements with regards to the purchase of food for sale. Food must be obtained from an approved vendor, approved facility, or approved commissary.

The owners and operators of the vehicles have to meet certain requirements for various governmental agencies. The owners are required to register their vehicles with the Health Department. All vehicles must have a valid County Health Permit.

Vehicles are usually inspected annually in order to renew their license by the Health Department. The license, showing the name of the owner, must be on display in the vehicle or on the persons of the driver.

Selling any goods, wares, or merchandise on public streets and sidewalks on foot or using a pack, stand, or push cart is illegal without the approval of the Department of Building and Safety.

There are also stringent health codes that must be followed and enforced to operate safely and within the guidlines of the dept of health in order to be able to operate the food business. State laws also require catering truck insurance.

Car Loans Drive Down the Cost

Most car buyers spend hours researching the makes and models of car before deciding which to buy. Then four out of ten rush out to the showroom and sign up for the car within 30 minutes of stepping inside.

But will their painstaking research extend to sourcing the cheapest finance package? Probably not. Whilst around 50% of new cars bought privately are purchased on finance, nearly 20% sign up in the showroom for the finance deal offered by the manufacturer. Unfortunately that could turn out to be a costly decision. With typical manufacturers finance costing 13.7% per year over a 3 year and including a 10% deposit, they could be throwing some 1,800 down the drain.

Take someone buying a new Renault Megane Sport Saloon Privilege 1.6 and let's assume that it costs 16,000 on the road. Including 3 years interest that means the full cost will be 17,384. However, there is a much cheaper option. With a good credit history you could get a personal loan at only 5.5% and end up paying just 15,631 that's a full saving of 1,753. This goes to prove the old adage that it pays to shop around. Rushing to accept the dealers finance package can hit your pocket hard it's effectively giving back the discount we hope you negotiated!

OK, I can hear talking about the special finance offers that manufacturers are forever advertising. Yes, there are some really good deals - but always look closely. Some deals only relate to specific models with a set specification, often the cars that the manufacturers are having trouble shifting. A beware some deals have a sting in their tail. Take Volkswagens' current offer on the Polo E2. Their deal is advertised at 5.8% with a monthly repayment of 99 over 35 months sounds a great deal but look more closely and you'll find there's a final balloon payment of 3,750 or alternatively you can trade in your E2 for another Volkswagen.

The car manufacturers use these deals to promote brand loyalty and encourage another purchase in 3 years time. They know that most cars will be traded in after 3 years rather than pay the large balloon payment.

Of course, personal loans and manufacturer's finance are not the only way you could finance your car.

The traditional way to pay for your car is through hire purchase. With HP you pay a deposit, usually of at least 10%, or trade in your existing car for at least the same value, and then use HP for the balance of the price. The loan is then effectively secured on your car. So in practice, your car still belongs to the HP company until you have made your last monthly payment.

Then if you want to sell your car before you've completed the HP agreement, there will almost always be an early redemption penalty often up to three months interest. The HP company will also register its financial interest in your car with HPI the finance tracking agency. This effectively means that you will be unable to sell your car until you have paid off the HP loan.

Another alternative is Personal Contract Purchase, PCP for short, and in recent years PCP has become very popular. Here you also agree the mileage you expect your car to clock up each year. You then pay a deposit and part of the purchase price is deferred until the end of the agreed payback period. Your monthly repayments then repay the balance and the interest. These schemes are highly flexible as you can select the length of the loan and the size of the deposit but you'll find that interest rates vary considerably between lenders. The current average is about 12.8% - still well above the 5.5% rate for a cheap personal loan.

At the end of the PCP contract you'll have three options: -

Pay off the deferred balance and keep the car

Trade in the car using the trade in value to help pay off the deferred sum and hopefully leaving a balance towards a new car

Hand in the car and walk away with nothing more to pay.

This last option is always subject to your cars' condition reflecting normal wear and tear and its mileage is in line with the annual mileage you agreed when you purchased it. If the recorded mileage exceeds the forecast mileage, then you'll have an excess mileage charge to pay. The cost per excess mile will always be specified in the PCP agreement.

One of the big advantages of PCP is that the guaranteed buy back option effectively protects customers against excessive depreciation of their car.

As you would expect, car dealers take a commission for selling PCP contracts and to encourage you, you may find they'll agree a bigger discount on your car if you take their PCP deal. If your lucky, they may even throw in a low cost servicing package or low cost insurance. But take care. You'll need to do some homework to ensure that these extra goodies are truly worth the extra interest charged on the PCP contract.