Best Lawn Care Business Insurance

Nationwide earned our top ranking for lawn care business insurance with a MoneyGeek score of 4.70 out of 5. It stands out for competitive rates and quality customer service, making it ideal for landscaping contractors managing equipment, crews and client properties. We also recommend comparing quotes from The Hartford and Simply Business to find the best coverage for your operation.

Note: We based all scores on a lawn/landscaping business with two employees across professional liability, general liability, workers' comp and BOP policies.

While Nationwide ranks as our top overall pick with a MoneyGeek score of 4.70, different providers excel for specific landscaping business models: NEXT leads specifically for gardening business insurance and lawn care services with a MoneyGeek score of 4.82 out of 5.

Thimble offers the cheapest lawn care business insurance at $54 monthly or $643 annually on average. It ranks first for both general liability and BOP coverage, making Thimble the most affordable option for landscaping contractors. For workers' compensation, NEXT and The Hartford offer better rates. Professional liability is most affordable through The Hartford at $46 monthly.

Thimble offers the cheapest general liability insurance for lawn care businesses at $49 monthly or $590 annually. Landscaping contractors save $72 monthly compared to the $121 industry average, cutting costs by nearly 60%. This affordable coverage protects landscapers from common risks like property damage from flying debris or client injuries on job sites.

NEXT Insurance provides the most affordable workers' compensation for landscaping companies at $36 monthly or $426 annually. Lawn care business owners save $2 monthly versus the $38 industry average. The Hartford and Progressive Commercial match NEXT's competitive rates, giving landscapers multiple budget-friendly options for covering crew injuries and meeting state requirements.

Lawn care companies needing errors and omissions coverage will find The Hartford offers the cheapest professional liability insurance at $46 monthly or $552 annually. That's $5 below the $51 industry average, saving landscaping businesses 10% on coverage that protects against claims of poor workmanship or design errors. NEXT Insurance and Progressive Commercial are close alternatives.

Landscaping contractors can secure the most affordable BOP insurance from Thimble at $76 monthly or $912 annually. That represents a 57% savings compared to the $177 monthly industry average, helping lawn care business owners save $101 each month. Nationwide and Simply Business offer competitive alternatives for landscapers wanting comprehensive coverage.

Business insurance costs for lawn and landscaping companies depend on which coverage you need. Here are the rates for the four most popular types:

• General Liability: $121 on average per month, ranging from $105 to $146, depending on the state
• Workers' Comp: $38 on average per month, ranging from $33 to $43, depending on the state
• Professional Liability (E&O): $51 on average per month, ranging from $45 to $61, depending on the state
• BOP Insurance: $177 on average per month, ranging from $153 to $214, depending on the state

Required coverage for landscaping contractors varies by state, but most mandate workers' compensation if you have employees and commercial auto insurance for business-owned vehicles. Beyond legal requirements, a lawn care business's insurance needs depend on your services, equipment and risk exposure.

• Workers' Compensation Insurance: Your employees experience real risks: back strains from hauling materials, lacerations from mower blades, or heat exhaustion during summer. Workers' comp provides unlimited medical coverage and partial wage replacement as mandated by your state.
• Commercial Auto Insurance: Required by most states for business-owned vehicles, this covers accidents involving your work trucks and trailers. Every drive between job sites puts you at risk, like when your trailer gets rear-ended at a stoplight, or your crew backs into a client's car. Most landscaping businesses carry $500,000 to $1 million in liability limits to adequately protect against accidents while transporting expensive equipment.
• General Liability Insurance: Protects against property damage and injury claims from your daily operations. Your mower throws a rock through a client's window, equipment gouges their driveway, or someone trips over your tools. Industry standard is $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate, the limits that most commercial clients and HOAs require before hiring you.
• Inland Marine Insurance: Covers your mowers, trimmers and equipment wherever you take them, such as at job sites, in transit or temporarily stored. That protects against theft, damage in accidents or fire at a client's property. Set your limit to match total equipment replacement value, $20,000 to $50,000 for most landscaping operations, including both owned and financed items.
• Professional Liability Insurance: Essential if you offer landscape design or irrigation services beyond basic maintenance. Protects you when recommendations go wrong, like regrading that causes basement flooding, plants with roots that crack foundations, or drainage systems that fail. General liability excludes these professional mistakes. Most landscape designers carry $1 million in errors and omissions coverage matching their general liability limits.
• Commercial Umbrella Insurance: Extra protection when major claims exceed your primary limits. Your trailer detaches on the highway causing a multi-car pileup, or a tree falls on a neighbor's house causing extensive damage. Most landscaping businesses add $1 million to $2 million in umbrella coverage, particularly for high-end residential work or commercial contracts requiring higher limits.

Getting business insurance for your landscaping company means comparing quotes from multiple carriers to find the best coverage at the lowest price.

Lawn care businesses need multiple types of business insurance to protect against daily risks. General liability, workers' compensation, commercial auto and inland marine coverage form your foundation. Nationwide earns our top recommendation for landscaping contractors with competitive rates and strong customer service. For budget-conscious operators, Thimble offers the cheapest business insurance at $54 monthly, with workers' comp starting at just $36.

We answer frequently asked questions about lawn and landscaping business insurance:

We selected the best business insurer for lawn care or landscaping companies based on the following criteria:

• Affordability (50% of score): The lower a company's costs compared to the competition based on our base profile for four core coverage types, the better the company performs.
• Customer service (30% of score): We scored providers on overall customer satisfaction using industry studies, customer review forum ratings and public forum sentiment analysis from sites like Reddit.
• Coverage (15% of score): We scored business insurance providers for this category based on the flexibility, payment and actual coverage options.
• Financial stability (5% of score): Using financial stability industry ratings from companies like AM Best and Moody's, we created an overall rating to judge how likely companies are to pay out claims compared to the competition.

All pricing in this article is based on the following base profile to represent the vast majority of small businesses in all states:

• Three-person business with two employees
• Coverage: $1 million per occurrence and $2 million total per year for all but BOP, which includes the same coverage plus $5,000 of business property coverage
• $150,000 in payroll
• $300,000 annual revenue