Cake/business insurance?

I'd be sketched out by someone who prepared food as a business and didn't have insurance. What other sorts of safety practices and regulations are they cutting corners on?

Cake insurance is not a thing. Business insurance and health department licensing is a thing. However, your home baker should be able to use her home insurance. A venue told me that before. Likely she is not just trying to hide money from the IRS. I work at a cake shop but I do cakes on the side. I dont have business insurance because i don't have a business license. I don't have a business license because I would have to be health department approved. I can't afford to have my own shop. I'm not avoiding taxes. But I do cakes for friends and family and friends of friends.

@Rebecca P. Having insurance doesn't mean a business isn't shady and won't cut corners. And not having insurance doesn't equal people who cut corners on safety and regulations. Please don't Generalize

Thanks Chocolatier KT! Do you do cakes for weddings? If so does that make you personably liable if something were to happen?

Also did everyone here purchase wedding insurance? This is the first I am hearing of it.

Does she have a health permit?

Omg you people sometimes... Small towns have lots of instances like this. People who do professional things out of their homes but aren't businesses. We had a lady just like this who made my and all my sisters graduation cakes and nobody ever got sick.

You can get sick no matter what and who knows why and sometimes it's just how it is. I got sick eating at a chain restaurant because something happened with their beef. They're a chain and have reputable vendors and I still got sick. It can happen, I never sued anyone. Sometimes I wonder wth. None of you ever ate at a church potluck?

I don't do many wedding cakes outside of the cake shop I work at. But yes I guess I would be. But if people are going to get sick, it won't be from cake. Cake goes stale, not bad, Buttercream smells horrible before it hurts you so you would know, and I use only heat stable fillings that can sit at room temp forever. So I'm not too concerned

I'm so happy I saw this post. Never crossed my mind to make sure the baker was insured!

I heard of wedding insurance on here and I am considering it. Lots of people talk about wedsafe

@EleanorRigby the reason why this even crossed my mind is because my mom works for a lawyer and they recently had a case where one of the guests slipped and fell at the bride and grooms wedding. The guest then sued the wedding venue as well as the bride and groom who had to go hire a lawyer (where my mom works). That is why my mom was worried about being insured. People can be crazy sometimes!

People are douchebagels. When will the douchebaggery stop?!? Did they win?!? Cheese and rice people who sue over everything really annoy me. I can't imagine any of my guests having the nerve to sue us.

Also... It's often hard to tell WHERE/WHEN you got food poisoning. It takes a long time sometimes. I knew it was from that restaurant because when I puked it was JUST the beef. And my friend ate there the next day and also got sick. I would challenge anyone to prove it was my food/cake that made them sick and not something/somewhere else. There are also 24 hour bugs. Slipping and falling you can prove, where you got food poisoning, not so much unless a lot of people who eat the same things get sick (think lettuce recalls).

@Michelle, the case at your Moms office is, sadly, all too common.

When someone is injured or becomes ill, they can (and often do) sue everyone involved. They may not win the suit, but they will cause those they sue to hire (and pay for) a lawyer to defend the suit. This is where Liability Insurance comes in to play.

Liability Insurance comes along with a homeowners policy or renters policy. Limits vary depending upon what the person buying that insurance purchases. You can also get an Umbrella policy, which puts another layer of coverage over the top of the homeowners (or renters) policy. Personally, I have $500,000 worth of liability coverage and a $1,000,000. Umbrella policy.

Again, just to reiterate, a person who sues may not win, but they will cause the defendant to hire a lawyer.

Actually, I work at a hospital and last summer, half of a reception ended up in the ER by the next morning... from self catered food! It was disgusting!!

ETA: So sometimes you can tell where you got it in situations like this.

Another thought just occurred to me. Guests may not get sick from the cake, but, what if a guest breaks a tooth on a hard object that fell in to the cake batter (unbeknownst to the baker).

Now, a dental bill needs to be paid, so the person goes to the baker to pay that tab.

Another reason to make sure your vendors have insurance.

Im glad i cane across this thread! I would have never remembered to get this!!

I think @ChocolatierKT summed it up best.

My venue required me to purchase liability insurance for the event. There are a few different options. Wed safe is one of them, but there are some others that are cheaper. I forget who I used but I could look it up.

It was about $100

Thanks Kristy! Do you know who you used? $100 is worth it!!

We did insurance for our venue. Not cake.