Do I Need Insurance To Mow Lawns

Commercial Auto Insurance For Lawn Mowing Business

Do You Need Insurance When Mowing Lawns?

Commercial auto insurance is a coverage for the commercial vehicle your lawn mowing business owns. This type of lawn business insurance covers expenses if the commercial vehicle causes an accident. Furthermore, commercial auto insurance pays for the parts repair or replacement if your lawn mowing businesss vehicle sustains damage. Last but not least, commercial auto insurance pays for the medical expenses of the driver and passengers who got injured after the commercial vehicle caused an accident or got involved in an accident. Note that commercial auto insurance can also be treated as riding lawn mower insurance since its required if a riding lawn mower is to be taken for a run on public roads.

An Overview Of Insurance Policies For Your Lawn Care Business:

Protecting your investments, which include your business and all of your assets, should be a high priority if you hope to continue doing business. Some forms of insurance are required by law, and others are just good old common sense.

All of these cost-cutting measures are ways to stay afloat in this tough economy no matter what is thrown at your lawn care business. Your lawn care business, whether new or old, needs to have this kind of coverage and protection in order to compete in todays market place. Even the biggest franchises get sued from time to time for various reasons, and it is generally considered a cost of doing business.

In accordance with the rule of survival of the fittest, you will want to avail yourself of the type of protection available to you, whether youre a small, medium, or large business, and no matter how many or how few employees you have. The businesses who stay around the longest are those who have been able to weather the financial storms of law suits and other liability issues through smart business planning and good liability coverage.

Why Is It Important To Hire Contractors That Are Insured

There is the possibility of leaving yourself open to risk that can result from hiring an unlicensed or uninsured person to do work at your house. It is possible that an uninsured worker may sue you for damages if he is injured on the job. Therefore you should care if the person mowing your lawn is not insured, especially if you do not carry adequate homeowner’s insurance.

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Dangers Of Lawn Mowing

Flying debris caused by lawn mowers is actually a common occurrence and not just a freak accident. Other dangers include riding mowers rolling over on a hill or cuts from sharp blades, including accidental limb amputations. If you think that personal injury of this nature is one in a million, think again. Insurance claims can include not only medical care but also property loss and potential worker’s compensation.

Directors And Officers Liability Insurance For Lawn Care Business

Lawn Mower Insurance : Lawn Mowing Business Insurance Explained ...

Directors and officers liability insurance lawn care business is useful if youre running a lawn care company operating in a corporate structure. If customers, shareholders, and other third parties, sue a companys directors or officers for offenses associated with the performance of their duties, directors and officers liability insurance will cover attorney fees, administrative costs, and other legal defense expenses.

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Why Do I Need Lawn Care Insurance

As a lawn care business owner, accommodating your clients needs is part of the job. You need insurance coverage thats there just when you need it, whether thats five minutes before a last-minute booking or months in advance.

Thimbles Lawn Care Insurance includes general liability insurance which is essential to protect lawn care businesses.

General liability insurance is designed to provide protection from financial liability because of accidents that cause bodily injury, property damage, and personal and advertising injury to third parties. It also provides the investigation and legal defense for those types of claims brought against you and your business, even if you are ultimately not found to be responsible. Here are some example situations lawn care businesses can experience:

Third-party, non-employee bodily injury: You are using a leaf blower to clear a clients backyard. While you gather the leaves into bags, you set the leaf blower down. As the client is leaving their home, they trip over the blower and are injured.

Third-party property damage: While mowing a clients lawn, your mower throws a rock and shatters your clients window. Not good. You could be held liable for the property damage.

Quick thinking insurance for small businesses.

Do I Need Lots Of Experience To Start A Lawn Care Business

You dont need lots of experience to start a lawn care business. However, youll need to learn how to properly mow, trim, aerate, and complete other lawn care tasks before you get your first customers.

Hands-on experience is the best way to learn. Ask friends, family, and neighbors if you can practice by doing their yard work at a discounted rate. Or, you could work for another lawn care company for one or two years to learn and fine-tune your skills.

You can also use these online resources to get advice from other lawn care professionals:

The more expertise you have in lawn care and maintenance, youre more likely to get repeat business and glowing recommendations.

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Lawn Care Liability Insurance By The Hour

Lawn care liability insurance by the hour is usually sold as a general liability insurance policy. The function is still the same. What makes hourly lawn care liability insurance is that premiums are calculated based on how many hours you want to get covered. For example, if coverage is $34 per hour and you want to get covered for 12 hours, then the premium will be $408.

Hourly lawn care liability insurance is perfect for individuals who mow lawns as an occasional side gig. But know that its also possible for lawn care companies to buy lawn care liability insurance hourly basis if they lack adequate coverage to comply with the insurance requirements of a project contract.

