COVERTRADE SERVICES
Landscaping & Groundworks Insurance
Comprehensive protection for landscaping, groundworks, and excavation contractors.
The Claim That Defines This Trade
Striking a buried service is the claim this trade is rated on, and its consequences are wildly out of proportion to the size of the job. An electricity cable causes injury as well as damage. A gas main brings evacuation and the emergency services. A water main can flood the neighbours. Fibre can mean claims from every business left without a connection.
Public liability responds to it, but insurers expect to see that you took reasonable steps first: service plans obtained before you dig, a cable avoidance tool used and working, and hand-digging trial holes near anything known to be there. That is cheap, and it is the difference between an accident and negligence.
Which is why the first question on any groundworks proposal is whether you excavate at all, and to what depth. If your work has moved from planting and paving into genuine groundworks, that is a conversation to have at the time.
Plant, Hired-In And Owned
Machinery is where landscaping money sits, and there are two separate questions behind it.
Plant you own. Diggers, dumpers, mowers, chippers and the trailer. Insure at replacement cost, and check how theft from an unattended site or a locked trailer is treated. Plant theft is organised and persistent, and immobilisers, trackers and marking genuinely affect both the price and whether a claim is paid.
Plant you hire. The hire agreement almost certainly makes you responsible from the moment it is delivered, and crucially for continuing hire charges while a damaged machine is repaired or replaced. That element is routinely overlooked and can run for weeks. Set the hired-in limit against the dearest machine you are likely to have on site rather than a typical one.
How Much Is Landscaping Insurance?
Across the landscaping and groundworks policies we place, premiums start at around £92 a year for a sole trader doing gardening and pressure washing, and a larger groundworks contractor sits a long way above that. £670.
That is a very wide range, and the thing that decides where you sit in it is whether you excavate. Garden maintenance, planting and paving sit at the lower end; groundworks, drainage and structural work sit a long way above. Turnover, employees, tree work and the plant you run account for the rest.
These are premiums arranged for other landscaping businesses and are not a quote. Call 02382 000820 and we will go to the market for you.
Declare These
What changes a landscaping policy.
- Excavation and any digging depth
- Tree work, height and qualifications
- Plant owned, and plant hired in
- Contract works on larger projects
- Subcontractors and their certificates
- Any work near highways or railways
- Flexible payment options
- Dedicated account managers
- Out-of-hours contact should you need to make a claim or just have a question
- A quick and easy, pain-free service
- An excellent customer experience
Tree Work Is Rated Separately
Felling, dismantling and climbing are a different risk from garden maintenance, and most policies treat them that way. Some exclude tree work above a stated height or require specific qualifications for chainsaw and climbing operations.
If you take down trees, use a chipper, or work at height in a canopy, declare it and declare the qualifications your people hold. The same goes for stump grinding and any work near a highway or railway, which brings its own permissions and requirements. A policy rated for planting and paving that finds you fifteen metres up a lime is a problem.
Damage To The Garden You Are Building
The usual liability exclusion applies here too: most public liability wordings exclude “property being worked upon”. On a landscaping job that can mean the patio you are laying, the lawn you have just turfed, or the wall you are rebuilding.
Where you are responsible for the works until they are handed over, contract works cover is what protects the job itself against fire, theft, flood and vandalism before completion, and materials on site are a genuine target: turf, paving, sleepers and plants all walk. Set the sum insured against the largest project you run rather than a typical one.
Working On Domestic Property
Most landscaping happens in people’s gardens, which brings exposures a construction site does not: access through the house, damage to driveways from deliveries and machinery, neighbours’ boundaries and fences, and the family pet or a child in a garden that is temporarily a building site.
£2m public liability is the common domestic requirement and £5m is usual for commercial or local authority work. If you subcontract paving, electrics for garden lighting or tree work, keep copies of their liability certificates. A claim arising from their work will come to you first. Premiums can be paid monthly or annually.
What We Need To Quote
Your annual turnover and the split between domestic and commercial work, how many people you employ and how much is subcontracted, whether you carry out groundworks or excavation, whether you do tree work and to what height, the plant you own and what you hire in, the largest contract value you work to, and your claims record for the last five years.
Protect Your Business
So why wait? Protect your business today with CoverTrade's comprehensive insurance coverage. Contact us now to schedule a consultation with one of our expert advisors.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this policy.
Common questions
What happens if I hit a buried cable or pipe?+
It is the claim this trade is rated on, and it can be severe out of all proportion to the job. Striking an electricity cable causes injury as well as damage; a gas main brings evacuation and emergency services; a water main can flood neighbouring properties; and fibre can mean claims from every business left without service. Public liability responds, but insurers expect to see that you took reasonable steps: service plans obtained, a cable avoidance tool used, and hand-digging near known services.
What insurance do landscapers need?+
Public liability from £1m, with £2m on domestic work and £5m where commercial or local authority contracts ask for it. Employers' liability once you employ anyone, including labour-only subcontractors. Plant and tools cover for machinery you own, and hired-in plant cover, since hire agreements commonly make you responsible for it, so it is worth checking what yours says. Contract works if you are responsible for the job until handover. Goods in transit if you move materials. And a motor policy that covers what you tow.
How much is landscaping insurance?+
Across the landscaping and groundworks policies we place, premiums start at around £92 a year for a sole trader doing gardening and pressure washing, and a larger groundworks contractor sits a long way above that. Whether you excavate is the biggest single factor, followed by turnover, employees, tree work and the plant you run.
Is hired-in plant covered by my policy?+
Only if you have hired-in plant cover, and hire agreements commonly make you responsible for it from delivery, so check what yours says, including for continuing hire charges while a damaged machine is repaired or replaced. That continuing hire element is frequently overlooked and can run for weeks. Check the limit against the most expensive machine you are likely to have on site, not the average.
Do I need contract works cover for a garden?+
If you are responsible for the works until they are handed over, yes, and on domestic projects you usually are. Contract works can cover the job itself before completion, commonly against fire, theft, flood and vandalism, which matters because materials on a garden site are exposed and portable: turf, paving, sleepers, plants and machinery all disappear. Set the sum insured against your largest project rather than a typical one.
Does my policy cover tree work?+
Not automatically. Felling, dismantling and climbing are rated separately from garden maintenance, and some policies exclude tree work above a stated height or require specific chainsaw and climbing qualifications. Stump grinding, chipping and work near highways or railways each bring their own questions. If you do any of it, declare it and declare the qualifications your people hold.
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