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While you have insurance for your lawn care and landscaping business, you'll likely need an additional snow plow insurance policy as you prepare for snow season.
Oftentimes, snow removal and snow plow insurance is separate from your current lawn and landscaping business.
Since the snow industry adds additional risk, be sure your snow business is covered before you start plowing.
Though, protecting your snow removal business doesn’t necessarily have to break your bank.
In this article, we’ll uncover everything you need to know about snow plow insurance. Plus, discover the factors you need to consider to find the right policy for your business.
Your snow plow insurance protects your business against lawsuits and accidents.
For example, a solid snow plow insurance policy protects your business if an employee plows into a mailbox, or a client trips over your snow shovel.
Despite being a legal requirement, insurance provides adds an extra layer of protection. For this reason, it’s important to choose a provider with coverage that most closely matches your business needs.
Even though you probably already have coverage for your lawn care and landscaping business, your snow business likely won’t be covered for snow plowing because of the additional costs and risks involved.
As a result, you need insurance to protect the snow plow attached to your truck. Also, you'll need additional coverage for your employees working under inclement weather conditions.
The level and cost of coverage you need widely depends on various factors.
For instance, the following are all contributing factors influencing your insurance policy and rate:
Plus, depending on your current lawn and landscape business insurance provider, you might be able to bundle your commercial business insurance together to get a better deal.
Though, we'll touch more on this later. Now, let’s go over the basic coverages you should consider for your snow plow insurance.
As one of the most common forms of snow removal insurance coverage, general liability protects your business in cases of bodily injury, property damage, and other accidents where you’re deemed liable.
In addition to potential legal obligations, many commercial clients require you to have this coverage before they hire you for a job.
General liability protects your snow business in numerous ways and can protect you from potentially devastating mishaps.
For instance, if an employee accidentally hits or damages a car on the street, your snow plow insurance will protect you from thousands of dollars worth of damage.
General liability insurance coverage is not optional for your snow business if you want to be long-lasting and profitable.
You already have commercial car insurance coverage for your lawn care trucks. However, you more than likely only have seasonal comprehensive coverage.
In other words, when you attach a plow to your trucks, you’re likely voiding your current comprehensive coverage.
This is because of the additional risk factors involved in adding a plow to your trucks.
When you add commercial car insurance specifically for your snow trucks, you’re ensuring both your truck and your plow are protected.
Additionally, by law all in-use vehicles registered to your business MUST have commercial (not personal) auto coverage.
Save yourself from potential lawsuits and ensure all of your snow plow trucks are insured.
If you have any expensive equipment (i.e. snow blowers, ice scrapers, salt spreaders, etc.), or any equipment you can’t afford to easily replace, it’s important that you see if you can add it to your snow business insurance policy.
For instance, if you’re paying off a piece of snow equipment or it’s under 5 years old, then it likely needs to be insured.
Adding snow equipment to your snow business insurance policy should be a rather simple addition with minimal costs and will protect them from loss, theft, or damage.
Talk with your insurance provider to see what’s best for your business.
Whether you’re a solo operation or you have multiple employees, you should consider adding work’s compensation to your policy.
Worker’s compensation ensures that you and your employees’ medical expenses and wage are covered when you get injured or sick at work. This is especially important when you’re in a high-risk environment like snow removal.
Plus, worker's compensation is a great benefit to your team, and it’ll open your business up to more qualified, dedicated workers.
Additionally, most states require snow businesses to have worker’s compensation anyways. Check your local laws to make sure your business is abiding by all local legal requirements.
On average, snow plow insurance ranges from $400 to $1000 per year. The cost of snow plow insurance widely varies depending on numerous factors.
Also, your insurance cost varies based on the type of coverage you want to have or what you’re legally required to have your area.
Always get as many quotes as possible to find the best possible rate for your snow business.
Get quotes from various insurance providers, and then get your final quote from your current insurance provider.
Oftentimes, you can get considerable discounts for bundling insurance policies together.
As a result, you have a higher chance of getting the best deal from your current provider who doesn’t want to lose you as a client.
To save additional time and effort, it’s a good idea to use a quote sourcing site (e.g. Insureon) so you can view and compare multiple quotes at once for the best possible rate.
Instant invoicing
Better scheduling
Manage your clients and employees all in one system
You’ve worked hard to pour your heart and soul into your business, so it’s important to continue those efforts in protecting it with snow plow insurance.
Now, you know how to choose the best snow plow insurance policy based on all of these things and more:
Never assume your lawn care business insurance carries over to your snow removal business. Otherwise, you’ll likely end up uninsured and can potentially face financial and legal consequences.
As always, check with your existing insurance provider to verify your coverage and determine what best meets the needs of your snow business before making any major decisions.
Related: How to Add Snow Services to Your Lawn and Snow Company
Originally published Jan 14, 2020 11:57 AM, updated Oct 19, 2022 8:54 AM
Tags: Business Operation, Featured Post
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