Why Landscaping Businesses Need Insurance?

Claims are the primary reason why landscaping businesses need insurance. Common types of landscaping insurance claim are:

• Property damage or personal injuries due to negligent equipment use
• Equipment breakdown
• Substandard work
• Employee injuries

Reputable business reputation is another reason why landscaping company needs insurance. Clients aren’t keen to work with landscaping contractors that are not insured. The idea behind having insurance is that one can account for a client’s losses should something go wrong.

Aside from the “why”, we’re sure you’re also asking “what kind of insurance do I need for landscaping business?”. As for this, although there are many to have, one that’s very crucial is liability insurance. Let’s discuss what this is in the next section.

Landscaping Liability Insurance

Landscaping liability insurance is a term used synonymously with general liability insurance for landscapers. This is correct but also a misnomer since theformal definitionof liability insurance is that it’s a policy that covers the liability of the insured over the losses, injuries, or damages sustained by a third party. And so, other commercial landscaping insurance products such as professional liability and public liability can be considered as liability insurance.

Landscaping General Liability Insurance

Landscaping general liability insurance is a primary inclusion in most landscaping commercial insurance programs. By saying primary, we mean to say that protection begins by buying this coverage and then afterwards you can decide to get other business insurance products.

General liability insurance for landscapers covers third party personal injuries or property damage you accidentally caused while carrying out a landscaping service. Here are some specific examples where this type of liability insurance for landscaping business is helpful:

• Your employee was using a compact tractor. The client was watching nearby. By accident, the employee hit the client with the compact tractor. This resulted in contusions and concussions
• An employee of your landscaping company hit a poorly installed pipeline while digging. The pipeline in question sustained damage and the client demands you pay for its repair

So how does general liability insurance for landscapers function? This insurance will:

• Reimburse or pay for the medical expenses of persons who sustained injuries due to your landscaping operation
• Refund the value of the property that got damaged due to your landscaping operation
• Cover your legal defense costs. Particularly, general liability insurance for landscaping company will pay for attorney fees, administrative costs, settlements, and other related expenses

The amount of coverage you’ll get from general liability insurance for landscaping depends on business size. That said, general liability insurance for big landscaping businesses provides $1 million-$2 million coverage. It’s even possible to get $3 million-$5 million coverage. On the other hand, general liability insurance for small landscaping business provides $300,000-$1 million coverage.

You can add the following optional policies to general liability insurance so that it provides more protection. These are:

• Products and completed operations coverage-Products and completed operations coverage will cover the cost of personal injury claims or property damage claims filed by clients after you completely delivered a landscaping service
• Advertising injury coverage-Advertising injury coverage will compensate the damages or losses of the third party who sues you for slander, copyright infringement, libel, and other related offenses.
• Rented premises liability coverage-This optional landscape liability insurance coverage will refund the property owner if a commercial space you landscaping business is renting becomes damage or sustains damage due to a fire

Public Liability Insurance for Landscapers

Public liability insurance for landscapers only covers personal injury claims and property damage claims. As you might have realized by now, this one works the same way as general liability insurance. The amount of coverage provided is also the same. The only thing different is that this can’t be added with optional policies.

Professional Liability Insurance for Landscapers

You can commit mistakes while providing a landscaping service. Clients can sue because of this. In connection, general liability insurance for landscapers can’t help. Instead, what you can use to cover the resulting settlements, administrative costs, attorney fees, and other legal expenses is professional liability insurance.

Are There Other Types of Liability Insurance Needed for Landscaping?

Public liability, general liability, and professional liability are the most common types of landscapers liability insurance. But note that, carriers sell other types of liability insurance needed for landscaping businesses who want coverage for the liability of directors and officers, employee lawsuits, and data breaches. These are:

Employer’s Liability Insurance

Employer’s liability policy is an insurance needed for landscaping business that has a lot of employees. If an employee or a group of employees sue for negligence after experiencing a work-related injury or illness, employer’s liability insurance for landscape contractors will cover administrative costs, settlements, attorney fees, and other legal expenses on your behalf.

This type of insurance for a landscaping company provides a minimum of $100,000 per occurrence limit, $500,000 aggregate limit, and $100,000 per employee limit. But if you need more, you can ask the carrier to increase the limits of this landscaping contractors insurance.

Employment Practices Liability Insurance

Employment practices liability insurance for landscapers is a related policy to employer’s liability insurance. It’s because the latter takes care of what the former excludes, particularly:

• Sexual harassment
• Wrongful termination
• Discrimination
• Other acts considered as violation of employee rights

Employment practices and employer’s liability insurance for landscaping companies can also be added as optional policies to workers compensation insurance. General liability insurance landscaping can also offer them.

