Here in Calgary, where winter can last for what seems like eight months of the year, we truly value our beautiful greenery when it finally makes an appearance in spring and love to get outdoors and enjoy it. As a landscaper, you provide valuable services that allow us to do just that—but your work also exposes you to certain risks that could result in major financial losses and setbacks to your business success. The knowledgeable brokers at Krywolt Insurance can help you get the protection you need with the best policy for landscaping insurance in Calgary to address your specific risk exposures and unique insurance requirements.
Who Should Have Landscaping Business Insurance in Calgary?
Anyone who works in the broader landscaping industry should have the security and protection against financial losses that come with comprehensive landscaping insurance. That includes professions and job types such as:
- Landscapers
- Arborists
- Gardeners
- Lawn mowing businesses
- Groundskeepers
- Hardscapers
- Field technicians
- Irrigation technicians
- Snow removal businesses
Is Landscaping Insurance Mandatory?
In Canada, most types of business insurance (including landscaping business insurance) are not legally mandatory, with the exception of commercial auto insurance since, as we all know, you can't drive a vehicle that isn't insured.
But just because you aren't required by the government to have liability and commercial property coverage, that doesn't mean you don't need it to work effectively and grow your business success. Many clients will refuse to hire you if you can't provide proof of insurance, which means you'll be forced to leave plenty of contracts on the table to be scooped up by another landscaping service provider. You will also likely not be able to lease a commercial property for your business without proof of the right landscaping business insurance in Calgary.
What Types of Coverage Are Included With Landscaping Insurance in Calgary?
As standard business insurance building blocks, commercial general liability insurance will generally cover you for costs related to causing third-party bodily injury or property damage, and commercial property insurance will cover perils such as fire or theft, but there are other risks that should be considered as well. Do you ever experience delays or accidents that could prevent you from fulfilling your contractual obligations? Do you use expensive machinery and need to consider equipment breakdown insurance? What about goods in transit? Do you haul materials to and from sites? Give us a call so we can learn more about your landscaping company, assess your risks and provide a comprehensive solution for your landscaping insurance. Here are some of the types of insurance that are well worth considering to protect your landscaping business against loss.
Commercial Vehicle Insurance
You may have a specialized commercial vehicle that you use solely for work, and of course, it stands to reason that it would need to be covered by a commercial auto policy. But many landscapers simply throw their tools in the back of a personal vehicle, such as a pick-up truck, and head out for a day of work, assuming their existing personal vehicle insurance policy fully covers them. That's not the case, however. When your vehicle is being used for non-work purposes, like dropping your kids off at school or heading out to the mountains for the weekend, it's covered by your regular auto insurance. But when it's being used for work purposes, such as transporting tools and materials to a job site, you must have a commercial auto insurance policy as part of your landscaping business insurance for it to be covered. If you are involved in a collision while using your vehicle for work purposes and don't have commercial vehicle insurance, you will not be covered.
Commercial General Liability (CGL)
This is one of the most basic types of landscaping business insurance, but it's also one of the most necessary. Regardless of how cautious you are and how much care you take to follow every safety rule and adhere to all the best practices, there's still the potential for something to go wrong that causes injury or damage. A CGL policy gives you financial protection against costs related to an incident where you or your employees are accused of causing third-party bodily injury or third-party property damage. For example, if you drove a rider-mower too close to a retaining wall and the weight of the machine caused a partial collapse, the commercial general liability portion of your landscaping insurance in Calgary would cover the cost of the repair and the cost of litigation should the property owner bring legal action against you for causing serious damage.
Tool and Equipment Coverage
While there are some landscaping tasks you can accomplish with just your two hands and a good dose of elbow grease, there are also some tasks that simply can't be done without the help of the right equipment and tools. That means if your tools and equipment are damaged, destroyed, or stolen, you can't do your work until they've been repaired or replaced. But some of your tools and equipment are likely on the costly side, and you may not have the funds available to deal with that immediately and get back to work. That's where tool and equipment coverage comes in. With a tool and equipment insurance floater added to your landscaping insurance in Calgary, your insurance company will provide you with funds to handle repair or replacement costs up to the coverage limits on your policy. Wondering what the difference is between tools and equipment? That can vary according to the insurance provider, but generally speaking, tools cost less than $1,500, and equipment costs more.
