You help busy homeowners keep their yards looking healthy, uniform and green. It’s a labor-intensive job, but at the end of the day, you get the satisfaction of stepping back and seeing a project well done. Whether you’re seeding grass, rolling out sod or tending to plants around the yard, you focus on maintaining every yard to the owners’—and your own—high expectations.
In such a physical line of work, accidents happen. Even if you have a long list of happy clients clamoring to hire you, one unfortunate incident could put your business at risk for financial loss, whether you’re at fault or you’re the victim of pure happenstance.
Protect yourself with lawn care business insurance so you can focus on the job at hand. Here are four reasons that demonstrate how the right coverage will have your company’s back.
You’re riding on your mower when you hear a loud scrape. Once you hop off to inspect the damage, you realize that you misjudged your turn radius and toppled a piece of yard art or took a chunk out of the garden fence. You’re on the hook for the damages, and your client could even sue if you don’t provide payment.
This is where a general liability policy is a must. As the Insurance Information Institute explains, liability insurance "protects your business from financial loss should you be liable for property damage or personal and advertising injury caused by your services, business operations or your employees."
In this case, your general liability insurance would help cover the cost of the fence or decoration beyond your deductible so the client could replace it as soon as possible and you could avoid an escalating conflict.
Although it’s a funny mental picture, you can’t ride your lawnmower from job to job. When it comes time to visit a client, you load up your trusty commercial vehicle and hit the road. What if your work truck is involved in an accident on the way? Commercial auto insurance can cover damaged property and medical bills resulting from said accident so you can get back to work as soon as possible.
After putting days of back-breaking labor into your client’s yard, they accuse you of failing to uphold your end of the contract. Defending yourself can rack up court costs quickly, but you have little choice for the sake of your finances and your reputation.
As the U.S. Small Business Administration points out, any companies providing services should seriously consider professional liability insurance to protect against claims of errors, omissions, or negligence in your line of work.
Your collection of commercial equipment is your livelihood. From your mowers to your grass bags, fertilizer, shears and other equipment, you simply can’t provide lawn care without your tools. What if you woke up to the nightmarish call that your garage has somehow caught fire? The chemicals and gasoline inside could accelerate the blaze and destroy your livelihood.
Luckily property insurance—often bundled together with general liability insurance in a Business Owners Policy—will pay to replace your equipment if the cause of damage stems from a covered offense under your policy. You can choose a policy that pays out the value of the items as new, or one that factors in depreciation. You can also include business interruption coverage in case you experience downtime because of this damage.
It’s a grim statistic, but more than 80,000 people visit the ER every year due to lawn mower injuries. You or your employees could be among those injured, whether it’s a minor scrape or a serious mower rollover on a hilly lot. Workers compensation covers employees’ medical bills and lost work time if they do sustain an injury while at work.
Ready to learn more about your lawn care business insurance options?
Get your commercial insurance quote from CoverHound today!
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