Landscaping businesses can take many forms.

You might be a self-employed landscaper carrying out garden maintenance and lawn mowing, or you could run a larger landscaping company completing hard landscaping, groundwork and commercial projects.

The risks can be just as varied.

One day you could be working with power tools at a customer’s home. Next, you may be operating machinery on a construction site, managing employees or transporting thousands of pounds’ worth of equipment between jobs.

So, what insurance does a landscaper need?

There isn’t one answer that applies to every business. Depending on the work you carry out, landscaping business insurance can include public liability, employers’ liability, tools and equipment cover, commercial vehicle insurance and other business policies.

In this guide, we look at some of the main types of insurance landscaping businesses should consider and why they matter.

Looking for insurance for your landscaping business? Speak to our team about cover suited to the work you carry out.

Why Is Insurance Important for Landscaping Businesses?

Landscaping is a substantial part of the UK economy.

The Horticultural Trades Association reports that environmental horticulture and landscaping contributed an estimated £38 billion to UK GDP in 2023 and supported around 722,000 jobs.

But it is also an industry where businesses can face significant day-to-day risks.

The Health and Safety Executive estimates that injuries across farming, forestry and horticulture cost society approximately £190 million each year.

For a landscaping business, risks could include:

  • Damaging a customer’s property
  • A member of the public being injured around your work
  • An employee being hurt while using machinery
  • Tools or equipment being stolen
  • Machinery being damaged
  • Problems arising from professional designs or advice
  • Damage to work before a project has been completed

The right landscaping commercial insurance can help protect the business from the financial consequences when something goes wrong.

What Insurance Does a Landscaping Company Need?

The cover you need will depend on how your landscaping business operates.

A small landscaping business providing garden maintenance may have very different requirements from a landscape contractor carrying out £100,000 commercial projects.

There are, however, several types of cover you should consider:

1. Public Liability Insurance for Landscapers

Public liability insurance is one of the most important types of cover for many businesses in the industry.

It is designed to protect your business if your work causes accidental injury to a member of the public or damage to somebody else’s property.

For example, imagine you are installing fencing and accidentally damage a neighbouring property.

Or perhaps a customer trips over equipment while you are working in their garden and suffers an injury.

Even a seemingly straightforward incident can result in a costly claim.

Public liability insurance can help cover compensation and legal costs following an insured claim.

Is Public Liability Insurance Compulsory for Landscapers?

Public liability insurance is not generally a legal requirement.

That does not mean landscaping businesses should overlook it.

If you regularly work at customers’ homes, on commercial premises or on construction sites, you are routinely working around other people and their property.

Clients and principal contractors may also insist that you have a specified level of landscaping liability insurance before they allow you to work for them.

This makes public liability particularly important for commercial landscaping contractors looking to secure larger projects.

2. Employers’ Liability Insurance

If your landscaping company employs staff, employers’ liability insurance will normally be a legal requirement.

UK Government guidance states that employers must obtain employers’ liability insurance as soon as they become an employer, with at least £5 million of cover from an authorised insurer.

It is designed to help if an employee becomes injured or ill because of the work they carry out for you.

That matters in landscaping, where employees may regularly be:

  • Operating lawn mowers and strimmers
  • Using hedge cutters and chainsaws
  • Lifting paving slabs and other heavy materials
  • Operating plant and machinery
  • Working around vehicles
  • Handling chemicals
  • Carrying out repetitive physical work

Employers’ liability cover can help with compensation and associated legal costs if an employee makes an eligible claim against your business.

3. Tools and Equipment Insurance

How much would it cost to replace everything in your van tomorrow?

For many landscapers, the answer is considerably more than they initially think.

Strimmers, hedge cutters, chainsaws, blowers, drills, saws and other equipment can quickly add up to thousands of pounds.

If essential tools are stolen or seriously damaged, there is a second problem too: can you still carry out the jobs you have booked?

Tools and equipment insurance can provide cover for specified loss or damage affecting the equipment your business relies on.

When arranging cover, consider:

  • The total replacement value of your tools
  • Where they are stored
  • Whether equipment is left in a vehicle overnight
  • Whether employees take equipment home
  • Whether you own or hire specialist equipment
  • The security measures you have in place

For small landscaping businesses, this can be especially important. A sole trader may have less financial headroom to replace several expensive pieces of equipment at once.

4. Plant and Machinery Insurance

For some landscaping companies, a mower and a collection of hand tools are only the beginning.

