Lehi is a good town to cater in. Tech campuses along Silicon Slopes order lunch all week, reception centers and mountain-view venues around Traverse Mountain and Thanksgiving Point book up on weekends, and big family gatherings keep Utah County busy year-round. Corporate lunches fill your weekdays, and weddings and receptions fill your weekends.
This page sticks to what is different about catering in Lehi. If you want each coverage explained in full, start with our catering insurance guide. Western Pacific Insurance writes business insurance for caterers across Utah and the rest of our four-state area.
What most Lehi caterers carry
- General liability with products and completed operations: covers a guest who gets hurt, damage to a venue, and foodborne illness claims that show up after people have eaten.
- Liquor liability: you need it if your business serves or pours alcohol. Host liquor coverage is usually not enough once you are being paid to provide drinks.
- Business auto and hired and non-owned auto: covers company vans, plus staff who drive their own cars on the job.
- Workers’ compensation: covers your kitchen and event staff.
- Inland marine and property: covers the gear that travels, like warmers, coolers, and linens, along with your kitchen and food spoilage.
Reception centers, tech campuses, and winter roads
Reception centers and corporate campuses often send their vendor insurance requirements along with the booking. Winter adds its own problems: I-15 and the canyon roads up to mountain venues raise your auto exposure, and cold-weather setups mean more extension cords, heaters, and slick walkways. If a venue or client asks for specific general liability limits, such as $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, we can check whether your policy matches before the event.
Alcohol at Utah events
According to Utah’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services, caterers in Utah are not licensed or authorized to sell or resell alcohol. When an event sells alcohol, the host organization gets its own permit. A caterer may help with bartending services and be paid for that work, but may not hold the permit or take money from alcohol sales. Utah does license on-premise banquet catering at qualifying venues such as hotels, convention centers, and certain restaurant venues. Even if all you do is pour, ask how your policy treats bartending. Our Utah liquor liability page has more.
Workers’ compensation and food handler permits
Utah law generally treats a business that regularly employs one or more workers as an employer that must carry workers’ compensation. Utah also requires food handlers to get a food handler permit within 30 days of starting work, so build that into your plans when you bring on seasonal staff.
Claims Lehi caterers plan around
Catering claims in Utah County are usually ordinary ones. A guest slips on an icy walkway while carrying a plate from an outdoor buffet. A delivery van slides into another car on a snowy morning on Pioneer Crossing. A tech company lunch leaves several employees sick after a dish sits out too long. A staff member strains a back lifting cases of drinks at a reception center. Each of these lands on a different policy, which is why we review your general liability, auto, workers’ compensation, and equipment coverage together.
Small caterers and family businesses
Plenty of Lehi caterers start out cooking for church and neighborhood events and grow into paid work. Once you charge for events, check with the Utah County Health Department and Lehi City business licensing about the permits your kitchen needs, because insurers will ask where your food is prepared. Large family receptions also mean big guest counts, which can push venues and clients to ask for higher limits or an umbrella. If you are a personal chef working in client homes, ask how your policy treats damage to the client’s kitchen.
Certificates for Lehi venues
Most venues and planners will want a certificate of insurance naming them as an additional insured. When you book, send the insurance section of each contract to your agent. Ask whether your policy has blanket additional insured wording for written contracts, which can make repeat requests faster. For bigger events with large guest counts, a commercial umbrella can add limits on top of your primary policies.
Related pages
For vehicles, see our Utah business auto page and our Utah general liability page. If you run a truck, our Lehi food truck insurance page is a better fit, and if you have a dining room, see Utah restaurant insurance. We also have catering guides for Henderson, Phoenix, and San Diego.
Get your Lehi catering coverage reviewed
We don’t list prices on this page, because premiums depend on your revenue, alcohol service, staff, and claims history. To have your coverage checked against your venue contracts, gather your equipment list and your next few event contracts, then call 702-932-3105 or request a quote online.
