When running a landscaping business, you are likely all too aware of the many variables and complexities in job type and job location you will come across.

Each client will be different, and each garden or property will be different. This means that in order to give the best possible service, you must be flexible, and able to always find the right path forward.

As there are many hazards and potential issues that could take place in the scope of any landscaping job, it’s important to insure yourself appropriately.

Landscaping insurance in NJ is geared to help you and your clients stay protected with the appropriate coverage, which will ultimately help you resolve any issues or accidents should they occur.

What Is Landscaping Insurance?

Landscaping insurance in New Jersey is an umbrella term that encompasses many different forms of coverage, all of them necessary.

For your ease of use and understanding, we will define the most important forms of insurance for landscaping businesses, and also talk a little about what kinds of services may also require it.

General Liability Insurance

This is perhaps the most common coverage type for landscapers, as it affords full protection against workplace injuries, property damages (helping you soothe difficulties with clients) or other forms of liability such as asset damage.

General liability serves as a foundational mode of coverage, and will be calculated depending on the kind of work you do (such as basic maintenance or hardscaping), the value of your equipment, how many staff you have in rotation, and more.

Commercial Umbrella Liability

This is a supplemental form of coverage adding on (but never replacing) general liability insurance.

For a nominal extra fee, you will have more room for compensation should medical or extensive legal bills need to be paid after suffering an unexpected issue. It can make all the difference as you move forward and try to resolve problems faced.

Commercial Auto

Commercial auto insurance covers vehicles used for your landscaping purposes.

This might include smaller vehicles such as ride-on lawn mowers, utility vehicles, storage trailers, trucks or vans, or dump trucks used to remove debris. If you’re unsure, it’s best to ask with your provider and check what kind of coverage you need.

This can protect your vehicles when used in the line of service.

Worker’s Compensation

Worker’s compensation is an essential form of insurance necessary if you hold one or more employees earning a tax-deductible income. Subcontractors, freelancers, and volunteers do not apply.

They must be employed by your firm, no matter how many hours they perform a week, nor how seasonal or temporary their job is.

This can be exempted by certain federal coverages provided they are under one of those programs, and so it’s best to check your specific circumstances

Worker’s compensation allows your employee to recoup medical costs and also provides an easier avenue to compensation, limiting the legal validity of litigation, no matter who was at fault in the injury.

This provides you a necessary coverage buffer to ensure legal remedies can be immediately sought, and the financial protections will help aid soothe this difficulty at an emotionally charged time.

Business Owner’s Policy

Business owner’s policies combine general liability insurances and with further protections for personal property, equipment, and commercial buildings. It is a vast and yet custom-fit form of insurance to help protect against accidents in high-value areas.

Why Is Landscaping Insurance Important?

Landscaping insurance is essential because landscaping is unpredictable.

Working with the natural landscape, installing large features, measuring and executing logistics, operating large machinery and driving vehicles, and performing all of this using the owned property of a client as your working stage can mean that mistakes hold larger financial consequences than those in other fields.

Landscaping insurance in NJ will help give your clients peace of mind knowing that their property is protected, and you will hold peace of mind also knowing that any eventuality has been measured and covered.

This allows you to focus on the good work you will become known for, and it also ensures that you are operating fully above board and with the right legal protections. Even if insurance were fully optional (it isn’t), these valued outcomes would be worth their fees in gold.

What Types Of Businesses Require This Coverage?

The business of ‘landscaping’ can be defined in many ways, and serves as an umbrella term to denote those smaller tradesmen or larger services that comprise it.

A few examples of landscaping businesses that require this insurance are:

• Gardener services
• Groundskeeping services
• Interior landscapers
• Landscape architects and designers
• Landscapers (those who commit to the industrious work of landscaping)
• Tree surgeons
• Maintenance services
• Lawn scare services
• And more!

If you’re unsure if you require certain kinds of insurance, it’s always best to speak to the professionals.

The Soden Agency is an insurance agency and broker, able to help you find the most custom-fit, valuable, and required insurance coverage you could possibly need.

Important Things To Know

General liability insurance is required in the state of New Jersey. It also requires a deductible to apply, which is an important fixed out-of-pocket payment you pay before your coverage begins.

General liability is also a means of protecting the third-party damages that occur as a result of your actions. This means that if a third party holds potential litigation of a claim against you, the general liability insurance will cover that.

For this reason, it doesn’t cover thefts or any other issues that may take place against you, the first party. It’s important to know the distinction.

If you’re looking for protection against negligence or mistakes, professional liability insurance is an additional coverage option you can use.

When covered, you will be provided with a COI (Certificate of Insurance) that fully verifies you as the covered and insured party. This may be required when taking on clients and proving your eligibility to work for them.

We hope this post has been instructive. Please be sure to contact us at The Soden Agency should you require tailored information on landscaping insurance in NJ.