As a landscape contractor, you have a lot on your plate from managing where your employees are, where your equipment is, and if the equipment has enough fuel for the day. The last thing you want to worry about is whether you have the right insurance. This blog post will help you as a landscape contractor in Lancaster PA, figure out what insurance your company needs and if your current policy is the right fit for your business.
General Liability
The first step into the insurance world for a landscaping company is to obtain a general liability insurance policy. General liability is usually one million per occurrence and two million of general aggregate. This type of insurance protects you from the everyday risks of running and owning a landscaping business. If you work with a commercial customer, they will require you to have a certificate of liability insurance or COI, so it is important to obtain a general liability policy right from the start.
Here are a few examples of what your general liability policy would cover for your landscaping business:
- An employee is mowing down the side of a road and their mower picks up a pebble and throws it through someone’s windshield. Your general liability policy would cover the cost of repairing that individual’s windshield.
- A customer accidentally falls into a hole that you dug to input a sprinkler system in their backyard, and they break their leg. Your general liability policy would cover the medical costs for that customer.
Contractor’s Equipment Coverage
Another type of insurance that you want to ensure that you have as a landscaping company is coverage for your equipment. Landscapers typically have expensive equipment such as mowers, head trimmers, etc. that you will want to make sure is covered. A business auto policy will protect your trucks and trailers while a general contractor’s equipment coverage policy will cover all your other equipment.
Over the years that we have worked alongside landscaping contractors, one trend we have seen is that during the winter months when their lawn-related equipment is not in use, they tend to drop that insurance coverage until the springtime rolls around to save some money. We highly recommend that you keep your insurance coverage for your equipment all year round if your storage facility burns down, for example, your equipment is covered. It may seem counterintuitive because you are not using the equipment, but you want to make sure that it is protected from theft, vandalism, or anything to that degree.
Additional Insured Coverage
If you are a commercial landscaping contractor or work on commercial properties, most of the time these companies will want to be listed as an additional insured on your insurance policy. So, when you speak with your insurance agent about your business insurance policy, be sure to state up front that you will be working with commercial properties that require you to list them as an additional insured so that you can add that additional cost into your contracts and bill your customers for that extra coverage.
Workers Compensation
The last big insurance policy landscape contractors will face is workers’ compensation in Pennsylvania. This tends to be the most expensive policy for contractors as this covers your employees if they are injured on the job. So, as you build out your team, keep in mind that your worker’s compensation policy will increase alongside that.
Those are the general insurance policies for a landscaping contractor in Lancaster Pennsylvania. If you are already rocking and rolling and have many employees, it is a good idea to have an audit to make sure that you have the right coverage for your equipment and your employees. At Susquehanna Insurance, we work with a handful of landscaping contractors in the Lancaster area, so our agents would be happy to help answer any questions you might have regarding starting a landscaping business or just simply reviewing your current policy. We write with a variety of insurance companies so we will be able to find the right policy for you. One of the insurance companies we write with is Erie insurance. Erie insurance landscaping policy can be a great option for contractors operating in Lancaster PA. Call us to learn more or get a quote!