Lawn Mowers

Do you need lawn care business insurance? Bottom line is how much is at risk for you personally and for your company if you are in the lawn care business. What happens if you leave a gate open or damage some property? Can you afford the lawsuit out of your own pocket? For most businesses and individuals, probably not. A lawsuit can sink your company and possibly your personal possessions as well unless you have some kind of business insurance coverage.

Lawn Care Business Insurance

Here are some questions to ask yourself.

• How large is your business
• Protect employees
• Protect home owners
• Evaluate risk
• Disability insurance
• Health insurance
• Equipment insurance
• Costs can be high

An Example of Insurance Needs

A friend of mine operates a small lawn care business more as a hobby, a chance to get some exercise and to make a little money. He is retired and this gives him something to do outside which he loves. He has seven customers and he uses his own car to move his lawnmower, rake, edger etc from one customer to another. There is no lawn care business insurance or any liability insurance. He cannot afford it on what he makes and is extremely careful. I have not seen his contract, however he probably has all of the disclaimers etc in it.

He is operating his business, actually he is not even incorporated. If he is sued by one of his customers he risks losing a great deal, however this is a minimal risk he is willing to take. There are no pools to worry about and he is a very careful man. He also does not have any employees which makes everything much simpler as well. I asked him about insurance one day knowing that he did not carry any insurance. He indicated that he makes sure that is very careful with everything he does and he does have disclaimers in his contracts. He is also prepared to make repairs etc if needed.

Small Landscaping Business with Multiple Trucks and Employees

Another example is for a business with multiple trucks, with trailers and lots of equipment with several employees. He has many customers and there really is no question that he must carry lawn care business insurance to cover his customers, his employees and himself. He is also incorporated and has made sure that his personal possessions are not at risk should something happen.

It is very obvious that he needs to have lawn care business insurance to cover his situation. The difficulty is where do you draw the line and decide that you need to have insurance. For the writer it occurs when you begin having employees who may or may not be as careful as you are. They may damage something and you will need to replace or repair whatever it is. It may not even be something you want to put through your insurance, but at least you have it in case it is needed.

Another decision is how much insurance to have and what the deductible will be. If for example you are willing to take on some of the risk e/g $10,000 deductible, then your insurance costs will be lower than someone who has a $5000 deductible for example insurance policy.

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