Vital Information for an Accurate Landscaping Business Insurance Quote

A landscaping business may consist of just a few people, a lawnmower, and a truck, or you may be operating a whole fleet of full-time staff. Regardless of the size of your company, good insurance is a must to protect your business from accidents and situations that could drain your profits and drive the business to bankruptcy.



When researching policies, make sure you have the following information ready so you can get accurate quotes.

1. Employee Stats

Few landscaping businesses are staffed purely by their owners, so chances are there are employees that will need to be covered under your insurance policies.

Insurance isn't just meant to protect your employees in the event of an injury on the job. Your insurance company will also need to register the employees on your liability policies. This is to ensure they are covered in the event a liability situation occurs. 

Applicable Insurance

There are several types of insurance for a landscaping business that must provide coverage for employees. At a basic level, you may need workers’ compensation, as well as liability coverage in case an employee damages either customer or business property. Depending on the size of your business, you may also need to make benefit package policies available, like health insurance. 

2. Vehicle Info

Most landscaping services have at least one company vehicle, if not an entire fleet of vehicles. These vehicles may also include trailers and towed equipment like stump grinders. Generally, any item that has wheels and a license plate will require insurance coverage in order to be legally transported on the road. 

Applicable Insurance

The most obvious coverage necessary is liability automobile insurance so that it is legal to operate your landscaping trucks on the road. You will also like want a comprehensive policy so that repairs and replacement are covered in the event of an accident where your driver is at fault or the at-fault driver is uninsured.

Many business owners also opt for increased liability coverage to further protect them financially if an accident leads to a lawsuit. The amount of increased coverage is quite individual and is best to discuss directly with an insurance agent.

3. Equipment Specifics

Provide your insurance agent with specifics for all equipment that belongs to your business. This includes both office equipment, from the computers to the HVAC system, as well as the specific equipment used to take care of client landscaping. Your agent will guide you on what equipment qualifies and whether extra documentation is necessary to prove the value of said equipment.

Applicable Insurance

Basic loss coverage for theft or damage is the bare minimum of coverage for your equipment. You may also want to add equipment breakdown coverage, which will cover any losses if an especially valuable or hard-to-replace item requires expensive repairs or replacement in the course of normal use. 

4. Gross Sales

It may seem like there is no good reason to provide your insurance company with information on sales and profits, but failure to do so can leave your business with insufficient coverage. Gross sales provide the insurance agent with a guideline on how much coverage you need.

When overhead is low and sales are high, you may opt for a higher deductible to pay out of pocket. If you are running on thin margins, on the other hand, a lower deductible may be a wiser option. Your agent can best find policies within your budget if they have your financial information on hand. 

Applicable Insurance

Although the point of sharing sales information is primarily used for determining the best level of coverage and deductible payments, it can also be used to determine the amount of coverage necessary for a policy such as business interruption insurance.

If your landscaping service cannot run without you present, for example, then you can purchase insurance that will cover loss of income in the event you can't work for an extended period due to an accident or injury. 

5. Special Considerations

Depending on the size, location, and scope of your landscaping business, you may need additional insurance policies. Special considerations to share with your agent include whether you work out of the home or from a dedicated business space, provide landscaping design services, or sell your own products such as fertilizer treatments, equipment, or plants. 

Applicable Insurance

Your agent will be the best source for directing you to additional coverage for any special considerations. Useful policies for a landscaping business, for example, may include building insurance and product liability coverage.

For those that provide landscape design services, an errors and omissions policy may also be a good idea due to the lawsuit risk in the event a client feels your design or care advice was faulty and damaged their property.

Contact Illinois Insurance Center if you are ready to get a quote on coverage for your landscaping service.