So how much money can you get from this type of insurance for landscaper? Employer’s liability insurance provides $100,000-$300,000 coverage for the perils we mentioned above.

Directors and Officers Liability Insurance

Directors and officers liability insurance is useful if you’re a director or an officer of a landscaping business. This kind of insurance for landscapers does the following:

• Cover your financial liability over lawsuits filed by third parties such as customers or shareholders with regards to your duty as a director or officer
• Cover the landscaping company if it is also held responsible for the act you committed that serves as a ground for third parties to file a claim

Of course, you have to know what perils this landscaping company insurance covers. Directors and officers insurance will kick in if an officer or a director of a company is sued for:

• Fixing the price of bonds
• Interference of contracts
• Acts regarded as violations of the False Claims Act
• Breach of fiduciary duty
• Manipulating internal audits
• Improper sales
• Breach of trust

Let’s also talk about the insurance money you can get from this type of landscape company insurance. The minimum amount of coverage directors and officers liability insurance provides is $1 million-$2 million. But still, you’ll find insurance companies selling a directors and officers liability insurance having a $5 million-$10 million limit.

Cyber Liability Insurance

Consider getting cyber liability insurance for landscaping company if the sensitive information of clients is stored and handled. This type of landscaping services insurance is particularly useful if your business has a website and accepts payments via digital channels. If sensitive information of clients get leaked because of employee negligence or cyberattacks, cyber liability insurance will cover the cost of the following:

• Legal defense
• Settlements
• Public relations

This type of business insurance for landscaping provides $1 million-$2 million minimum coverage. But note that there are insurance companies underwriting cyber liability insurance having a $5 million-$10 million limit.

Umbrella Liability Insurance for Landscapers

This type of landscape business insurance supplements the limits of the liability policy it’s endorsed to. Here’s an example for you to understand:

• Suppose a third-party sued your business for personal injuries. The aggrieved person won the case and is demanding you to pay $2 million. You have a $1 million general liability insurance to be claimed. But there’s still an excess $1 million that needs to be covered. Umbrella liability insurance will cover this excess.

So how much can you get from umbrella liability insurance? This landscaping insurance coverage provides a $1 million minimum limit.

More Types of Insurance for Landscaping Business

Liability insurance isn’t the only type of insurance for landscaping contractors.  There’s also commercial property insurance, commercial auto insurance, workers compensation insurance for landscaping business, etc.

Workers Compensation Insurance for Landscapers

If they sustain a work-related injury or disease, you need to provide workers compensation for landscapers working with your company.  In connection, the most effective way to not incur losses when doing so is to purchase workers compensation insurance.

Workers compensation insurance for landscapers is a state-mandated coverage. State laws, excluding Texas, demand this as soon as your landscaping company is working with one or more contractors, part-time, or full-time employees. By having this landscape coverage, you can pay for the following when an employee or a group of employees sustain a work-related injury or disease:

• Medical expenses-Workers compensation insurance allows you to pay for the surgery, therapy, ambulance fees, or emergency room fees of an employee without using business funds
• Hospitalization-You can use workers compensation insurance to pay for an employee’s hospital bills if he or she needs to be admitted after sustaining amputation, cuts, chemical-related disease, burns, and muscle overuse injuries
• Medication-Workers compensation insurance provides the funds your landscaping business’s employee needs to buy prescription medicines
• Rehabilitation-Workers compensation covers rehab expenses if your employee sustains permanent or temporary impairment due to a work-related injury or disease
• Lost income compensation-Your employee will receive a weekly allowance from workers comp if he or she can’t work due to a work-related injury or disease. This is equal to two-thirds or 67% of the average weekly wage.
• Death benefits-Workers comp for landscaping company will cover funeral expenses and provide an allowance to dependents of the employee who died due to a work-related injury or disease

Commercial Property Insurance for Landscapers

There’s no doubt that you’re using an owned, rented, or leased commercial building for your landscaping business. Consider insuring that through commercial property insurance. By adding this business insurance to your landscaping insurance plan, you can recoup losses when any of the two happens:

• Fire, theft, vandalism, extreme weather, or other covered perils damaged your commercial building
• Fire or extreme weather destroyed the commercial building of your landscaping business

Equipment and Tools Insurance for Landscaping Business

Equipment and tools insurance for landscaping will recover your losses if lawn mowers, excavators, tractors, drills, shovels, protective helmets, and other tools or equipment used in landscaping become damaged or lost due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils. Note that the amount you receive from this type of business insurance for landscapers will never be equal to the value of the covered items.

