This could happen to anyone: Your crew wraps up a routine tree removal job. Everything goes perfectly, according to plan. Yet three months later, you receive a letter claiming that root damage has caused foundation issues in a neighboring property.
Even if you’ve done nothing wrong, defending yourself against this claim alone could cost tens of thousands in legal fees. This is the reality of running a tree care business. Even when you do everything right, unexpected challenges can arise.
In this blog, we explore five major risks you face and how proper insurance, customized for tree care businesses can help you stay focused on growing your business rather than worrying about common tree care accidents.
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Height Related Accidents
Working at heights is inherent to tree care, and represents one of the most significant tree care professional risks your crews face daily. Whether your team is operating from bucket trucks, scaling trees with climbing equipment, or managing aerial lifts, every ascent carries potential risks that could impact both your workers and your business’s future.
Think about your most experienced climber. Even with perfect technique and state-of-the-art safety equipment for tree care accident prevention, they’re still vulnerable to unpredictable factors like equipment malfunctions, or weather changes.
A single incident can result in serious injuries that require extensive medical care, prolonged recovery time, and significant wage replacement costs.
How Insurance For Tree Care Businesses Helps
Worker’s compensation insurance for tree care businesses typically comes with medical care and wage replacement, general liability for third-party incidents, specialized boom and crane coverage, and emergency response protection.
This ensures that your team and your business can easily recover from any aerial mishap.
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Equipment and Machinery Risks
That wood chipper you rely on daily can break down. Hedging against this risk is not just about protecting the machine, it’s about protecting your ability to serve clients if and when it breaks down.
How Insurance For Tree Care Businesses Helps
Equipment repair and replacement insurance for tree care businesses typically includes repairs, replacement, and business interruption coverage. This means that you replace crucial equipment without damaging your cash-flow (because your insurance covers replacement costs), and get reimbursed for any losses that might occur while your tools and machinery are out of commission.
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Property Damage Scenarios
Even the most careful planning can’t eliminate all the risks in tree care. Even a perfectly executed plan can encounter unexpected challenges like a hidden root structure that affects a neighboring property, unstable branches that cause falling debris, or an underground utility line strike. These incidents can spiral into complex claims involving multiple parties and extensive (not to mention expensive) legal proceedings.
How Insurance For Tree Care Businesses Helps
General liability insurance protects you against liability claims for property damage. This means any incidents that cause involuntary damage get billed to your insurer.
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Chemical and Environmental Considerations
Offering comprehensive tree care services besides the usual trimming and removal can help you significantly expand your business. Chemical application, for instance, might represent a new opportunity.
However, offering these profitable services brings additional risks. For instance, a single herbicide drift incident or fertilizer application error could lead to years of litigation and environmental claims.
How Insurance For Tree Care Businesses Helps
Pollution liability coverage protects you against chemical application accidents, environmental impact claims, environmental damage claims, and long-term health concern allegations.
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Accidents En Route to Job Sites
Your crew transports expensive equipment to and from worksites using trucks and other vehicles that might belong to your business. That means that:
- Any accidents that take place en route to sites become a claim risk for your business
- Any damage to the contents of vehicles would not be covered under generic policies or even under general liability coverage.
How (Specialized) Insurance For Tree Care Businesses Helps
Inland Marine Insurance protects businesses from any claims that take place around accidents involving vehicles owned by your business. This includes any repair to your own vehicles (and their contents) or to other vehicles and people that may be impacted by an accident involving your vehicles.
Why Comprehensive Insurance Matters More Than Ever
The tree care industry has changed. Twenty years ago, a heart-to-heart, followed by a handshake might have resolved a minor incident. Today:
- Social media can amplify minor incidents into major crises
- Nuclear verdicts are on the rise
- Equipment replacement costs have skyrocketed
- Labor shortages make skilled employee protection crucial
Tackle Tree Care Risks with Confidence
The risks we’ve discussed in this blog aren’t going anywhere. In fact, your universe of risks is a lot larger than the five we’ve discussed in this blog. Precautions represent a necessary first layer of safety, but as every experienced professional knows, things can go wrong despite your best efforts.