Equipment Breakdown Insurance
In the landscaping industry, having industrial-grade machinery and equipment is crucial for providing efficient services. However, just like any other machinery, your landscaping equipment is prone to sudden breakdowns and mechanical failures, potentially causing you to fail in meeting your contractual obligations and making it difficult or impossible to generate revenue. By having equipment breakdown coverage as part of your landscaping insurance in Calgary, you can quickly resolve those types of situations and get back to business. While your commercial property insurance covers replacement costs if your equipment is damaged in a fire, equipment breakdown insurance provides financial support for repair or replacement expenses resulting from power surges, motor failure, or operator error. Ensure the continuity of landscaping services by securing the landscaping business insurance needed to handle unexpected equipment problems.
Pollution Liability Insurance
If you work with toxic substances such as chemical weed killers, the potential exists for a polluting event to take place. For example, you could be trying to hook a sprayer up to a large container of weed killer or pesticide and accidentally tip it over, killing bushes, flowers, and grass but also contaminating the soil underneath. In a situation like that, the property owner could choose to bring legal action against you to recover clean-up costs, and you could also be fined for causing environmental damage. If your policy for landscaping insurance in Calgary includes pollution liability coverage, you can get insurance compensation to handle the cost of litigation, settlement, and fines up to your coverage limit.
Inland Marine Coverage
Don't let the name fool you—inland marine insurance has nothing to do with water. This type of coverage is a recommended addition to Calgary landscaper insurance for anyone who has to transport costly equipment and tools from place to place. That applies to most landscapers since, of course, you have to perform your work at your clients' properties. If your tools and equipment are damaged, destroyed, vandalized, or stolen while in transit from one place to another, inland marine coverage on your landscaping insurance provides you with the funds necessary to repair or replace them. For example, say you load all your hand tools into the back of your truck to head to another job site and decide to stop off at your favourite coffee place on the way—but while inside the cafe, your tools are stolen out of your truck. Since they were taken during transit, they would be covered by your inland marine insurance.
Additional Coverage for Landscaping Insurance in Calgary
- Commercial Property Insurance
- Professional Liability Insurance
- Cyber Liability Coverage
- Business Interruption Insurance
How Much Does Landscapers Insurance Cost?
There are a number of important factors that go into determining the cost of landscaping insurance, so it is going to be a bit different for each policyholder based on those factors. Some of the things that your insurance provider will consider when coming up with an affordable quote include:
- Location of your business
- Number of employees
- How much experience you have
- Whether you do commercial or residential landscaping
- The specific services you offer
- The types of tools and equipment you use
- Your annual revenue
To find out more about what you can expect to pay for landscaping insurance in Calgary, give our experienced brokers at Krywolt Insurance a call and let us know more about how you run your business. When we have more information about your risk exposures and insurance needs, we'll track down the best options for you and deliver a quote so you can make an informed decision about what's best for your livelihood.
Can Employees Be Covered By Landscaping Business Insurance in Calgary?
If you, the business owner, have employees who work at your landscaping business, they can be covered by your landscaping business insurance. The best course of action to make sure you and your workers have the necessary comprehensive landscaping insurance is to contact your broker at Krywolt Insurance about adding them as a "named insured." When an employee joins or leaves your company, you can have them added or removed as necessary so they are eligible for the same coverage that you receive from your landscapers insurance.
Is Landscaping Insurance Really Needed for a Business That Just Provides Basic Lawn Mowing Services?
If your services stick to the basics of lawn care such as simply mowing grass, you may be uncertain whether it's actually that important to have landscaping insurance in Calgary. The truth is, even basic services expose you to the potential for liability that could result in major legal expenses, and that's doubly true when you consider that you must provide your services at your client's properties. But it's important to keep in mind that you are also at risk for having your own commercial property, equipment and tools damaged, stolen or destroyed, and the last thing you want in that situation is to have to soak the cost of repair or replacement out of your own pocket. With landscaping insurance, you don't have to worry about unexpected events that could cause huge financial setbacks for your business.
Is Landscaping Insurance Necessary If the Client Has Home Insurance?
You work on your clients' properties, so if the property in question is already covered by homeowners insurance, you may assume that it's not necessary to invest in landscaping insurance in Calgary. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The policyholder is the beneficiary of their home insurance policy, so if you allegedly did something that caused property damage to your client's property, for example, they could bring legal action against you in court to recoup the cost of repair or restoration. You can't benefit from your client's insurance coverage, which means you would need your own landscaping business insurance to ensure that you are able to receive insurance compensation for liability costs such as attorney fees and settlement payments.
Who Can I Call for a Quote on Landscaping Insurance in Calgary?
That's easy—contact the reliable, experienced insurance brokers at Krywolt Insurance by calling 403-475-5434 today! We'll be pleased with the opportunity to discuss your requirements for landscaping insurance in Calgary.
Once we know more about what you need to be covered against all the perils you are most likely to encounter in your professional life, we'll search all the options to find the ones that suit your unique needs best.