Commercial Auto Insurance for Landscaping Business

Commercial auto insurance consists of numerous types of coverages that covers particular exposures associated with using a commercial vehicle. A typical commercial auto insurance has:

• Auto liability coverage- Covers expenses if your landscaping business’s vehicle causes an accident and injures third parties or destroys properties
• Physical damage coverage-Covers the replacement or repair cost of your landscaping business’s vehicle if it got damaged or destroyed due to a collision or an act of God
• Personal injury protection/MedPay-MedPay and personal injury protection covers the medical expenses of the driver and passengers who were injured after your commercial vehicle caused an accident or got involved in an accident
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage-Fills for the resulting financial gaps if your commercial vehicle got involved in an accident caused by a driver with no insurance or doesn’t have enough insurance

Inland Marine Insurance for Landscaping Business

Inland marine insurance will refund your losses if the landscaping equipment your business owns become lost or damaged while being hauled from or to a project site. This is available as a stand-alone policy or as an endorsement to commercial auto insurance.

Landscape Architecture Insurance

Landscape architecture insurance also called landscape architect business insurance, is a tailored insurance plan for landscape architects. This is underwritten because landscape architects are different from landscapers and so, they can’t get covered through a tailored landscaping insurance. Inclusions vary from one carrier to the next. However, all will offer professional liability insurance.

Professional Liability Insurance for Landscape Architects

Much of the exposures landscape architects face are associated with how they perform their duties. And so, the most essential coverage for them is professional liability insurance. Professional liability insurance for landscape architects provides $1 million-$2 million so that a landscape architect can pay for attorney fees, settlements, administrative costs, and other legal expenses when a client sustains economic or financial losses and sues for:

• Negligence
• Violation of good faith
• Violation of fair dealing
• Missed deadlines
• Misrepresentation

Landscape Design Insurance

A landscape designer is different from a landscape architect. And so, insurance companies underwrite a landscape design insurance plan for landscape designers. This consists of general liability insurance, commercial auto insurance, equipment insurance, and cyber liability insurance.

Landscaping and Snow Removal Insurance

Landscaping and snow removal insurance is an insurance plan underwritten for landscaping contractors and snow removal contractors. Inclusions are general liability insurance, commercial property insurance, equipment insurance, rental equipment insurance, and employee dishonesty insurance.

Landscape Gardener Public Liability Insurance Plan

You need to know about the landscape gardener public liability insurance. This isn’t an insurance policy but an insurance plan sold in the UK. Landscape gardener insurance comes in three options – essential, classic, and plus.

The landscape gardeners insurance essentials package provides you with public liability insurance, employer’s liability insurance, and financial loss coverage.

The classic landscape gardening insurance package doesn’t only have public liability, employer’s liability, and financial loss coverage but also tools coverage, accidental death coverage, and professional liability insurance.

The plus option has the same bundle of insurance for landscape gardeners. The only thing that makes it different is that personal accident coverage for employees is added.

Note that you can also add optional business insurance for landscape gardeners such as contract work coverage, hired-in-plant coverage, or owned plant coverage to any of the insurance options mentioned above.

Short Term Landscaping Insurance

Short term landscaping insurance is a term that pertains to any landscaping insurance plan that’s available as a one day, monthly, or hourly policy.

Landscaping Insurance by The Hour

Landscaping insurance by the hour is sold as a general liability-only insurance plan wherein optional policies can be added or not. It functions the same way as the usual general liability insurance. The only difference is that premiums of hourly landscaping insurance are calculated based on how many hours you want to get covered. Companies that sell this type of landscaping insurance plan are Thimble and Putty.

24 Hour Landscaping Insurance

24 hour landscaping insurance, otherwise called landscaping insurance for one day, is also a general liability insurance plan. The general liability policy included in landscaping insurance for a day can be added with products and completed operations coverage, equipment and tools coverage, and advertising injury coverage. The policy limit of landscaping insurance daily basis is $1 million-$2 million.Optional policies will share the primary limit of general liability insurance or will have their own sub-limits.

One day landscaping insurance is ideal as a temporary insurance for specific landscaping projects not covered by your present insurance company. It’s also useful if you’re an independent worker who does landscaping as a side hustle. Companies selling landscaping insurance by the day are Insured by Jones, Thimble, and Putty.

