With May’s unemployment rate in Ohio sitting at a staggering 13.7% due to COVID-19, Richey-Barrett Insurance has been receiving a large number of requests for insurance from startup landscape contractors.

Unfortunately, our closing rate has been much lower than normal for theses artisans, and I am concerned many of these startups are going without the needed insurance to protect them from liability and property losses and hoping their homeowner’s insurance will provide coverage! With few barriers to entry this may seem like an easy business to start, but protecting your assets is important and the agents at Richey-Barrett can help.

Common exposures for a landscaper are liability (including pollution if you spray pesticides or fertilizers), property coverage and auto insurance.

Liability: Common losses come from mowers and edgers kicking up rocks and other debris. While these losses typically are not large, they can be devastating to a startup. Typically the liability portion of your homeowner’s policy will not provide coverage for a business, and does not cover liability for a riding mower when it is off the premises even if it is not a business venture.

Tool Insurance/Inland Marine: All of your personal equipment is now being used in a business. Edgers and leaf blowers may be left on a trailer unattended while you are mowing. What if they are stolen? Again, not a huge loss per item, but if several items are stolen this could add up to several thousand dollars. This could be catastrophic to a startup business. The property portion of your homeowner’s policy typically will cover $1,500.00 for personal property primarily used for business purposes.

Auto Insurance: An accident in your personal vehicle could happen at any time. Does your personal auto policy permit business use? Did you confirm with your auto insurer there would be coverage? If you set up a single person LLC to protect you, the LLC should have non-ownership auto coverage to protect the LLC from loss.

These are trying times, but they are not the times to neglect setting up a proper insurance program for your landscaping operations to protect you, your business and your future earnings.

To discuss the creation of a comprehensive yet affordable insurance program for your landscaping operations contact the Trusted Choice Insurance Agents at Richey-Barrett.