Snow removal insurance for lawn care businesses that plow in winter

Plowing is how a lot of lawn care companies keep trucks earning and crews paid from November to March. It's also a different business. When you mow, most of what can go wrong happens while you're on the property. When you plow and salt a lot, the claim usually comes later: someone slips on a patch of ice at 7 a.m., hours after your truck left, and the question becomes whether you did what the contract said.

Tell your insurer before the first push

If your policies were written for mowing, trimming and cleanups, plowing is a new operation. Insurers price it that way. Insureon lists de-icing and snow plowing among the higher-risk services that lead to more costly premiums, and The Hartford sells snowplow operations insurance as its own coverage for property damage and bodily injury claims arising from plowing.

Call your agent in September, not after the first storm. If your application says "lawn maintenance" and you file a slip-and-fall claim from a parking lot you plowed, expect hard questions. Get it in writing that snow and ice work is covered, on which policy, and for which properties.

What it costs

Insureon publishes median premiums for snow and ice removal contractors that apply for quotes through its platform. Here they are next to its lawn care medians.

Policy	Snow removal median (monthly)	Lawn care median (monthly)
General liability	$132	$57
Commercial auto	$264	$255
Workers' comp	$256	$123
Tools and equipment	$51	$42

Sources: Insureon snow removal costs, Insureon lawn care costs.

These are medians for businesses that do snow work as their line of business, so a lawn care company adding a few accounts may land between the two columns. The direction is clear, though: general liability and workers' comp are where winter work costs the most.

Slip-and-fall claims and your contract

The single biggest snow exposure is a person hurt on a surface you were supposed to clear or treat. General liability is the policy that answers for it, which is why the snow operations piece has to be on it.

The contract decides how much of that risk is yours. Commercial snow contracts may include a hold-harmless or indemnity clause. Insureon describes a hold harmless agreement as one that protects a business by requiring the other party not to sue it under certain circumstances, and adds two warnings worth reading twice: states don't treat these clauses the same way (some limit what liability can be shifted, and courts can strike down clauses that are too broad), and if you agree to cover a loss your insurance only partly covers, you pay the rest.

Insureon also notes that contractual liability coverage is often included in general liability. "Often" isn't "always." Send the indemnity paragraph from any snow contract to your agent before you sign and ask one question: if I sign this, does my policy cover what I just promised?

The work records matter as much as the policy. For every commercial site:

• Write down the trigger in the contract (plow at 2 inches, salt on any accumulation, re-treat on refreeze) and who calls the service.
• Log every visit with arrival and departure times, what you did and what you put down.
• Photograph the lot at the end of each visit, with timestamps.
• Note conditions you can't fix, like a downspout that drains across a walkway, and send them to the property manager in writing.

When a claim shows up months later, a log that shows you salted at 4:40 a.m. may be the most useful thing you have.

Plow damage to curbs, turf and sprinkler heads

Plowing damages things. Blades peel sod along drive edges, catch curbs, snap sprinkler heads and knock over mailboxes and light posts buried under snow.

Damage done by a truck-mounted plow raises a question worth settling in advance: is it an auto claim, because it happened while operating a vehicle, or a general liability claim? Ask your agent which policy answers for turf and curb damage from your plow truck, and make sure the answer isn't "neither."

Before the season, walk each site with the owner or manager, photograph curbs, islands and lawn edges, and set snow stakes. It's cheap evidence.

Commercial auto for plow trucks

A plow truck is a work vehicle every time it leaves the yard. The Hartford notes that most personal auto policies don't cover accidents while you're driving your personal vehicle for work, so plowing driveways with a personally insured pickup is a gap even if you do it only a few nights a year.

The blade belongs on the auto policy. The Hartford lists vehicles and vehicle-mounted equipment among the things inland marine usually doesn't cover, because they're generally covered under commercial auto. Tell the auto insurer what the plow and any mounted spreader are worth so physical damage coverage reflects them.

If employees or subcontractors plow with their own trucks, ask about hired and non-owned auto. Insureon suggests HNOA for leased, rented and personal vehicles used by a snow removal business.

Walk-behind blowers, shovels and spreaders

Loose equipment that isn't bolted to a truck goes on a tools and equipment policy. Insureon's snow removal page says this coverage can pay for lost, stolen or damaged items such as salting machines, ice scrapers and snow blowers. If you already carry an equipment floater for your mowers, add the winter gear to it rather than buying a second policy. The equipment guide covers scheduling and valuation.

Crews and subcontractors in winter

Shoveling crews get hurt: falls on ice, strains, and long overnight shifts. Insureon's median workers' comp premium for snow removal contractors is $256 a month, roughly double its lawn care median, so expect the winter payroll to change your workers' comp picture.

Report winter payroll and duties accurately. The Hartford says its workers' comp auditors review payroll and job classifications and can add class codes if the business is misclassified, which changes your premium.

If you subcontract routes to other plow operators, collect their certificates of insurance before the season. The Hartford's audit checklist asks for certificates of insurance for each subcontractor, and a state can count subcontractors' employees toward your own workers' comp threshold. Virginia does, even when the sub carries its own coverage, according to its Workers' Compensation Commission.

Adding winter work: a checklist

• Tell your insurer which snow services you'll offer and for which kinds of properties.
• Confirm snow and ice operations are covered on the general liability policy, in writing.
• Put every plow truck, blade and mounted spreader on the commercial auto policy.
• Add snow blowers and loose spreaders to your equipment floater.
• Update workers' comp payroll estimates for winter crews.
• Send each contract's indemnity and insurance sections to your agent before signing.
• Set up a service log you'll actually keep at 4 a.m.

For how snow fits with the rest of a lawn care program, see the coverage page. For what property managers usually ask to see, read the certificate of insurance guide.