The Pros Of Lawn Mowing For Money

Do You Need an LLC and Insurance To Start A Lawn Care Business

Flexibility: Your child should be able to manage the mowing schedule around schoolwork and other responsibilities.
Great pay: Your child has the potential to earn multiple repeat jobs that last all summer. If he charges anywhere from $10-$40 per yard, depending on the size, he could earn a considerable amount of money by the end of summer.
Repeat customers: Not only will the jobs repeat all summer, many will repeat the following summer. During the winter it could lead to snow shoveling jobs, too.
Proximity: Your child should be able to find neighbors or businesses close by that would like lawn service. This will keep him close to home.
Jobs are plentiful: As long as you live in an area with grass, the grass keeps growing all summer, so there won’t be a shortage of work. Your child should be able to line up multiple jobs to keep him busy.

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How To Find Liability Insurance

When you are organizing your business and preparing to start operations, you will need liability insurance. How do you get coverage? You can contact insurance providers you know about or have been referred to by colleagues or the legal council. You may want to talk to a local agent about your business or try a couple of online sources for quotes.

You might also consider working with a commercial insurance broker to understand your insurance needs and have them get quotes for you. They will analyze your business and suggest coverage types and amounts and providers. You will benefit from the industry experience and in-depth understanding of insurance with brokers, however, there may be a charge for their surfaces.

Additionally, working with brokers can give you an advantage when it comes to finding and managing your liability insurance. Brokers can work with you annually to review your coverage and your business needs and suggest changes to your policy if you have any business changes. They can help you find the best providers and work with providers to manage your insurance claims and coverage.

Hiring A Teen To Cut Your Grass

Its 5 p.m. on a hot summer day, and the neighbors kid just knocked on your door to ask if you would like him to mow your lawn for a small fee. What do you do?

For many homeowners, understanding the liability they have is key to making this decision. The National Consumer Leagues 2015 report indicates that landscaping and outdoor work is among the top five most dangerous jobs for teens. The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that about 17,000 children require emergency room care each year because of lawn mower accidentsso knowing your responsibilities is increasingly important.

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Lawn Mower Business Owners Can Access Many Big Name Insurers Andindustry Specific Underwriters Here: *

Our business insurance brokers are specialists in tradespeople, including lawn mowers and gardeners . They can source suitable business insurance packages to suit the needs of sole trader lawn mowers, grass cutting contractors and small, medium and large lawn mowing and gardening businesses.

Depending on the size and nature of the lawn mowing and gardening service, our brokers often know which insurance companies and underwriters may be likely to provide suitable cover and competitive prices .. eg $5 million public liability insurance for self-employed lawn mowers and gardeners from $480*.

TALK to a SMART Business Insurance broker on 1300 542 573 or contact us online for SMART insurance cover for your lawn mowing businesses.

Public Liability Insurance For Lawn Mowing Business

6 things to bear in mind when choosing lawn mowing business insurance

A lot of unexpected things can happen while providing a lawn mowing service. Here are some examples:

Your lawn mower ran over someones foot
The lawn mower youre using became defective and spilled oil or gasoline on the lawn
The lawn mower suddenly caught fire and burned a portion of the lawn
You lost control while using the lawn mower. It hit the fences and caused damage with its blades
The blades of the lawn mower picked up debris and threw it at an individual or a property

Having liability over the injuries or property damage someone sustains due to your lawn mower is a big problem. In connection, its good to have lawn mowing public liability insurance to wrap things up without spending a single dime.

Public liability insurance for lawn care business provides $1 million – $2 million insurance money. You can claim this type of lawn care liability insurance the moment someone sues you for personal injuries or property damage. Heres how public liability insurance for lawn mowing business works in practice:

Public liability insurance is a very basic coverage. This type of lawn care business liability insurance cant be customized to cover other exposures as your lawn mowing business grows. That said, if youre looking for something more comprehensive, get general liability insurance for lawn mowing business.

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Lawn Mower Theft Insurance

Lawn mowers cant only get stolen while in the premises of your business. Consider the following situations:

Employees might be negligent and lawn mowers can be stolen by somebody
Someone might run off with the lawn mowers while your employees are taking their lunch or snack somewhere

Lawn mower theft insurance recoups losses if thieves manage to successfully get their hands on your lawn care businesss lawn mowers. Moreover, this type of lawnmower insurance will provide coverage for repair costs if the theft didnt result in a loss but only damaged your businesss lawn mowers parts.

Note that some insurance companies underwrite lawn mower theft insurance that provides a replacement unit if the stolen or damaged lawn mower of your business is less than three years old.

General Liability Insurance For Lawn Mowing Business

General liability insurance for lawn mowing business also covers personal injury claims and property damage claims. However, lawn care general liability insurance is better than public liability insurance because it can be added with optional policies.

