If you make delicious cakes for a living – we salute you! No birthday party, baby shower, graduation or retirement bash is complete without a sweet show-stopper taking centre stage. But whether you’ve been running your business for a while, or are just thinking about getting started – don’t even pick up a whisk without reading this article!
What is Cake Makers Insurance?
Cake Makers Insurance is coverage designed to protect people running their own small baking business from the common risks associated with the job.
Striking out on your own as a cake maker is a huge risk in itself, and unfortunately the risks don’t end there. Accidents in the kitchen, unhappy customers, food poisoning, tax mix-ups… not being prepared as a cake maker is a recipe for disaster.
Don’t panic – Cake Makers Insurance from Rhino is here. Our cake business coverage is a specialised insurance for tradesmen and women in the cake making and cake decorating industry, which will protect you against a range of industry-specific risks and liabilities.
Risks Specific to Cake Makers
Making or decorating cakes might not sound particularly hazardous. You’re designing cakes, mixing ingredients and wielding a piping bag, not shark-fishing with a rusty harpoon. So, why is Cake Makers Insurance (or Cake Decorating Insurance) so crucial for self-employed bakers? Don’t be fooled! Here are some of the key risks specific to those in your trade:
Burns from handling hot equipment, lacerations from sharp tools, slips and falls on wet kitchen floors… the list of accidents that can befall you in the kitchen is unfortunately endless.
When you’re working with food, there are a plethora of potential food safety issues like contamination, spoilage, and allergen mismanagement to be aware of.
As a self-employed artisan, you’re vulnerable to legal and financial risks. For example, you’ll be financially responsible if you harm someone or cause property damage in the course of your business. Plus, you’re the one the buck stops with if you mess up with your self-employed tax duties, which may leave you in need of legal help.
Types of Coverage Available
Cake Makers Insurance isn’t just one policy – it’s a whole menu of policies you can pick and choose from. That’s the great thing about Rhino’s cover – you can add only the policies to suit you.
Here are our top picks for insurance for cake makers – you can add them to your personalised Cake Makers Insurance bundle.
Public Liability Insurance will protect you from financial liability following third-party bodily injury or property damage. This is a hugely important policy for any self-employed cake maker.
Cake making activities might seem safe as professions go, but accidents happen frequently, leading to injuries or harm. Just imagine if a customer became ill after scoffing one of your creations – and blamed your buttercream. You’d be glad you have Public Liability Insurance to fall back on to cover the costs of the customer’s claim.
Example 1: You’re carrying a celebration cake to the presentation table before a customer’s event and you accidentally knock the pricey flower wall to the floor. It cost your customer thousands – and you’re now on the hook to pay. Enter Public Liability Insurance, which will shell out so you don’t have to.
Example 2: You made a cake for a party which included dowels to keep it all together. An unwitting party guest bit into a dowel and ended up with an injury to their mouth. It’s going to require stitches and time off work – and they’re pointing the finger at your business. Don’t worry, Public Liability Insurance to the rescue to smooth things over.
Employer’s Liability Insurance is important in protecting your cake making businesses from claims made by your employees for work-related injuries or illnesses. It also helps your employees feel safe and confident while working for you, knowing that if something happened then your business could take care of it financially. Employer’s Liability Insurance is also a legal requirement in the UK, with stiff penalities if you don’t have it. Talk to Rhino for more information about whether you qualify for needing Employer’s Liability Insurance – we’ve got all the answers!
Example: A new starter is working in the commercial kitchen and there aren’t any oven gloves around (they’re being repaired). So, they grab a cake from the hot oven using a folded tea towel, and end up with burns to their hand. They won’t be able to work for a couple of weeks and they need to attend a burn clinic in another city to dress their wound – all rather inconvenient. Luckily, your Employer’s Liability Insurance will compensate them for their pain and suffering, time off work and even the taxi fare to the burn unit.
From your mixing bowls and rolling pins to your turntables and electric mixers – Tools and Equipment Insurance will protect all of these and more. When you set up shop as a cake maker or cake decorator, you’ll find yourself amassing a huge collection of tools of the trade which enable you to whip up your cakes. But with tool theft on the rise across the UK, is it just a matter of time before something happens to your precious kit? We hope not, but Tools and Equipment Insurance from Rhino will make sure that if your baking equipment is stolen or damaged, you’re covered.
