umbrella policies

Is your lawn and landscaping business fully insured? When it comes to protecting your business with the right insurance, it’s essential that you make wise choices. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for owners to be underinsured or to make poor coverage choices. That’s why we’ve reached out to some pros to share their best tips from personal experience—and from directly inside the insurance industry. Full Coverage For The Best Price According to Scott Young, director of small business underwriting at Progressive Insurance, there are several endorsements that are sometimes overlooked but should be considered, depending on your specific operations. “For instance, if you apply pesticides and/or herbicides, make sure your policy provides liability coverage,” he says. “If you remove snow during the winter, you’ll want to make sure you’re adequately covered on your general liability policy. For landscaping businesses with employees, we recommend a business owner strongly consider Employment Practices Liability (EPL) coverage, which provides coverage if the owners of the business are sued by an employee for wrongful termination or hiring, harassment, and other employment related issues.” In terms of limits, Young says that a business owner should contemplate buying the “at least $1 Million per occurrence limit” for both General Liability and Auto to ensure you are properly covered in case of a claim. Bill Angle, management vice president of Welch Graham & Ogden Insurance, Inc., headquartered in Manassas, VA, adds that where most landscape companies fall short of coverage is in their failure to purchase an umbrella policy ...