What is Lawn Care Insurance?
Lawn care and landscaping businesses require significant investments to start and maintain, and what’s invested in a business ought to be protected when possible. Lawn care insurance policies help protect Massachusetts businesses that offer lawn care services from a variety of covered risks.
Lawn care insurance is a form of commercial insurance that’s designed to meet the needs of lawn care and landscaping businesses. Because these businesses typically face multiple potential risks, lawn care policies are usually underwritten so that they have several coverages bundled together.
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What Businesses in Massachusetts Should Have Landscaping Insurance?
Broadly speaking, the majority of lawn care and landscaping businesses in Massachusetts should carry landscaping insurance. Not having insurance can leave a business exposed to risk, and this is generally the best form of insurance for these businesses.
A few examples of specific businesses that may want or need landscaping insurance include:
- Residential lawn care and landscaping companies
- Commercial lawn care and landscaping companies
- Landscaping and snow plowing companies
- Self-employed individuals who mow lawns part- or full-time
What Protections Does Landscaping Insurance Make Available?
Many of the protections that landscaping insurance policies provide can be separated into property coverages and liability coverages. The former normally protects assets a business owns, while the latter typically guards against instances where a business is responsible for harm to a third party. In a few cases, such as with commercial auto coverage, property and liability protections are often combined within the same coverage.
Some property coverages that a landscaping policy may provide include:
- Commercial Property Coverage, which normally protects buildings a business owns and equipment that’s kept on the company’s property
- Inland Marine Coverage, which normally protects equipment and supplies when they’re transported between two locations
- Commercial Auto Coverage, which normally protects vehicles a business owns and also usually offers liability protection against accidents.
- Equipment Breakdown Coverage, which normally protects mowers or other essential equipment in the event it malfunctions
Some liability coverages that a landscaping policy may provide are:
- General Liability Coverage, which often guards against common accidents, false advertising lawsuits and defamation suits
- Errors and Omissions Coverage, which often guards against mistakes that an employee or business owner makes when giving advice
- Pollution Coverage, which often guards against environmental contamination by chemicals that a business uses
- Product Liability Coverage, which often guards against property damage, injury and illness caused by products that a business uses
Errors and omissions coverage is often referred to with the shorthand of “E&O coverage.”
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Can Businesses Combine Lawn Care and Snowplow Policies?
Since many businesses in Massachusetts that offer lawn care services also plow during winter, insurance companies often combine lawn care and snowplow policies together. A single policy frequently can give sufficient protection for both types of work.
When selecting insurance for two types of work, however, there are always nuanced considerations to take into account. For this reason, businesses that want a dual-purpose lawn care and snowplow policy should work with an insurance agent who’s familiar with these policies. An informed agent will know how to help a business select all the coverages that it needs and make sure a single policy offers all of those protections.
