Landscaping Insurance

[screamin400]

I do gravel driveways for a living. I am expanding out into full time landscaping. I am getting insurance quotes but not really sure what is good and what is not. Here is what I have from my agent:

General Liability Coverage Part
Coverage Limits
General Liability - Each Occurrence $500,000
Personal & Advertising Injury $500,000
Medical Payments $5,000 per person
Damage to Premises Rented to You $500,000
General Aggregate $1,000,000
Products - Completed Operations Aggregate $1,000,000
Operations Number of Employees
000190 Landscape Gardening 1 full-time
Policy Optional Coverages
Coverage Deductible Limits
Contractors Equipment - Miscellaneous Equipment, Comprehensive $200 $44,000
Property - Additional Coverages:
Accounts Receivable $0 $5,000 Included
Ammonia Contamination $0 $25,000 Included
Arson Reward $0 $7,500 Included
Check Forgery and Alteration $200 $1,000 Included
Counterfeit Money $50 $500 per workday Included
Debris Removal $5,000 + 5% of Cov 1 & 2 Included
Demolition Cost $0 $15,000 Included
Expenses for Loss Adjustment $0 $1,000 Included
Expenses for Security $0 $2,500 Included
Exterior Signs, Lights and Clocks $100 $5,000 Included
Fire Department Service Charge $0 All Reasonable Charges Included
Fire Extinguisher Recharge $0 All Reasonable Charges Included
Money and Securities $200 $2,000 Included
Newly Acquired or Constructed Property - Buildings* Amount Up to $500,000 Included
Newly Acquired Property - Business Personal Property* Up to $250,000 Included
Non-Owned Detached Trailers* $5,000 Included
Peak Season Coverage* 25% of BPP Included
Personal Articles* $2,500 Included
Pollutants Clean Up and Removal $10,000 Included
Property in Danger* any 斗oss to covered prop Included
Temporarily Off-Premises - BPP and PPO* $15,000 Included
Valuable Papers & Records $0 $5,000 Included
*Coverage applies if Building and/or Business Personal Property exists. See FS 00-01 for details
General Liability - Extensions of Coverage:
Attorneys Fees $100 for arrest Included
Bail Bonds $500 per bond Included
Elevator Liability Included
Fire Legal Liability Included
Host Liquor Liability Included
Non-Owned Automobile and/or Hired Auto Liability * Included
Non-Owned Watercraft Included
Incidental Medical Malpractice Included
Owners and Contractors Protective Liability Included
Volunteer Workers - Medical Payments Included
Coverage Premium
Property Coverage Part:
Glass and Lettering included
Mechanical and Electrical Breakdown included
Property and Inland Marine Optional Coverages $329.00
General Liability Coverage Part $801.00
Total Quote Premium $1,130.00

I would think for a one man show this should be fine. I have a few days as not picking up my new tractor until next week. Do you guys in the know see any issues here. No, I have no interest in another company. Thanks for taking a look.

 

[TheMan419]

Are you or have you formed an LLC? That will help insulate your personal assets from attachment if something goes sideways. The way that looks to me you have $500,000K in coverage for about $1100.00. You should also look at an umbrella policy.

My wife teaches horseback riding. We have $1M in insurance for her for around $1300 a year. Then we have another $1M umbrella that covers both of us and it is like $250/yr. It only kicks in if the original $1M is exhausted that is why it is so cheap.

So I would get as low of a general policy as I could and then get an umbrella. Our umbrella requires us to carry the $1M policy.

The other thing to look at is how much premium increase is there to bump that policy from $500K to $1M. The cost will NOT double, not even close.

 

[screamin400]

Are you or have you formed an LLC? That will help insulate your personal assets from attachment if something goes sideways. The way that looks to me you have $500,000K in coverage for about $1100.00. You should also look at an umbrella policy.

My wife teaches horseback riding. We have $1M in insurance for her for around $1300 a year. Then we have another $1M umbrella that covers both of us and it is like $250/yr. It only kicks in if the original $1M is exhausted that is why it is so cheap.

So I would get as low of a general policy as I could and then get an umbrella. Our umbrella requires us to carry the $1M policy.

The other thing to look at is how much premium increase is there to bump that policy from $500K to $1M. The cost will NOT double, not even close.

I am thinking this is a bare bones number. My wife is looking into an llc now. I have two business right now and am out of time. She will have to take care of that. 1 million sounds about where I am thinking I should be

 

[MESSMAKER]

My general liability is about $500 a year. I am not sure it is apples to apples though. It is through progressive.

 

[screamin400]

My general liability is about $500 a year. I am not sure it is apples to apples though. It is through progressive.

Wow that is cheap. Is that contractor insurance or homeowner? I would love a price like that.

 

[MESSMAKER]

Contractor. I till,mow and grade but no digging more than 6 inches or so.

