Insurance for Landscaping Business in CT: What You Need to Know

As a landscaper, your services play an important role in improving the curb appeal and resale value of your clients' homes. Moreover, the commercial outdoor spaces you design, develop, and maintain will increase the attractiveness of businesses to customers. However, how can you properly manage the various exposures and risks you face day-to-day to maintain profitability? Landscaping insurance in CT is a proven risk management and loss prevention tool for your business. Read on to learn more.

Coverage Types Befitting Landscaping Businesses

Consider getting these insurance policies to protect your landscaping business:

1. General Liability (GL) Insurance

GL insurance can cover the cost of liability claims against your landscaping company. These costs can include settlements and your legal defense fees. Common liabilities covered include:

• Damage to customers' property: This liability results from damage to things like clients' roofing, fence, or glass window panes, during lawn care.
• Customer injuries: A customer trips in a hole your employees dug in their compound, hurting their leg. They could sue your company for the cost of treating their injury.
• Products and completed operations: These are bodily injury and property damage exposures arising out of defects in your completed landscaping projects.
• Advertising injuries: GL can cover defamation claims when you're accused of harming another party's reputation.

2. BOP Landscaping Insurance in Connecticut

A business owner's policy (BOP) gives you general liability and property coverages in one package. It's usually cheaper than purchasing each coverage separately. If your annual revenue is below $5 million and employees are fewer than 100, this insurance package is structured for a landscaping business like yours.

Besides liability protection, a BOP may include the following coverages:

Property damage: It covers the cost of replacing or repairing your business building /office space and the belongings housed inside. Covered events/losses include theft and damage due to fire, storm, etc.

Expensive landscaping equipment: You may need supplemental insurance (opt-in riders) to cover high-cost tools like mowers.

Business interruption: This BOP insurance component covers income losses and operating expenses if your firm suspends operations due to a covered event.

Equipment breakdown: The policy can cover downtime due to issues like mechanical defects or power surges.

You may customize your commercial insurance by adding riders or increasing your coverage limits. Discuss your unique needs with your insurance agents to maximize your liability and property damage protection.

3. Workers' Compensation Insurance for Landscapers

To comply with Connecticut law, you must get workers' comp insurance for the workers in your landscaping company's payroll. This policy can cover medical costs for employees injured or taken ill due to on-the-job exposures/accidents.

4. Commercial Vehicle Insurance

You should purchase commercial auto insurance for company-owned and personal cars used to execute your business functions. The policy can cover third-party property damage and bodily injury claims.

How Insurers Classify Landscaping Services

Your insurance classification and coding are based on your type/scope of landscaping services.  Work closely with your insurance agent to get a proper insurance classification for your landscaping business. Being classified based on your actual risk profile helps you avoid:

• Paying for irrelevant exposures
• Being underinsured

Typical insurance class codes for landscaping services include:

• If you're in the lawn care specialty, your ISO general liability code would be 97050, while the ISO GL code for gardening is 97047.
• Under the NAICS coding system, landscape architectural services belong in class 541320. The NAICS Code 561730 applies to landscaping services. 

Would you like to learn more about choosing the right insurance for your landscaping business in CT? If so, contact our experts at C.V. Mason Insurance Agency today. We're happy to help you choose the most important coverages for your line of work.