Personal chefs insurance checklist: what a personal chef should carry

The personal chef insurance checklist

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Personal chefs usually carry general liability, product liability and hired & non-owned auto. Personal chefs cook in clients' kitchens with the clients' equipment, shop with the clients' money, plan menus around allergies and diets they were told about, and carry their knives from house to house. The client's vendor desk and the venue ask for proof of each. The checklist below says what every item does, who requires it and how to check it on the policies you already have.

Reviewed by Michael LaBarbera, Licensed property & casualty agent, Provident Financial Group · Reviewed Oct 12, 2026 Updated Oct 14, 2026

Who asks a personal chef for what

Who	What they usually want to see
Enterprise clients & vendor onboarding	General liability, professional or cyber liability, workers' compensation and often an umbrella
Event venues & caterers' clients	General liability naming the venue, and liquor liability where you pour
Landlords & commercial leases	General liability with the landlord as additional insured, property coverage on tenant improvements and workers' compensation

Each of them wants a certificate, and most want it again at every renewal. A live certificate link from the wallet shows today's coverage to every holder and tells them when it changes.

How to check what you already have

General liability declarations page. Three liability numbers matter: each occurrence, general aggregate and the products–completed operations aggregate. Then the forms list: blanket additional insured, waiver of subrogation and primary and non-contributory wording satisfy every contract; scheduled forms satisfy one.
Products–completed operations. The aggregate, any vendors endorsement naming buyers as additional insureds, and exclusions for specific products or markets.
Hired and non-owned auto. Look for the symbols 8 and 9 or an endorsement by that name on the auto or general liability policy; without it, staff in their own cars are uninsured on company business.
Equipment schedule. Owned items scheduled above the per-item threshold, a blanket limit for small tools, leased or rented equipment included, and the valuation (replacement cost or actual cash value).
Professional liability declarations. Claims-made or occurrence, the retroactive date (it should not have moved), the limit per claim and aggregate, the deductible, and whether defence costs sit inside or outside the limit.
Business owner's policy declarations. Liability limits on the first page, then the property section: building (if you own), business personal property, business income and the named extras such as spoilage, equipment breakdown or employee dishonesty. Confirm the property values are current.
Workers' compensation information page. Item 3.A must list every state you work in, item 4 must carry the right class codes, and the employers' liability limits should meet what contracts ask. Check that the estimated payroll is close to this year's.
Bailee coverage. The limit for customers' property at your premises and in transit, the valuation basis and any exclusions for specific items.
Auto schedule. Every vehicle listed with the right garaging address and use; symbols that include hired and non-owned auto; physical damage with the lender as loss payee where the vehicle is financed.

What usually goes wrong for personal chefs

A kitchen fire or a scratched countertop in a client's home, excluded as property in your care.
An allergic reaction to a dish the client said would be fine.
A hood-cleaning or suppression-service condition in the property policy with no record it was met.
Employees delivering in their own cars with no hired and non-owned auto.
Damage to the exact thing you are working on is excluded on most general liability forms; installation floaters and care, custody and control endorsements fill that hole.
Relying on general liability for a damaged item that was in your hands when it happened.

What underwriters will ask a personal chef

Number of clients and whether any have medical diets, whether events are catered, and how equipment travels
Seating, hours, cooking methods and the hood and suppression system's last service
Delivery: your own drivers, third-party platforms or both
Residential versus commercial split of the work
Whether any work is done above three stories or below grade
Typical and maximum value of customer property on hand at one time

Have the answers in the wallet before the renewal and the quote request fills itself in; CoverMatch sends one application to every eligible carrier and lines the quotes up against what you have.

Renewal timing

Audits at year end compare payroll, receipts and subcontractor costs with the estimate, so keep the wallet's size figures and the subcontractor certificates current. Start comparing sixty days before expiration, and ask for the limits the next contract will need rather than the ones the last one did.

Questions people actually ask

Does general liability cover damage to a client's kitchen?

Damage to the house, yes. Damage to the stove, counter or pan you were using is property in your care and often excluded. A care, custody and control endorsement is the fix for a business done entirely in other people's kitchens.

Do personal chefs need professional liability?

Menu planning for medical diets and allergies is advice, and a reaction after a mistake can be pleaded as professional negligence. Products coverage answers the food; professional liability answers the plan. Chefs who cook for medical needs carry both.

Does my policy cover food that spoils when the power goes out?

Only with a spoilage endorsement or a package built for food businesses; standard property forms exclude it. Contamination coverage, which pays for a health-department closure and the cleanup, is a separate endorsement too.

Does general liability cover damage to a customer's property while I work on it?

It covers damage to the rest of their property, not usually the part in your hands. Many forms exclude property in your care, custody or control, so a personal chef that handles valuable items or systems needs an endorsement or an installation floater. The policy explainer in the wallet flags the exclusion when it reads your policy.

A customer's item was damaged while we had it. Does general liability pay?

Usually not; property in your care, custody or control is excluded. A bailee policy or an endorsement built for your trade pays for it, and it is the coverage customers assume you have.