Example: Carly has a prized collection of baking equipment worth around £8,000 which allows her to run her profitable cake making business. She keeps most of it in her van overnight, parked on her driveway. One night, the van is burglarised and thieves make off with the lot. Carly is devastated, but a quick claim on her Tools and Equipment Insurance mean she won’t be for long, as she’ll be shopping for shiny new replacements in no time.
You want to please your customers, but we all know that life doesn’t always go to plan. Professional blunders happen to the very best of bakers, and in the cake making business, there’s always a chance that someone might lose out financially as a result of your business activities. Professional Indemnity Insurance is there to protect you from claims of negligence, errors or omissions in your service.
Example: You commit to making a cake for an important event and take a deposit from a customer. Closer to the time, you realise you won’t have enough time to complete the job and pass it back. The customer can’t find a baker in their price range to complete the job at short notice, and they want you to pay the difference. Professional Indemnity Insurance, step right up.
The Benefits of Having Cake Makers Insurance
Cake Makers Insurance provides financial security by covering the costs of claims and damages. Without proper coverage, you leave your business vulnerable to financial losses that could scupper your business.
These days, it’s much harder to find work unless you’re insured. Customers just aren’t willing to take the chance of working with a business that may not be able to pay up if something went wrong. Most larger clients (e.g., not private individuals) will have you sign a contract at the outset, which will usually include an insurance stipulation. Plus, having up-to-date insurance from a reputable provider like Rhino will do wonders for your reputation and overall business growth.
One great benefit of being fully insured as a cake maker or decorator is the legal assistance and coverage provided by your policies. For full assurance, you can really make your business watertight with Legal Expenses Insurance. With this policy in place as part of your Cake Makers Insurance bundle, if a customer is unhappy with your service and demands a full refund and/ or compensation, you will benefit from top legal representation and advice without having to pay a penny.
Stress, worry and anxiety are not ingredients you need in your recipe for business success. Having adequate insurance reduces stress and worry for cake makers like you, allowing you to focus on delivering your projects with passion.
Common Myths About Cake Makers Insurance
- Myth 1: Insurance is Too Expensive
This is a misconception. Insurance can be the safety net that saves you thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of pounds down the line. Rhino offer some of the very lowest premiums around, meaning insurance is affordable (and necessary!) for every self-employed businessperson.
- Myth 2: Small Businesses Don’t Need Insurance
Wrong! All cake making businesses, regardless of size, need insurance. Small businesses can be hit with significant financial liabilities from even a seemingly small incident, such as someone slipping over on your premises. Unless you’ve got an infinite well of money from which to draw upon to pay out insurance claims on an ad-hoc basis, you need insurance. (And even then, you’re going to have a hard time winning new customers if you’re uninsured).
- Myth 3: All Insurance Policies are the Same
Not at Rhino! We offer a menu of insurance options to select from. Choose only the policies your business needs, and adjust the limits of cover to suit you, ensuring your insurance solution reflects the risks you face.
Why Choose Rhino Trade Insurance?
Rhino Trade Insurance have built a rock-solid reputation in the world of trade insurance providers with our low-cost, high-quality insurance cover. Our customers up and down the country love us – from plumbers and gas engineers to flower arrangers and cake makers.
Rhino Trade Insurance are experts in providing specialised coverage tailored to the needs of cake makers. Whatever your trade – Rhino can help you build a personalised bundle of insurance which will protect you from the risks YOU face.
At Rhino we offer comprehensive policies which ensure that all aspects of a cake maker’s business are covered. From Public Liability to Legal Expenses Insurance and Tool and Equipment cover, you can rest assured knowing that we’ve thought of everything.
As insurance brokers, we bring the most affordable and high-quality policies direct to you, making quality coverage affordable for all cake makers. We don’t charge extra for spreading the cost, and your premiums will be just about the lowest you’ll find.
- Excellent Customer Service
Rhino Trade Insurance are known for our amazing customer service. Our team are friendly, knowledgeable and will help you with your enquiry, quote or claim without fuss. But don’t ask us – ask our customers! We have over 3,000 5-star reviews. “5 star recommended insurers. Brilliant team. Good to know when I’m working that I’m in safe hands,” says Peter, a verified trade customer.