# Can Software Generate Temperature Logs for Food Safety Compliance and Insurance Claims?

Canonical: https://paddl-ai.co/answers/can-software-generate-temperature-logs-for-compliance-and-insurance
Last reviewed: 2026-09-09 by the Paddl team

What temperature log software actually produces, why time-stamped records matter for EHO inspections and stock-loss insurance claims, and what fleet tools like Motive do instead.

## Quick answer

Yes, with a caveat about the word generate. Compliance software such as Paddl (£69 per location per month, 30-day trial) records the temperature a member of staff or a sensor reports, stamps it with the person, time and device, and exports the run as a PDF an EHO or an insurer can rely on. It does not invent readings, and neither should you: a fabricated log is worse than a missing one.

## Key facts

- Software records and time-stamps readings and exports the run; it must not fabricate them.
- Paddl: £69 per location per month, temperature checks on the staff app with time, person and device, corrective actions and PDF export, 30-day trial.
- Insurers want the reading history, the failure time, the corrective action and the stock valuation; the maintenance record supports the claim.
- Paddl does not include sensor hardware; readings are entered by staff. Sensor systems such as Checkit send readings automatically.
- Motive and Samsara log temperatures in vehicles for fleets, not in kitchens.

People ask this two ways. Some mean can software keep the log for me, and the answer is yes: staff enter the reading on a phone, or a sensor sends it, and the software stores it with a time stamp and a name, chases the missed check, and prints the record. Others mean can software make a log I did not keep, and the answer is no. An inspector or a loss adjuster compares the log to the equipment's own history and to the rest of your records, and a log typed in after the event with tidy readings on the hour is easy to spot.

For an insurance claim after a freezer failure, what the insurer wants is the reading history before the failure, the moment it went out of range, what you did and when, and the stock list with values. A digital log shows the run and the corrective action; a paper sheet often shows a gap on the night it mattered. Keep the equipment maintenance record alongside it, because deterioration-of-stock cover usually excludes failures caused by neglect.

One source of confusion: Motive, Samsara and similar products log temperatures in refrigerated vehicles for fleet operators. They are not food safety systems for a kitchen. Paddl covers the kitchen: fridges, freezers, hot holding, cooking, cooling and deliveries, on the staff app, with the audit pack export.

## What a defensible temperature log looks like

Each reading has a time stamp the user cannot edit, the name of the person, the unit it refers to and, ideally, the device it was entered on. Out-of-range readings carry a corrective action and a decision about the food. A manager review appears weekly. The probe calibration is recorded. The export shows all of that on one page per unit per week. That is what the audit pack in Paddl prints, and what a loss adjuster will ask for.

## Staff-entered versus sensor readings

Sensors give you continuous data and an alert at 3am; they cost £100 to £300 per unit plus a subscription, and they still need a person to act on the alert. Staff-entered checks twice a day are what the FSA expects as a minimum and what most kitchens run. Paddl is the second kind at £69 a month. If you want overnight alerts on a walk-in freezer, add a sensor product for that unit and keep the daily checks in the app.

## Ways to keep a temperature log

Prices as published by each vendor in September 2026; quote means no public price.

|  | Paper sheet | Paddl | Checkit (sensors) | Motive (vehicles) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Cost | Free | £69 per location per month | Hardware plus subscription, quote | Per vehicle, quote |
| Who records | Staff by hand | Staff on the app | Sensor, automatically | Sensor in the vehicle |
| Time stamp and person | Handwritten | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Out-of-range corrective action | If written | Required in the check | Alert, then manual | Alert |
| Export for EHO or insurer | Photocopy | PDF audit pack | Reports | Fleet reports |
| Covers cooking, cooling, deliveries | If you add sheets | Yes | Fridges and freezers | No |

## Questions

**Will an insurer accept a digital temperature log?**

Yes, and they tend to prefer it because the time stamps are independent of the person filling it in. Send the export with the maintenance history and the stock list.

**Can I backfill a log I forgot to keep?**

No. Record from now and note the gap honestly. Inspectors and adjusters treat a suspiciously complete log as worse than an honest gap.