As an insurance agent that specializes in the needs of landscapers, I come across many different views and ways of approaching insurance. Some landscapers get as much insurance as possible, others only buy what their clients require them to carry, and some are extremely underinsured and are forced to close their business after a loss. I decided to write this article when a client asked me “What is the best way to figure out how much insurance I should buy?”

Let’s start with the basic view of insurance. Insurance is a cost of doing business in the United States. Our legal system is designed to protect the rights of individuals, and there is a high risk of businesses encountering lawsuits. Business assets such as lawn care equipment and vehicles also face the risk of being damaged from a number of different exposures. There are other ways to manage these risks outside of insurance such as pools, finite risk plans, captive insurers, self insured plans, and other creative ways of paying for the risk of future losses. All of these methods are not economically feasible for smaller businesses and typically are not very cost effective for landscaping businesses. If you are interested in any of these methods, please contact us for more information. For the far majority of landscaping businesses, you will find that insurance is very effective in facilitating the spread of hazard risk and gives your business the freedom of transferring potential losses to an insurance carrier.

The primary step in purchasing insurance is determining the insurance needs of your business. We created the business risks section of this website to provide specific information about typical exposures faced by landscaping businesses. The recommended insurance section describes the insurance policies we recommend to protect landscapers from these typical exposures. Our agents also take the time to review the insurance needs of each prospective client and offer their professional guidance to landscaping businesses. For most landscapers, a combination of general liability, commercial auto, equipment floater, and workers’ compensation coverages should provide ample protection for your business. Please complete our online quote request form or contact one of our agents for a consultation on the specific insurance needs of your business.

Uninsured motorists coverage provides a source of recovery for occupants in a covered auto who are injured in an accident caused by an at-fault driver with no auto insurance or insufficient auto limits.

I can not stress the importance of adding uninsured motorists coverage to your commercial auto policy. This coverage is optional, but I strongly recommend it. You would be surprised by the amount drivers in Florida who do not have auto insurance at all, not to mention the amount of drivers that have minimal amounts of liability. With today’s hospital bills and legal fees on the rise it does not take much to exhaust the limits of one’s auto policy. Having this coverage will provide more protection for you on the road. I also recommend that you purchase the same amount of uninsured motorists coverage as your liability limits. You are not able to purchase more than your current auto liability limits. This is also something to consider when you are setting the limits for your auto liability.

To sum up: you are not adequately covered unless you purchase uninsured motorists coverage with your auto policy.

The past couple of days I attended a seminar put on by Zenith Insurance Company for Florida agents. Zenith did a great job of really explaining their philosophy on worker compensation and let us agents attending really dive into their operations. Zenith really impressed me on the value they offer for their insured’s. Several times they mentioned, quite proudly, that they will never be the cheapest in price among workers compensation companies. Their model will never be able to compete with the low cost carriers, but they do not even want to be in the same category as some of the price leaders in the industry.

However, coming along with the slightly higher premium comes a multitude of value added services that really can save you on the back end. Zenith prides themselves in the service they provide and the savings they create. Unfortunately accidents happen and Zenith understands that. Where Zenith really makes there name is in the value added services that keep your company running and minimizing the damage done from an accident. The premium may not be the cheapest on the front end, but they make up for it and much more on the back end savings. Zenith will be one of the industry leaders in managing and settling claims, exposing fraud, returning employees to work, and improving your experience mod.

Check out some of the resources Zenith offers to employers on their website.

The Building and Personal Property Coverage Form or BPP is the most common commercial property form. The BPP can cover the building, business personal property, and the personal property of others. However; the BPP does not have to include all three of these categories or equally cover each of these categories. For instance, if the insured owns or leases a small office and does not take into custody the personal property others, he may cover the building and business personal property and choose not to cover the personal property of others.

The BPP defines the building as the actual structure or building noted in the policy, completed additions, indoor and outdoor fixtures, permanently installed equipment or machinery, and personal property owned by the insured and used to sustain or service the building.

The BPP defines business personal property as property owned by the insured and used in the insured’s business. The property must be located in the building, on the premises, or in a car located within 100 feet of the premises, although there is one exception. Up to $10,000 of business personal property can be recovered that is considered off-premises.

The coverage for the personal property of others is probably not needed for most companies in the landscaping, lawn care, or tree trimming business. Only if you are taking care of the personal property of someone else and storing it on your premises would you need personal property of others coverage. The only example I can think of would be if you repaired equipment for others on your premises. Then coverage for the personal property of others would be a great idea.

A Swedish study that I found on abcnews.com compared the pollution of a lawn mower with the pollution of a car. The study stated that the amount of pollution emitted from a push mower being operated for an hour is equivalent to 100-mile car trip. Catalytic converters, or the lack of catalytic converters on lawn mowers, are the reason for the high pollution effects of lawn mowers. It is not practical for the average person to own a lawn mower with a catalytic converter because of increased price and limited use. However, I see an opportunity for lawn care companies to separate themselves from the pack. Being in the “Green Industry” it seems natural to be concerned about the world we live in, but I feel like there is plenty of room for improvement in our industry. I know that your business depends on fast and efficient methods and I understand that electrical equipment is not even close to as effective. However, if you could come up with an idea that was more “green” and equally efficient or more efficient, you could really transform the landscaping community. The opportunities are out there and waiting to be discovered.

