Snow Removal Insurance for Landscapers & Contractors
When winter is on the way, it brings with it some dangerous conditions that can impact your life as a landscaper or a contractor or your business as a snow removal business.
When you have a small business, you need to carry on with what you are doing, no matter what the weather is doing, to grow the business and to thrive.
If you work in snow removals, then you need to run your business effectively to serve your local community and your customers.
Winter Risks
There are some additional risks in winter, as you will want to keep yourself and those around you safe, when you face scenarios like excess snow.
You would need insurance to help protect you and your business, because there can be risks to your employees and customers with slip-and-fall accidents. This could be due to equipment, or because of an injury that has resulted from snow removal.
There are also some other risks that you might not have thought about before, such as property damage that could be caused by what you do, and things like slanderous comments that a member of the team could make about a customer.
No matter what your business does, if it involves landscaping or being a contractor as winter approaches, snow removal insurance is a must. With the right insurance you can feel empowered to do your job, and know that you are covered should something occur.
Types of Coverage
We at Keller Insurance Services know and understand the specific risks that are associated with small businesses in winter, which is why we can help to customize the kind of business insurance or snow removal insurance that you will need to be specific for your business and your needs.
The kinds of insurance that we could help cover you for are listed below, but what will be relevant to your business will depend on your individual business needs.
General Liability
When you are looking for snow removal insurance, there will be some basic coverage to cover things like minor injuries, damage to property, and other areas of liability.
This is the most basic kind of insurance to have. In fact, some customers may not let you start work without it.
When you have general liability insurance in place, you can easily expand on it by getting some more detailed or comprehensive coverage later down the line.
Commercial Umbrella Liability
Commercial umbrella liability insurance is a kind of insurance that can be treated as an add-on to your general liability insurance.
A lot of insurers will use this kind of insurance to give you a little bit more comprehensive coverage to any existing liability policy that you have.
This is something that is so important when there are any legal issues that arise, such as a major injury to yourself or others, as the payout can help with medical bill costs and deal with any settlements, should that be the case.
It can be a good ‘extra’ to have when you look into snow removal insurance, and more often that not, it isn’t too expensive to add it on.
Commercial Property Insurance
As a small business owner, you may have a commercial property where you do your work from.
As a landscaper or contractor in snow removal, you might not have an office to work from, though you may have a warehouse or building where you store your equipment, tools, and materials.
Having this kind of insurance for a commercial property means that the property will be covered should there be something like water damage to equipment and tools from a flood, a fire in the warehouse, or theft.
If you want to make sure that your business can carry on as usual, should a disaster happen, then you will need this kind of commercial property insurance to make sure you are covered, and can get equipment or tools replaced, as well as the commercial property taken care of.
Commercial Auto
You are likely to have vehicles that you use for your landscaping or contractor business, and have some specific vehicles used for snow removal.
Anything that you use for snow removal, as well as vehicles used as trailers for mowers, need to be covered with a commercial auto policy.
When you use them for work, it is different than getting regular car or vehicle insurance. Vehicles that are commonly covered under these policies tend to include vans, trucks, utility vehicles, and snow removal vehicles.
Business Owner Insurance
When you are a business owner, having some specific business owner insurance is important.
Generally, this kind of insurance is a combination of general liability insurance and commercial buildings insurance.
It means that you will be covered should anything happen to your business, as well as customers, employees, or your commercial property, no matter where you are.
Worker’s Compensation
If you have a team of people that work for you as part of your landscaping business or your snow removal business, then being covered for worker’s compensation is a great idea.
In the hopefully unlikely event that you have employees that get injured doing their job, then something like worker’s compensation will help to cover the cost of any related medical fees, time off work, and other expenses that are related.
If you use some dangerous equipment for your landscaping or snow removal business, which is likely to be very high in these industries, then worker’s compensation really is a must, as it is better to be safe than sorry.
If you need any more advice on what would be needed for your landscaping or contractor business, then don’t hesitate to get in contact with us today.
With years in the industry and local knowledge specific to the winter conditions in New Jersey, we can help to advise you on the insurance policies that can be a benefit to your business for snow removal.