Optional policies are add-ons to specific types of mowing business insurance. They enhance the function of the policy where theyre added. Common optional policies to general liability insurance for lawn care business are:

Products and completed operations coverage-Products and completed operations coverage will cover settlements, administrative costs, attorney fees, and other legal expenses if the lawn mowing service you completed caused personal injuries or property damage
Advertising injury coverage-Advertising injury coverage will take care of expenses if your lawn mowing business is sued for copyright infringement, slander, and libel
Rented premises liability coverage-This type of optional lawn mowing business insurance will cover cost if youre renting a commercial space that then becomes destroyed or sustains damage due to fires

So how much money can you get from general liability insurance for lawn business? General liability liability insurance also provides $1 million – $2 million coverage for personal injury claims or property damage claims. Optional policies can have their own limits or share the primary limits of general liability insurance.

Surety Bond For Lawn Care

Another insurance for lawn care is a surety bond. This type of lawn insurance is very important if youre planning to provide a service to large commercial establishments or public establishments. Surety bond insurance for lawn service sees to it that the client gets reimbursement for losses should your lawn care company fail or delay the completion of a lawn mowing project.

Know Your Homeowners Insurance

What Kind of Insurance Do I Need For My Lawn Business?

If you are a homeowner, you likely have homeowners insurance, and if you dont, you should. Find out if your policy provides liability coverage for an injury to someone doing your lawn work.

This type of coverage is for situations where someone is injured on your property because of your carelessness. Your policy may provide medical pay coverage if the injury was not caused by your negligence.

Some insurance policies only provide coverage for damage to your propertynot an injured individual. Others cover personal injuries but exclude coverage for paid workers on the property.

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Starting A Lawn Care Company: Business Structure And Licensing Requirments

Generally, to start any business you are subject to some licensing requirements by your state. So you will need to check your local laws. Beyond that, starting a lawn care company is no different than most other businesses.

Laying the foundation for your lawn care company is as simple as getting:

A DBA or registering an LLC,
Any business licenses required in your city or state,
Insurance,
A business bank account.

One of the biggest decisions you will make about your company is whether to structure it as a sole-proprietorship, or an LLC.

What Does Workers’ Comp Cover

Workers’ comp coverage protects employees when injured. It makes good financialsense for both parties.

Loss of income for employees unable to perform job duties
Medical expenses for employees injured on the job
Retraining expenses for employees unable to return
Permanent injury or disability for lasting injuries
Survivor benefits if employees are killed on the job

Coverage does not protect employers from everything. Sometimes employees andemployers can be negligent.

Injuries resulting from a violation of the law
Incidents resulting from employees’ use fo drugs or alcohol
Injuries that did not occur in connection with the job
Clear company policy violations
Injuries that did not occur in connection with the job

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What Affects The Cost Of Liability Insurance

When you need insurance, the cost is one of the first questions you have after finding out about coverage. There are various factors that affect the cost of liability insurance, especially in the landscaping industry. The size of your business, your business vehicles and their use, and the number of claims you have had previously are common factors.

A growing business is normally a sign of success, but it can be a factor in higher insurance costs. Thats because more business operations mean more opportunities for incidents, as well as more employees and more equipment involved.

Business vehicles and their use affect insurance costs. The value of the vehicle, how much they are driven for business use, and history of accidents and claims go into determining premiums. New vehicles with high mileage and drivers with many claims will warrant higher-cost policies. A well-maintained fleet with average driving and conservative claims histories will keep costs down.

The number of claims you have had previously, or your experience rating, and how it compares to similar businesses will affect your policy costs. Insurers use historical data to quote policy costs and underwrite policies. Your history will be modified by an analysis in three-year increments. This helps mitigate a bad year or a particularly bad accident.

Lawn Mowing Professional Liability Insurance

Personal injuries and property damage arent the only reasons for a lawsuit to be filed against your lawn mowing business. And so, general liability or public liability isnt the only liability insurance needed for lawn mowing business.

Clients will file a claim if the lawn service you provided was substandard or had substantial errors. Professional liability insurance for lawn mowing service provides protection in this situation. This type of lawn service liability insurance gives $1 million – $2 million insurance money you can use to pay for administrative costs, settlements, and other legal expenses if a client files a claim because you committed or allegedly committed the following:

Missed deadlines
Negligence
Other acts considered errors and omissions

Professional liability insurance for lawn care company is underwritten as a claims-made policy. This means that it only provides coverage if you file a report to the insurance company the moment a covered peril happened.

Note that professional liability insurance for a lawn care business is also known as errors and omissions or professional indemnity insurance. Regardless of how its called, its function is still the same. Another thing you need to know is that some insurance companies sell this type of lawn mowing insurance as a coverage in general liability insurance, a good example is NEXT.

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