Tag: 9016

6 coverages every Lawn Care or Landscaping business should carry.

Lawn Care and Landscaping is a diverse industry and with that diversity comes a lot of risk. How you go about protecting your business from those risks can make all the difference in the long term success of your business. Some landscaping businesses simply mow lawns, others lay sod and plants shrubs, some even climb several feet into the air to work on trees and others grow and sell plants at one central location. No matter what type of landscaping business you are running, here are 6 coverages that every business in this industry should carry.

  • General Liability
  • Workers’ Compensation
  • Commercial Auto or Hired and Non-owned Auto
  • Inland Marine
  • Commercial Property
  • Business Owners Package

General Liability

General Liability Insurance is a policy that most every business needs. Depending upon the state and industry you operate in, it is required by law to be in business. For the lawncare and landscaping industry this coverage can prevent your business from damage that is caused to third parties by you or your employees. This can apply regardless of whether the incident occurs on your property or at the property of the customer.

Workers’ Compensation

In 48 out of 50 states workers comp is required by law. What you pay in premium will depend on your experience modification rating and the NCCI class code for your business.  Lawn care and Landscaping is an industry that has several classification codes which include: 9102, 0042, 9182, 0106, 9220, and 9016.

Commercial Auto or Hired and Non-owned Auto

Commercial Auto and Hired and Non-owned Auto Insurance are two coverages that deal with vehicles being used for business purposes. Which of these two coverages your business needs is determined by whether or not the business owns the vehicle that is being used for daily work. If you have employees using their own vehicle as a part of their job than you need Hired and Non-owned Auto Coverage. If you are leasing the vehicle for the season, than this is the coverage you need as well. If your business owns the vehicle than you need commercial auto insurance.

Inland Marine

Inland Marine Insurance Coverage is also known as equipment coverage or floaters coverage. These terms are used because this insurance is for equipment not covered by your property or auto insurance policies and it is usually equipment that is going to be in transit. If you have a trailer with several pieces of equipment that is going to be transported to several locations throughout the day than you need this type of coverage. This could also be necessary for greenhouses if they are having plants delivered to a clients location. while the products are being transported they would be covered by this policy.

Commercial Property

If you own property, no matter how big or small than you need this coverage. Without it you can put at risk everything that makes your business run. Unless you can afford to replace the property and everything inside it than you need this coverage. This policy can usually be added to  BOP for minimal cost to the business.

Business Owners Package

Most insurance carriers have what are called Business Owners Packages designed for each industry and each classification code. Through their experience with claims in each industry, each carrier has a basic recommended package of coverage they deem appropriate for each business. These packages can be adjusted based on the industry you are in and the amount of risk you as a business owner are comfortable taking. This is where the advice of an experienced insurance agent who you trust can be very valuable. An experienced agent should be able to lay down the risks and rewards of each coverage and help you to make the most informed decision possible when buying insurance for your business.

 

 

SIC Business Insurance Codes:

•   0781- Landscaping and Planning

•   0782- Lawn and Garden Services

NAICS Liability Classifications:

•   541320- Landscaper Architectural Services

•   561730- Landscape Services

Business ISO General Liability:

•   Code: 97047- Landscape Gardening

•   Code: 97050- Lawn Care Services

Common Workers Compensation Class Codes:

•   0042- Landscapers and Drivers

•   9102- Park Maintenance, Lawn Care, and Drivers

•   0106- Tree Pruning or Spraying

Lawncare & Landscaping

Lawncare and landscaping businesses are similar yet very different.

As a business owner of a lawncare or landscape company you might have had to shop for insurance. You might have had to do this to either to meet state requirements or to make sure your business is protected just in case an injury occurs to an employee. Recently I have taken many phone calls from owners of small lawncare or landscape companies that have been asked by a client, sometimes even a home owner to provide proof of work comp coverage before they are grated the job or bid. Whether you have a small or large lawncare company chances are you have had to make a call or two to obtain a work comp insurance certificate.