 

[Atchuuu]

I know you stated that you are not interested in another company but I would recommend getting quotes from multiple carriers. Not all insurance companies are competitive in the same area of insurance. Sometimes it pays to shop around. Sometimes it pays very well.

 

[Rustyiron]

I know you stated that you are not interested in another company but I would recommend getting quotes from multiple carriers. Not all insurance companies are competitive in the same area of insurance. Sometimes it pays to shop around. Sometimes it pays very well.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[screamin400]

I know you stated that you are not interested in another company but I would recommend getting quotes from multiple carriers. Not all insurance companies are competitive in the same area of insurance. Sometimes it pays to shop around. Sometimes it pays very well.

I understand what your saying but I finally found an agent I like who handles everything for me. We shop insurance every Feb to make sure I do not want to make a move. If I have two insurance co and my pole barn burns with my tractor in it who pays? If the tractor fell off my trailer and my truck has a diff ins. co. who pays? I prefer one co.

 

[nikerret]

I have a $1M policy, including excavation, for under $500 a year. I would not go into this with less than $1M per incident, liability. I also would make sure you get excavation. If you're disturbing the ground, you're excavating.

 

[screamin400]

I ended up going with a 2 million dollar policy. It was not cheap here in NY.

 

[Fallon]

A LLC is not a replacement for proper insurance. If you don't do everything perfectly they can pierce the LLC & come after you. I have a general $1m liabity policy & run as a LLC. Belt & suspenders with insurance as my first line of defence & folding my LLC as a last line.

My policy doesn't cover any employees. I'd have to check the details, but similar numbers as noted above. Runs $800 or something per year here in Colorado for a landscaping policy. One big issue is i'm not covered for digging, so I don't do that work. I can do post holes & sprinklers, but not drenching or any significant grading. A policy that covers digging is about 10x the cost.

 

[daugen]

Good point Fallon about LLC.
Screamin, I'm a retired insurance agent and underwriter, think I might be able to help you.
What is quoted to you is standard Contractor General Liability coverage, protecting you from legal liability if you damage someone's property or hurt someone in the course of your business.

Two huge factors for insurance. The first is if you have a backhoe. If you do, you MUST declare it and make sure you are covered for any form of excavation. And never, never never dig before you call. Sounds like common sense, but.....
And you will need to do many thousands of dollars of excavating work before you break even on profit. I have no idea if you need/use an excavator/backhoe in your driveway work. If you stay "on top" much less liability.

The second is workers compensation. This could add ten percent on to your payroll, not quite like providing health insurance benefits...but landscaping WC is expensive. It's a rate per 100/1000 of payroll. Many guys try to run bare, and if their helper is crippled, they are legally on the hook for life for that expense. It's a way to lose your house and everything else. If you work by yourself, fine. But once you hire a helper, be very careful. Oral agreements disappear into smoke when folks get hurt and spouses start calling lawyers.

A $500K primary liability policy topped with a $1M umbrella policy would be a good way to go.

 

[screamin400]

Good point Fallon about LLC.
Screamin, I'm a retired insurance agent and underwriter, think I might be able to help you.
What is quoted to you is standard Contractor General Liability coverage, protecting you from legal liability if you damage someone's property or hurt someone in the course of your business.

Two huge factors for insurance. The first is if you have a backhoe. If you do, you MUST declare it and make sure you are covered for any form of excavation. And never, never never dig before you call. Sounds like common sense, but.....
And you will need to do many thousands of dollars of excavating work before you break even on profit. I have no idea if you need/use an excavator/backhoe in your driveway work. If you stay "on top" much less liability.

The second is workers compensation. This could add ten percent on to your payroll, not quite like providing health insurance benefits...but landscaping WC is expensive. It's a rate per 100/1000 of payroll. Many guys try to run bare, and if their helper is crippled, they are legally on the hook for life for that expense. It's a way to lose your house and everything else. If you work by yourself, fine. But once you hire a helper, be very careful. Oral agreements disappear into smoke when folks get hurt and spouses start calling lawyers.

A $500K primary liability policy topped with a $1M umbrella policy would be a good way to go.

No Hoe no employees. I am a one man show. Thanks for the input.

 

[daugen]

No Hoe no employees. I am a one man show. Thanks for the input.

then you are fine. Ask your agent, who you like and trust (good!) if there are any exclusions on the liability policy you need to worry about.
Always good to know what the fine print taketh away after the big print above sucks you in...

It used to be you could get one of these basic policies for 300 bucks. Then it went to 500 minimum. Would not surprise me minimum is now over a grand. Unless you are a big operator and can get scheduled/experience rated credits, unlikely to be a big difference in price between one company and another. But if one insurer has a 500 min premium and the other has a 1000, for a small operator, that's a big deal.