Frequently Asked Questions About Landscaping Insurance

If you've worked as a landscaper for any amount of time, you know that landscaping companies face all sorts of risks on a daily basis, from equipment damage and worker injuries to the destruction of customers' property. These incidents could incur enormous expenses in structural repairs, equipment replacement, medical bills, and civil lawsuits.

Landscaping insurance can protect both your business and your customers against the fallout from these kinds of risks. If you've never had to purchase this kind of insurance before, you'll want to understand basic points about what it includes and how it can benefit you. Start by examining the answers to these frequently asked questions.

Landscaping insurance actually involves a collection of related policies instead of serving as a standalone policy in its own right. These policies work together to protect landscaping companies against a wide range of unforeseen accidents and other costly incidents that might occur in their everyday activities.

Landscaping companies typically engage in functions such as pruning trees, removing tree stumps, designing and installing hardscapes, creating optimal drainage conditions, seeding and trimming lawns, and installing and maintaining gardens. Any of these activities may pose risks to both workers and property owners.

Every landscaping business should include commercial general liability coverage in its portfolio of insurance policies. Commercial general liability insurance covers your business in case you cause physical injury or property damage to a customer or outside party, helping you pay for repairs and other financial losses.

In addition to covering others' potential losses, you must also protect your own business facility, equipment, and other assets. Commercial property insurance can help compensate you for theft, vandalism, and accidental destruction. If your business owns and operates cars, vans, or trucks, you also need commercial auto insurance.

Illinois requires all businesses to hold workers' compensation insurance. This coverage compensates employees for on-the-job injuries, an especially critical issue when your workers use mowers, shears, and other potentially dangerous landscaping equipment. It also protects you against personal injury lawsuits from injured employees.

Employment practices liability or EPL coverage protects your company against lawsuits filed by your employees on grounds of discrimination, harassment, or other unfair business practice charges.

Inland marine insurance covers any tools or equipment that experience damage as you move them from your facility to a work site.

Depending on your individual needs and risks, you may want to look into other forms of coverage beyond the traditional scope of landscaping insurance. Examples include flood insurance, cyber insurance, errors and omission insurance, and environmental liability insurance.

Even if you purchase all the necessary landscaping insurance policies at their highest levels, an especially devastating event may make you liable for more damages than these policies can cover. For this reason, you should consider purchasing umbrella insurance as well. This additional coverage supplements maxed-out policies.

You may have heard that you need a surety bond as part of your landscaping company’s licensing process and to encourage customers to engage your services. However, while surety bonds offer certain financial guarantees for those who hire you, they perform a different function than landscaping insurance.

Surety bonds help to assure customers that you'll live up to the standards of work expected in your profession. Contractual surety bonds guarantee that you'll honor contractual obligations, while fidelity bonds offer assurances against theft. Many customers will insist on both bonding and insurance before you work for them.

The size of your projects may determine whether you need both a surety bond and landscaping insurance. If you want to receive big jobs from major commercial or government clients, for instance, you should invest in both instruments.

The costs of landscaping insurance depend on numerous factors, from the location of your business, your maximum coverage limits, and the heavy equipment you use to the risks that your particular employees must take on the job. The cost of your workers' compensation coverage will depend partly on your business's size and payroll.

You'll also pay different premiums on specific policies with your landscaping insurance coverage. For instance, general liability insurance for landscapers can range from $2,200 to $4,600 per year for $1 million in coverage. By contrast, commercial vehicle or inland marine coverage may cost as little as $100 to $550 annually.

As in other kinds of insurance, you can control the amount of your monthly premiums by choosing a specific deductible level. The deductible represents the amount you must pay out of pocket before the coverage steps in. The higher your annual deductible level, the less you can expect to pay in monthly premiums.

If your business maintains lawns, orchards, gardens, or other common landscape features, turn to Illinois Insurance Center for the landscaping insurance you need. Our experienced team can fit you with the right types and levels of coverage for your needs while also providing other commercial insurance options. Contact us today.