There are some great tips and interesting information in this article. Check out some of the details of the study here.

Landscapers that do large commercial jobs and jobs for the government are often required to get their work bonded. These type of clients want assurance that the landscaping business they hire will actually do the job and do a quality job. The bond guarantees that this will be done.

There are many names for these bonds, such as warranty bonds, performance bonds, contract bonds, installation bonds, and others. The bonding company, known as the surety, will guarantee that the work described in the bond application will be completed as specified. If the work is not done, the landscaper will need to redo it. If for whatever reason the landscaper cannot redo the work, the bonding company will hire another company to complete the job.

These bonds typically do not cost a lot of money, but even still, they are not worth purchasing unless your clients need a third party guarantee of your work. If you ever have any questions about bonds for your landscaping jobs, please do not hesitate to contact a BearWise Landscapers agent.

Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) provides protection for an employer against claims initiated by current employees, former employees and potential future employees. EPLI covers claims regarding discrimination, including age, sex, race, disability, etc. It also covers employers for wrongful termination of employment, sexual harassment, and any other employment-related contentions. EPLI not only covers your company but it also covers your Directors and Officers.

As everyone knows, lawsuits have been on the rise for the last several years and employment practices lawsuits are no exception. As you continue to grow your businesses, you need to analyze ways to protect what you have worked so hard to create. Too many people out there try to steal what others have devoted their lives to developing. Employment Practices Liability Insurance is also rather inexpensive and seriously needs to be considered by any companies with several employees. For example, if you have fewer than 50 employees your premium will be at most around $2,000 per year. To get a free online EPLI quote please click here.

It just takes one disgruntled employee or one employment mishap to make EPLI a very good investment.

Insurance is a legal contract between your landscaping business and the insurance carrier. The contract outlines the conditions, exclusions, coverage limits, and many other variables related to how the insurance will apply in a claim situation. It is important to review all policies when you receive them and understand the key concepts of what the policy will and will not cover. As the single source for landscapers’ business insurance, we recommend that you call your BearWise Landscapers agent to review any coverage questions you may have. Our agents will also take the time to sit down with you and discuss the different aspects of your insurance policies.

On Equipment Floater and Commercial Property insurance policies, we often run across landscapers that are unaware of the way their insurance carrier is valuing the covered property. Your insurance policy will state the way in which it values property and you should consider this when purchasing insurance. The type of property valuation not only affects the policy’s premium, but will greatly affect the amount your business recovers in the event of a loss. There are a few ways of valuing property covered by insurance policies, but the most common ways are through the Actual Cost Value (ACV) and the Replacement Cost Value (RCV).

Actual Cost Value – This approach to property values will judge the value of a stolen lawn mower by the current market value of a similar mower made in the same year with just as much wear and tear from the hours it has been used. The insurance carrier will write a check to your business for this depreciated value and that will be the end of the claim. In most cases, the landscaping business has to pony up more money to purchase another mower.

Replacement Cost Value – This approach to property values will judge the value of a stolen lawn mower not by the market value, but by the cost it takes to replace it. The replacement lawn mower will be similar in its functioning ability and equal or greater in overall value to the one that was stolen.

For landscapers, you need to make sure your equipment floater and commercial property insurance policies use the replacement cost valuation. This simple change in your policy will hardly affect your premium and will potentially have a huge impact on your business when you have a claim. If you have any questions about your current insurance policies, please contact me or one of our other licensed insurance professionals.

With the “Green Industry” already being saturated with competition, you have to make sure you are always better then the next guy. Well now you have to also consider a whole new type of competition. This week in Chicago at the WIRED NextFest conference a remote controlled robotic lawn mower designed to look like a sheep is on display. Now granted this is not the most efficient or effective tool for the job right now, but with technology constantly reinventing itself; it is only a matter of time before something comes out that changes the “landscape” of the industry. (I couldn’t help myself; the pun was just too easy.) However, do not be discouraged because this happens to every business in every industry. If you are always looking towards the future, constantly improving your business, and steadily evolving with the industry, you will excel while your surrounding competition will fail. You always have to stay ahead of the curve to survive.

Make sure you are providing a service and experience to your client that no other company or robot can compete with!

Employee dishonesty has been on the rise for the last few years now. Unfortunately, with the economy struggling like it is, my opinion is this issue will continue with the trend and only get worse. Desperate times cause people to believe they have to do desperate things to survive.

According to the 2008 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, US companies lose up to 7% of their annual revenue each year due to employee dishonesty. This is a significant amount to any business, whether small or large. A 7% hit to a smaller company could be the difference from profitability to bankruptcy. If a larger company absorbs a 7% hit, it is obviously losing out on a large amount of money that was rightfully earned.

In business every dollar counts, especially in our current economy. Make sure you are taking precautionary measures to minimize the threat of employee dishonesty in your company. Please click here if you would like to receive a quote regarding employee dishonesty coverage.