Landscaping Insurance Monthly Basis

Landscaping insurance monthly basis is an insurance plan that allows you to enjoy the protection provided by general liability insurance. The amount of coverage you’ll get is $1 million-$2 million. Insurance companies that sell landscaping insurance by the month are Thimble and Hiscox.

Landscaping Insurance Cost

So how much is landscaping insurance? While there are many determinants that affect premiums, expect for your landscaping business insurance cost to be $48 per month or $576 per year, provided that you only want to get a general liability insurance coverage.

There’s no single definite answer as to how much does insurance cost for a landscaping business. This is because, as we said earlier, many factors affect the rates of each customer. That said, here are the most common variables that determine the cost of insurance for landscaping business:

Number of Employees 

Landscaping insurance cost is affected by the number of employees. The rule of the thumb is that a landscaping business with 10 employees will be charged more premiums than a landscaping business that only has 5 employees.

Location 

Location determines how much is insurance for a landscaping business. A quick explanation for this is that there are states which have more expensive business insurance as compared to others.

Claims History

Claims history is another determinant of how much is insurance for a small landscaping business as well as established landscaping business. Specifically,  if you’ve claimed your insurance policy numerous times in the past, then expect for any insurance company to charge heavily the next time you decide to get insured. For this reason, it’s very important for you to have risk management programs in place in order to reduce the likelihood of making an insurance claim.

Revenue

Revenue is also a determinant of landscaping insurance cost. High revenue means that there’s more business activity going on. This ultimately means that specific exposures, particularly third party lawsuits or workplace accidents, are more likely to happen. The tricky thing with this is that revenue is an uncontrollable factor that determines landscaping insurance prices. And so, it goes to show that insurance premiums will increase as your business grows.

The Type of Services Offered

How much does landscaping insurance cost also depends on the type of landscape services you offer. For example, if you plant trees and create structures for a landscape, then expect your rates to be more expensive than a landscape contractor that only specializes in landscape maintenance.

Types of Insurance You Decide to Purchase 

The types of business insurance policies you decide to purchase affects the average cost of landscaping insurance plans.

Company You Decide to Work With

The landscape business insurance cost of one carrier will never be the same as the rate of another carrier, unless both are selling the same insurance product as partners. For you to understand better, take a look at this table that shows the rates of the best landscaping insurance companies:

Here’s another table that shows you the landscaping business insurance costs of carriers that can insure you for an hour, a day, or a month:

The easiest way for you to get a better estimate of rates and find cheap landscaping insurance is to compare quotes. Start here by clicking the “Get quotes” button then provide some basic business information. Compare landscaping insurance quotes of different carriers to know which ones provide the best coverage at a price that makes sense.

Landscaping Liability Insurance Cost

As provided earlier, landscaping liability insurance cost is $48 per month or $567 per year on average. Note that this rate assumes you only get coverage for personal injuries or property damage. Your actual rate will be higher if you decide to get optional policies.

Top Considerations When Looking for The Best Landscape Insurance Companies

Many landscape insurance companies operate in the USA. But not all provide the best insurance for landscaping. Here are the top considerations to ensure you only work with landscaping insurance companies that are truly willing to help.

Cheap Doesn’t Always Mean Great

Of course, you want to save money. That’s why it seems ideal to work with an insurance company that has a cheap landscape insurance cost. But wait a minute, have you ever thought of looking at the features of the landscape insurance coverage in relation to its price?

For example, paying $18 per month for a landscaping insurance plan that only gives $500,000 general liability insurance with no proof of insurance isn’t any better than paying $37 per month for a landscape insurance plan giving you a $1 million general liability insurance having optional policies and unlimited proof of insurance automatically included.

That said, while carriers with low landscaper insurance cost seems enticing, don’t immediately jump into their offer but look at their perks before getting covered.

Can You Customize Your Landscaping Insurance?

It’s a plus if an insurance company allows you to customize your landscaping insurance. You’ll know that this is the case if the landscaping insurance plan you’re going to buy offers insurance products you can add or remove. It’s more of a plus if the carrier lets you customize your landscaping liability insurance. A landscaping liability insurance can be customized if you can add optional policies to it or you can decide how much coverage it provides.

Online Landscaping Insurance Quotes

Pick carriers that offer landscaping quotes online. Online quotations allow you to choose which policies to purchase and get an idea how much you will pay for premiums. And so, companies that give online landscaping insurance quotes insure you with full transparency in mind.