Insurance comes through as a reliable safety net against eventualities. However, generic insurance policies often fall short in circumstances that might be unique to your business. That’s where comprehensive insurance, customized to your unique risks, can jump to your rescue.
TreePro is a comprehensive insurance package, tailor-made for tree care professionals like you and trusted by over 2000 businesses like yours all over the US. When you opt for TreePro, you get a bundled policy that covers you against all the risks discussed in this article and more.
A TreePro policy packs in:
- Worker’s Compensation insurance, that protects your team (and your bottom line) from height-related accidents
- Equipment Repair and Replacement insurance, which comes through when accidents (or wear and tear over time) leave you without essential tools
- General Liability insurance, that has your back against any claims around property damage (and even any accidental bodily injury to clients or bystanders)
- Pollution Liability insurance, which comes through for legal defense, cleanup costs, and any property damage claims
- Inland Marine insurance that protects you in case any of your business vehicles run into an accident to and from job sites.
In other words, you are more than adequately safeguarded from the five risks we’ve discussed in this article.
TreePro also protects your business with:
- Property Insurance, which protects the building where you may house your equipment
- Crime Insurance, that comes through in case any of your team commits a crime
- Cyber Liability Insurance, which is crucial in a world where digital payments are a norm, and cybercrime is on the rise.
You can work with your broker to add and subtract components from your TreePro policy.
Remember: While you can’t rid yourself of risks if you want to stay in business, you can mitigate them. The right coverage can help you manage all the risks you face as a tree care professional.
Ready to tackle risks with an iron fist? Ask your broker to sign you up for TreePro!
You can also us at 866-780-8076 or visit our website. We’ll give you straight answers about the protection your operation needs.
FAQs
- How much insurance coverage does my tree care business really need?
Most tree care businesses should start with at least $1 million in general liability coverage per occurrence, with a $2 million aggregate limit to adequately cover tree care professional risks.
However, every operation is unique and the essential coverage for tree care companies differs. Your coverage needs will depend on your business size, the types of services you offer, and your client base. For instance, utility line clearing or commercial contracts often require higher liability limits.
TreePro understands these varying needs and offers excess liability coverage of up to $25 million for larger operations or specialized work.
- What happens if my equipment breaks down during peak season?
Equipment failures during busy periods can be devastating to your business. That’s why TreePro’s comprehensive coverage goes beyond simple repair costs.
We provide rental reimbursement so you can get temporary equipment and keep working. Our business interruption coverage helps offset lost income while you’re getting back up to speed.
- Does my regular business insurance cover tree consulting and plant health care services?
Standard business insurance typically falls short when it comes to covering common tree care accidents. Chemical applications, risk assessments, and expert consultations require specialized coverage. Your insurance should specifically include arborist errors & omissions coverage, along with pesticide protection.
- What makes tree care insurance different from general contractor insurance?
Tree care involves unique risks that general contractor policies simply weren’t designed to handle. Working at heights, using specialized equipment, and dealing with unpredictable natural elements creates distinct challenges. General policies often exclude or inadequately cover these tree care safety concerns.
TreePro was built specifically for arborists.
Our coverage includes specialized features like boom coverage, job site pollution protection, and specific liability coverage for tree care operations. We understand that removing a hazard tree over power lines requires protection different from that of general construction work.
- How quickly can I get coverage, and what information do I need to provide?
Getting comprehensive coverage shouldn’t be complicated. We’ve streamlined our process to get you protected as quickly as possible. You’ll need to provide basic business information, including your ACORD applications, recent loss runs, and FEIN number.
For workers’ compensation coverage, we’ll also need your current experience mod worksheet.
Our experienced team can typically provide a quote quickly once we have your information. Simply contact us at 866-780-8076 or email submissions@nipgroup.com to start the process. With over 35 years of tree care industry expertise, we know how to get you the right coverage without unnecessary delays.
