Snow Removal Insurance

What Type of Snow Removal Insurance Do I Need?

What Does Snow Removal Insurance Cover?

Icy surfaces. Limited visibility. Heavy snow. As a snow removal professional, the risks can pile up around you, increasing the potential for accidents and property damage. Plus, if an employee gets hurt on the job, your business could be exposed to lawsuits and medical claims.

We’ve all heard that each snowflake is unique, right? It’s a similar situation with risk. That’s one reason why the right coverage for your business may include more than one type of policy.

Don’t worry. You’re not out in the cold alone. We can help find the right coverage to financially protect you from the biggest risks you may face.

General Liability Insurance

Driveways, walkways, stairs, and sidewalks. After a winter storm hits, you’ve got a lot of surfaces to clear off. But even with the most diligent clearing, sanding, and ice melting, risks remain.

That’s where general liability insurance can make sense for your business. With a general liability policy, you could be financially covered for a variety of mishaps, including third-party accidents, property damage, and bodily injury.

Consider this possibility. Your snow removal company just cleaned up the Mini Mart parking lot so they could open for business. An early morning regular on their way out of the store with coffee and lottery tickets in-hand, slips on a small patch of ice and falls.

The fall breaks their hip and they sue the store and your snow removal company for not thoroughly clearing the snow.

Not only could you be responsible for paying medical costs, you would likely be looking at a pile of legal expenses to defend yourself in court.

Slip-and-fall accidents like the one at the Mini Mart are among the most common for small business claims. On average, they can cost $30,000.

Even when no one gets hurt, hazards can lie right under that blanket of snow. For instance, a loose stone that gets launched from your snowblower flies right into the bay window of your customer’s home.

Damage like that can often be covered by your general liability policy (up to its limits).

There are other risks out there, as well, that general liability can help with:

• $30,000 for property damage or accident claims
• $20,000 for customer slip and fall incidents
• $50,000 for reputational harm claims (e.g., slander or libel)

With general liability coverage, both your legal costs and any successful claims against you could be covered, up to your policy’s limits.

Here’s what general liability insurance usually covers for a snow removal business:

• Third-party property damage (aka clients or vendors)
• Third-party bodily injury
• Medical expenses
• Personal and advertising injury
• And more

General liability insurance usually does not cover:

• Personal property damage
• Professional services
• Employee injury and workers compensation
• Damage to your work
• Motor vehicles during business use
• Intentional injury or damage
• And more

When you take a good look at it, general liability insurance can do a lot for your small business. That’s where we can help.

Something that’s different from Simply Business and other insurance providers is that we work with some of the nation’s leading insurance companies. That means we can often get you multiple quotes in just minutes. You just choose the one that’s best for your business.

Workers Compensation Insurance

When it comes to snow removal risk, Old Man Winter doesn’t have any favorites. If you have employees, they’re exposed to the hazards of working outdoors in the snow and ice.

That’s why, along with a general liability policy, you may want to add workers compensation insurance to your snow removal insurance.

Nearly every state requires that you carry workers compensation insurance if you have one or more full- or part-time employees. This insurance covers medical bills, lost wages, and legal costs associated with an employee who gets hurt or sick on the job.

What does this type of coverage look like for your snow removal business? Your employee could strain their back while shoveling heavy, wet snow on a walkway. Or someone could have a bad skin reaction to an ice melt product you’re using.

As you can imagine, it’s not just convenience store customers who can fall victim to the hazardous combination of ice and gravity. Workplace accidents happen as well. In fact, the annual recorded workplace injury rate is 2.8 accidents per 100 full-time employees.

With the average cost of workers comp claims in recent years being $42,000, having workers compensation insurance could make a lot of sense.

Here’s what it generally covers:

• Medical Payments
• Lost Wages
• Rehabilitation expenses
• Death Benefits

Why Get Commercial Snow Removal Insurance

Sometimes a forecast of a few inches of snow turns out to be a storm that dumps nearly a foot of the white stuff. Or the prediction of a handful of storms throughout the season becomes a long string of major snow events all winter long.

If you’re in the snow removal business, unpredictability comes with the often-frozen territory. Having the right insurance can be as vital to your snow removal operation as a warm parka, buckets of ice melt, and snow-clearing equipment that starts on the first pull.

While it may be hard to estimate the season’s snowfalls, there are solid facts about some of the financial risks to your snow removal business.

A study from the Small Business Administration estimated between 36%-53% of small businesses are involved in a lawsuit in a given year.

Plus, it’s not just the amount you might be sued for. Defending yourself in court also can be expensive. Those same small businesses reported legal costs ranging from $3,000 to $150,000.

Your snow removal insurance can help your business in other ways as well. If you rent space for your office or your equipment, proof of insurance may be one of your landlord’s requirements.

Having insurance also can make customers feel more comfortable about hiring you. It shows you care about your business, so you’re more likely to take care of their property while you take care of clearing all that snow.