888-900-0205Landscaper Business Insurance
Professional landscaping businesses have many things to keep track of. Most of your work is performed at the customer’s location by your employees. You need to stay on top of it all to make sure your business succeeds. With multiple locations, clients and employees there is big potential for risk. Without the right business insurance coverage, too much risk can mean the end of your business.
General Liability For Landscapers
General liability insurance is designed to protect you from unexpected events and accidents. If a customer walks too close to one of your company’s lawn mowers and burns his leg, you may have to pay his medical bills. General liability covers that for you and helps protect you against future law suits. If your company landscaping activities cause a neighbor to have a severe allergy attack, they may try to sue your company for damages. General liability covers against problems of this sort that you may not have thought of and provided coverage for in advance.
Business Owners Policy (BOP)
A business owners insurance policy, or BOP, is designed to protect the physical assets of your landscaping business. If you conduct business from a structure such as an office building or shop, BOP will protect it from loss and damage. Since landscapers tend to conduct most of their business activities on the go, BOP coverage will help you protect the physical contents of your business. Landscaping tools and equipment for example, can be damaged in storms or accidents and cause your business to lose profits while waiting for repairs.
BOP will also protect your company from losing important electronic documentation and assets. If you use specialized software to design landscapes for your clients, BOP will replace that software if it is lost or damaged. Losing valuable physical paperwork or electronic documentation can cost your business hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you were working with the original blue prints to a client’s new home for example, that loss could be devastating for your company and the client.
A business owners policy also protects your company if one of your employees is dishonest. Having employees steal supplies from your company or use company funds for personal items is costly. In fact, employee dishonesty accounts for as much as six percent in revenue losses annually. Your BOP can protect you from specific types of dishonest actions by your employees.
Commercial Auto Insurance For Landscapers
Since your company performs most of its work onsite at different job locations, you and your employees travel a lot. Commercial auto insurance coverage protects your company vehicles, your employees and your company assets. Business auto insurance can replace company vehicles that are destroyed in an accident. It can cover the hospital and medical costs for employees and third parties injured in an accident. It can protect you from loss due to theft or vandalism, and many other travel specific issues that may arise.
Workers Compensation
If your landscaping company has one or more employees, you are required by law to carry workers comp insurance. Workers comp covers you and them if there is an injury on the job. Workers comp will cover hospital expenses if an employee is injured at a client’s job site. It will also cover temporary or permanent disability for injuries that occur while conducting work specific activities. If needed, workers comp takes care of lost income and job retraining among other things.
Surety Bond
Surety bonds are guarantees of your work. Surety bonds can be designed to guarantee a specific price, specific service level, or specific project. If you sign a contract to complete a landscaping project within a specific time frame, the surety bond guarantees that you will fulfill that contract. If you fail to complete the project on time, your client will be paid for loss and damages.