Landscaping Insurance

Professional landscapers are horticultural experts who make our outdoor spaces beautiful all year round. They specialize in lawn, hedge, and property design and maintenance and offer seasonal cleanups for commercial and residential properties to create, foster, and maintain sustainable landscapes for their clients.

However, landscaping businesses and contractors face various liability risks that can upend their businesses and finances. A comprehensive landscaping insurance policy covers landscapers for damages and losses sustained due to accidents, legal threats, incidents beyond their control, theft, and vandalism.

A comprehensive landscaping business insurance policy may include the following types of coverages:

• Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance: Also called general liability insurance, CGL covers third-party bodily injuries and third-party property damage claims or allegations resulting from your regular business activities. It may also include product liability insurance to protect you from injury and damage claims from any product you manufacture, distribute or sell.

• Tools and Equipment Insurance: This type of coverage protects the transportable tools and equipment your landscaping business uses if damaged by fire, water, a natural disaster, vandalism, or if stolen by paying to repair or replace them. From hand tools and safety gear to heavy equipment like bulldozers, tools and equipment insurance is a must-have for landscapers and all contractors.

• Pollution Liability Insurance: Your landscaping company’s vehicles and heavy equipment, as well as the fertilizers and pesticides it uses, can lead to claims of environmental, third-party bodily injury, and third-party property damage. Pollution liability insurance can cover your costs for such claims, whether immediate or made later, including civil fines and cleanup costs.

• Commercial Property Insurance: Whether you own or lease an office or warehouse for your landscaping business or work out of your home, you should have commercial property insurance to pay for damage and loss to your property and business contents caused by fire, water, severe weather, theft, and vandalism. It is designed to pay for replacing or repairing your building and attached structures, office contents, electronics, inventory, and any tenant improvements you make to a leased or rented property. Commercial property insurance may also include business interruption insurance to cover your lost income and overhead costs if you’re forced to temporarily close for repairs following an insurable loss, such as a fire.

• Commercial Auto Insurance: A private-passenger car insurance policy is not designed to cover your business vehicles. Commercial auto insurance does, regardless of your vehicle type and the trailers you use to transport heavy equipment. Any vehicle used for business purposes should be covered by commercial auto insurance.

Yes. Regardless of your landscaping services, the risks are worrisome, especially in locations prone to harsh weather.

Additionally, landscaping projects can amount to large client contracts, and most property owners expect you to be adequately insured and may ask to see your certificate of insurance. Being insured protects you and your clients, giving you a leg up on the competition.