Licensed and Insured?

[CowPaddy]

Hi, I may have a dumb question here, but can anyone enlighten me?<br>I am new to this biz and I have a question about being licensed and Insured.<br>I noticed some companies in this area say they are licensed and Insured or licensed and bonded. I was wondering what type of license and Insurance are they referring to? Would they be referring to a DBA license and some type of liabillity Insurance? Would someone be able to explain what this Insurance covers and also the cost? <br>Thanks.

[DMC300]

TO DO BUSINESS IN A COUNTY YOU NEED A BUS. LICENSE,ALSO NEED ONE FOR EACH CITY YOU WORK IN.AS FOR INS.YOU'LL NEED LIABILITY INS.AT LEAST $300,000 POLICY.I TOOK OUT A $1,000,000 POLICY PLUS EQUIP. COVERAGE FOR AROUND $800 YEAR? SOMETHING CLOSE TO THAT,IT COVERS THEFT,PERSONAL INJ.,ETC...IF YOU HAVE EMPLOYEES GO WITH THE WORKMANS COMP. IT TAKES MONEY TO MAKE MONEY! BEST WISHES<p>----------<br>DON<br>LIANNES' MOWING

[HonkyTonk]

Hello,<br>I have been wondering about insurance also.<br>Which insurance companies handle this type of insurance?<br>Thanks...<br>

[nlminc]

Look in the yellow pages for Farm Family ins. they have great rates for landscapers, cranberry growers and farmers.<p>Chris

[HOMER]

AUTO-OWNERS CARRIES MY 300,000.00 POLICY.<p>HOMER

[Richard Martin]

If you do not have business liability insurance you are rolling the dice everytime you pull up to a job. Contact your insurance broker immediately and tell them you need business insurance and if you can't afford the premium just make payments on it. Good insurance can be had for around $500 a year. As far as licensing goes, check with your local authorities. It varies from place to place. In Anne Arundel Co. Maryland all that is required to cut grass is a license to operate a business from the State of Maryland and a license from A.A. Co. giving you permission to operate a business from your home (if you do it that way).

[MOW ED]

Definately get business insurance, its worth the piece of mind and its deductable. Also be sure to check your vehicle policy very close, most personal auto policies do NOT cover your vehicle when it is doing business. Thats how they sell business vehicle insurance. <br>In my county in Wisconsin the only licensing ond certification requirements are for pesticide applicators. The only other requirement is that you have a sellers permit and pay taxes.

[Scraper]

I just picked up insurance from Nationwide. $1M general liability with $10k theft. $350 per year. Have not scheduled the larger items yet. Will be doing that this week.

[lawngator]

Scraper, that's cheap. Were you already a Nationwide customer? I shopped around for weeks, and the best price I found was about $540 for 300k liability.

[ZYAL8R]

who's got what in NY? how much are you paying?

[Scraper]

Lawngator: I am already a customer with my homeowners and auto policies (auto policy holder for 15+ years), but I don't think that has any effect for business policies. My agent told me that Nationwide just reworked their business policy rates causing them to go down. When I asked him what it'd cost me for $500k he said it would be the same price. So of course I went with $1M. Not to mention most commercials require that amount anyways. BTW - I am in the Philadelphia suburbs if anyone wants to compare numbers.<br>

[CowPaddy]

Thanks everyone! The quick response and honest, straight-forward information has been Invaluable. Appreciate it!<br>CowPaddy

[lawnnut]

Erie gave us what I considered the best rates.<br>Every area has different license requirements.<br>check them out.

[lawngator]

Scraper, thanks for the info. I'm going to check them out.

[HonkyTonk]

I just checked with Nationwide in East TN and the price was $371 per year for $1M general liabilty, plus policy includes $5k on equipment.<br>HonkyTonk

[EarthWorks]

I think that licensed means they are a licensed contractor. Here in Arkansas one must be licensed when contracting a job over $20,000. It gives a sense of credibility. As for insurance, go with 1 million if you have anything to lose. Most lawsuits for injuries, etc will start at 1 million.

[Lee Homan]

I just dropped my policy with Nationwide. It was costing me $650.00 per year for $300,000 liability with double indemnity and $20k on equipment. Went with another company.

[yardsmith]

I have three-fold coverage for my bus. Commercial auto is for my truck ins. & for snowplowing too (real important), inland marine covers loss to my equip & trailer, & general liability for the lawsuit liability & sue-happy types. I have a 1 million policy for that, & all three combined cost me just under $1500 a year. <p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>

[bdemir]

Wow I must be paying a lot i pay 1700. a year but i have workmans comp included. I also have 1 mil liability and business auto and 10k equipment coverage. Is this too much? My workmans comp covers 12k minimum and all of that is included with the policy.

[Scraper]

Honkytonk: Take care if you get the Nationwide Policy as the $5k is only for small pieces of equipment. If you want coverage for mowers and larger big ticket items, they need to be scheduled and you need to provide serial #'s. I still think the price I got from Nationwide is competitive, especially after seeing what other people are paying.

[Greenkeepers]

I'm with Homer. I also have auto-owners. I pay around $1100 a year. That's full coverage on a 99 Ram pickup, 1 million liability insurance and 15k for mowers etc. I shopped around for a while, insurance companies all want your money but if something happens they don't want to pay out! <p>Make sure you get insurance though!! You'll regret it if something happens.....<p>Mike<br>Greenkeepers

[HonkyTonk]

Thanks Scraper,<br>I am just getting into the biz and still working out the details. I will definitely check into insuring the equipment also. I know when I called around yesterday to get insurance prices they really varied from place to place. <br>Thanks to everyone on the forum for being helpful and sharing info.<br>Great site, HonkyTonk<br>

[lawngator]

For any of you guys in Florida,<br>I checked on Nationwide ins. They are the same as everybody else, because in the state of Florida they have a $500 minimum annual premium. That will get you 300,000 liability and 15,000 equipment coverage. 1 million will cost you $785/yr. But hey, it was worth a try.

[Scraper]

Lawngator: That's *%#@ed up! Glad I don't run my biz in FL! Nice place to visit though! :O)<p>No offense!!!!

[GroundKprs]

Workers comp is charged at a specific rate per $100 of payroll, with a minimum charge in some states, and expense constants in some states. Rates vary by experience within state and coverages required by state law. If you have ten employees, you will pay a lot more $$ than if you had 2 employees in the same state.<p>In IN liability insurance is based on total remuneration. There is a rate of $$ per $1000 of remuneration, that is a total of owner's net plus payroll plus uninsured subcontractor's work. Rates vary from state to state and year to year based on experience. A business with low or no liability claims can sometimes get a reduced rate.<p>Both worker's comp and liability are audited each year, and adjusted to cover what you really did in payroll and gross remuneration. (in some states, liability may be based on gross sales?) To just compare the listed dollar cost is not accurate, when you are taking figures from different states and different sized operators. Worker's comp was discussed in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lawnsite.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/chuck/bigtalker/discussion.cgi?forum=1&discussion=820&quot;&gt;THIS Thread&lt;/a&gt; last month.<p>----------<br>Jim<br>North central Indiana<p>

[cutntrim]

Not sure if it's the same in the States (or for other Canadian insurance companies for that matter), but when insuring our equipment for theft we were advised by our broker not to include small equipment (ie. blowers, trimmers, etc...) 'cause any equipment that can be easily lifted out of your truck or trailer won't be covered if it's stolen. So when estimating your equipment values check that out - you might leave out the small stuff. (We've got 4 backpacks, 3 handhelds, 4 trimmers, and 2 hedge trimmers). <p>----------<br>Dave in S.Ontario<br>www.cutntrim.com