Landscape contractors involved in groundwork and hard landscaping might regularly use:

  • Mini excavators
  • Dumpers
  • Loaders
  • Compactors
  • Wood chippers
  • Specialist mowing equipment
  • Other hired or owned plant

Plant and machinery can represent a significant investment.

If your business owns this equipment, make sure it is properly accounted for when arranging insurance.

You should also tell your broker about equipment you regularly hire. Depending on the hire agreement, your business may be financially responsible if hired machinery is damaged or stolen while it is in your possession.

5. Professional Indemnity Insurance for Landscape Design

Not every landscaping business needs professional indemnity insurance.

But it becomes much more relevant if you provide garden design, landscape design, specifications or professional advice.

Professional indemnity insurance is designed to protect businesses against certain claims arising from professional services, advice or designs.

Businesses looking for garden design insurance should therefore consider whether professional indemnity needs to form part of their overall cover.

The same principle becomes particularly important for businesses undertaking more specialist landscape design or architectural work.

What Insurance Does a Self-Employed Landscaper Need?

If you work alone and do not employ anybody, your insurance requirements will usually be simpler than those of a larger landscaping contractor.

But being a sole trader does not remove the risks.

A self-employed landscaper could still:

  • Accidentally damage a customer’s property
  • Cause an injury to a third party
  • Have expensive equipment stolen
  • Be unable to work because vital machinery is damaged
  • Have a commercial client insist on minimum levels of cover

For a smaller business offering services such as lawn mowing, hedge cutting and garden maintenance, public liability and tools insurance may therefore be among the first covers to consider.

As the business grows, your requirements may change.

Taking on an employee, buying machinery or winning larger commercial contracts should all be reasons to review your insurance.

What About Landscaping Subcontractors?

Subcontractors are common within landscaping and construction, but they can create additional insurance considerations.

Do not simply assume someone falls outside your insurance responsibilities because they invoice you as self-employed.

Your broker needs an accurate understanding of how your business uses subcontractors.

That can include:

  • The type of work they undertake
  • How frequently you use them
  • Whether they have their own insurance
  • Whether they provide their own equipment
  • How independently they work
  • Whether they work under your direction or supervision

These details can influence how your policy needs to be arranged.

If subcontractors form an important part of your workforce, make sure your insurer knows.

How Much Landscaping Insurance Do I Need?

There is no standard amount of insurance every landscaper should purchase.

The appropriate cover depends on your individual business.

An insurance broker may need to understand factors such as:

Your work
Do you provide basic maintenance, hard landscaping, garden design, groundwork or specialist services?

Your turnover
Larger businesses and contracts can bring greater potential exposures.

Your employees
How many people work for the business and what do they do?

Your customers
Domestic work can present different risks and contractual requirements from commercial projects.

Your tools and machinery
What would it cost to replace your equipment today?

Your subcontractors
Who works for you and how is that relationship structured?

Your contracts
Do customers require particular levels or types of insurance?

These are some of the reasons buying landscaping company insurance purely on price can be a false economy.

The policy needs to match the business behind it.

When Should You Review Your Landscaping Business Insurance?

Insurance should change as your landscaping business changes.

You should review your cover if you:

  • Employ your first member of staff
  • Increase your turnover significantly
  • Purchase expensive tools or machinery
  • Start hiring plant
  • Begin using subcontractors
  • Move into garden or landscape design
  • Win substantially larger contracts
  • Start working on construction sites
  • Expand from residential into commercial landscaping

Even without a major change, your renewal is a useful opportunity to make sure the information provided to your insurer remains accurate.

A landscaping company can develop quickly. Your insurance should not be based on what the business looked like three years ago.

Landscaping Insurance That Reflects the Work You Actually Do

So, what insurance does a landscaper need?

For many businesses, the starting point will be public liability insurance. If you employ staff, employers’ liability insurance will normally be required by law. Depending on your work, you may also need protection for tools, machinery, vehicles, contract works or professional advice.

The important part is making sure the cover fits your particular business.

CHAS Insurance is a commercial insurance broker specialising in the construction industry and associated trades. We understand that a landscape contractor working across commercial construction projects has very different requirements from a sole trader providing domestic garden maintenance.

Rather than treating every landscaping company in the same way, we can discuss what you do, who you work for and the risks involved before helping you find suitable cover.

This article provides general information only and does not constitute insurance advice. Cover, limits, exclusions and insurance requirements vary according to individual circumstances. Check the terms of your policy and speak to an insurance professional about your specific requirements.