When going through this process have you ever wondered how your company is classified? There are two class codes that contemplate lawncare and landscaping, 9102 and 0042.  The most qualifying question to determine what class code you are in is, does your company primarily engage in maintaining already existing lawns and garden beds or is your business designing and installing landscape or flower beds. Another deciding factor is if there will be any installation of paving stones or rock beds. The class code 9102 is designated for lawncare or maintenance of existing lawns. Snow removal will also be covered under 9102 and should be discussed if there is snow removal operations in the down season of lawncare. 0042 class code is designated to design and installations of lawns and beds. Any sod laying or pavers would also fall under the 0042 class code. However both class codes do contemplate the applications of fertilizers and insecticides.

One aspect of both classes of business, that I feel I must bring up, is tree trimming. If at any time there is tree trimming the class code 0106 would need to be added to the work comp quote. Designated payroll can be added to that class or it can be added on an “if any” basis. I also must fully explain that the 0106 class code is considered high risk. It is very difficult to place with an insurance carrier.

When calling in or submitting an online quote, the first couple of questions back to you will most likely be:  How many employees not counting the owner are there and what type of lawncare are you providing? If the answer to the first question is there is only the owner, which some times is the case, that would be an owner only policy. If there is one employee or more there will need to be included a total annual payroll. At that time we would figure out how to best classify you. lawncare or landscape will find the best price and insurance carrier for your company.

Lets talk about Landscaping!!

When I first started doing workers compensation insurance, I had the privilege of writing a lot of landscaping types of risk. I have never been a landscaper, so it was difficult to understand all the aspects of landscaping insurance. For example, are you just mowing yards, are you trimming bushes, are you cleaning the yards, are you replanting the grass or flowers, are you doing edge work? Who knew there would be so much that goes into just one risk?

Landscaping insurance liability questions at myinsurancequestion.com

So, while you ponder on the type of landscaping you do, let me tell you there are plenty of carriers that love writing landscaping insurance.  Except tree trimming and that does not classify as landscaping!! So moving on, I find it very interesting that all the types of work my clients have been doing and the challenges I had to write them. So let me walk you through the process of how this is done.

First, we need to talk about exactly what you do. Never be scared to tell an agent what you actually do on a daily basis. If you cut grass, say that. If you trim trees, tell them! I can’t stress how important it is that you tell the agent exactly what you do. The agent and underwriter will do research on your company and we will scroll through every picture and question whether or not you are doing something… so tell us everything!! It is beyond stressful for the client (i.e. you) to have to wait for a carrier to quote your work comp landscaping insurance policy and at the very last minute tell you they found some issues with what you say you do. Especially if you didn’t tell them that you did something. If you have a website that says you do tree trimming, we will know. If your Facebook page has pictures of you climbing ladders to hang plants, we will see them. So tell us exactly what you do. We understand you might have been declined by a lot of other agents, but we are trained to write tough/difficult risks, or we can tell you who to call exactly. We won’t waste your time and we don’t want to waste ours.

Secondly, after you have told us exactly what you do, we will discuss the payroll and employee count. No agent has your actual monthly payroll reporting in front of us, so we need you to be honest. If you pay one of your landscapers $10,000.00 a year, tell us! Honesty is the best policy. If you are starting out as a new company, we will help you figure that out.

Thirdly, this is the best part, we quote your landscaping business. Believe it or not there are a lot of carriers that are competing to write landscapers. You need work comp for a reason, so let us find the best price for you. I get how stressful it is to try to find coverage in your area… but let me take that stress away. I can shop dozens of carriers and I can get you the best coverage for the lowest price.

In the past three months I’ve spoken with 19 landscaping companies. Seven of those companies have become my clients.  I’ve used four different carriers to place those policies. That shows how much our insurance carriers are willing to compete against each other for landscaping insurance. Landscaping has so many aspects to it that it is a fun risk to write. Also companies are competing for the general liability and business owners insurance too.