Landscaping Insurance
The Insurance requirements for Lawn Care and Landscaping Contractors can be very complicated. This page is designed to provide a very clear and concise description about the types of Insurance and Bonds you will need in order to protect your Business and satisfy the requirements of your clients and the municipalities where you will work.
After reviewing, contact our agency and we will work with you to design the right coverage with a very competitive premium for your Business:
The Coverage You Will Need
1. What is General Liability Insurance:
Unfortunately all businesses are subject to lawsuits. No matter how careful you are or how well trained your employees are, accidents still happen.
General Liability Insurance will protect your company from accidents that result in property damage, bodily injury and more.
Required Limits:
- If you are a Commercial Landscaping Contractor, you will likely be required to have a minimum of:
- $1,000,000 Each Occurrence Limit (the most the company will pay per claim) and
- $2,000,000 General Aggregate, (the most the company will pay per policy term)
How much is Landscaping Liability Insurance
The Premium charged by the Insurance Company will be determined by your estimated annual payroll for your Landscaping and Lawn Care employees during the policy term and subject to the actual (since you can only estimate your payroll at the beginning of the policy term) payroll at the end of the policy term.
If you are just starting your Business and you will be the sole Employee, a good Liability premium estimate would be between $500-$800 per year and this would apply for limits up to a $1,000,000 per occurrence.
As the Owner/Officer of the Business, your estimated payroll is not required. The Insurance Companies use a flat payroll amount for Officers.
The General Liability Policy has to issue correctly for Your Business:
General Liability (GL) coverage is not uniform. If you ask 2 Lawn Care Business Owners how many pages their General Liability Policies have, you can almost guarantee you will get two different answers.
As the saying goes the "Devil is in the Details" – with GL policies the Devil lies in the Several Exclusion and Limitation endorsements that are often added (and should be removed) to an HVAC Business Owner's GL Policy – not to mention the Additional Coverage endorsements that should be added.
The addition of any one of these Exclusion or Limitation endorsements or the absence of an Additional Coverage endorsement can prove devastating for a business owner at the time of loss.
There has to be a Solid understanding of your Operations in order to make certain the policy issues correctly and Your Business is Properly Protected. This can not be accomplished with an online policy.
Contact us:
Ph. 636-519-0059
dan@hebbeln-ins.com
or
2. Workers Compensation for Contractors
Missouri Employers in the Construction Industry (defined as having employees who erect, demolish, alter or repair improvements are required to have Workers’ Compensation in Missouri with even with just one employee (Non-contracting employers are required with 5 or more employees).
Missouri Contractors that do not have coverage may be subject to a significant financial penalty from the State. However, even more importantly, any Missouri Employer without Work Comp coverage is subject to Civil Suits brought against them by their injured employees.
It only makes sense to have Workers Comp to protect your employees and your Business.
3. Business Auto Insurance
One of the most common Insurance claims for Landscaping Contractors are auto accidents. Your operation requires the use of good sized vehicles, and trailers to haul heavy equipment and a lot of weekly miles.
Claims latter in the day are more common as good hardworking employees may be fatigued and more susceptible to distraction.
Due to the very sizeable Bodily Injury Claims that can result from Auto accidents, a Combined Single Limit* of no less than $1,000,000 to protect your business is strongly recommended. The difference in premium between $1mil and $500,000 is typically not that significant.
*Combined Single Limit = The limit of protection for Bodily Injury and Property Damage Claims.
4. Inland Marine Coverage:
This coverage is particularly important for Lawn Care Professionals. This will provide coverage for your equipment and tools.
Lawn Care is most certainly a Capital Intensive Business. Whether it is a Zero Turn, Stand On or Walk-behind, the cost of a mower can parallel that of a good used car not to mention the combined value of your other equipment (Trimmers, Edgers, Blowers, etc.). Accordingly, it is important that all of this equipment is properly insured.
An Equipment floater will provide coverage for your mowers if they are stolen or damaged. Coverage is even provided while in transit from jobsite to jobsite and at temporary storage locations.
If you provide snow removal services for clients your valuable Salt Spreaders and Plows can also be insured on an Inland Marine policy.
Contact us today for a Proposal for your Landscaping Business:
Ph. 636-519-0059
dan@hebbeln-ins.com
or