Lawn care businesses face a lot of risks, from tools getting stolen to a worker getting injured. To protect yourself and your business, you need:
- General liability insurance or a business owner’s policy (BOP). This protects you against common legal claims. If you have an office or permanent storage location for your equipment, get a BOP so you have property coverage too.
- Commercial auto insurance. This covers the vehicle you drive to jobs, along with a trailer, if you tow one.
- Tools and equipment insurance. This covers your equipment while you’re away from your permanent location, like out on a job.
- Workers’ compensation. Most states require workers’ comp for businesses that have one or more employees.
- Coverage for herbicide and pesticide application. If you apply chemicals to lawns, you should have coverage that will protect you from related claims. That might be pollution liability insurance, an endorsement for herbicide and pesticide use or an errors and omissions insurance policy specific to contractors.
Read on for our recommendations for lawn care business insurance.
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Best insurance companies for lawn care businesses
NerdWallet’s editorial team chooses the best business insurance companies based on many factors. For lawn care businesses, we focused on insurers that:
- Receive relatively few general liability complaints and commercial property complaints to state insurance regulators based on their size.
- Are financially strong according to credit rating agencies, meaning they have the ability to pay claims.
- Offer tools and equipment insurance and contractors E&O or pollution liability coverage.
- Are more likely to underwrite lawn care businesses, according to data from online insurance company Coverdash.
Here are our picks for the best lawn care insurance companies. We always recommend getting multiple quotes to find the best coverage at the best price.
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The Hartford
Best business owner's policy
The Hartford offers one of our top-rated business owner’s policies, thanks to the company’s high financial strength and low customer complaint ratings. The company sells inland marine and contractors’ equipment coverage, which can protect your equipment while you’re on the job. You can also get herbicide and pesticide application coverage in case of an accidental chemical release.
Travelers
Best for larger businesses
Travelers is one of our go-to recommendations for larger companies operating in technical fields, including lawn care. The company offers inland marine and contractors’ equipment insurance along with pollution liability, which can protect you from lawsuits related to pesticide application. If you have big private or public-sector contracts, Travelers probably offers the higher level of coverage you need.
Ergo Next
Best for getting coverage online
Ergo Next lets you get a quote and buy a policy online. Then, you can use your online dashboard to access and share your certificate of insurance and file claims. That makes it a good choice for business owners who deal with their clients directly and often need to provide proof of insurance. Ergo Next sells tools and equipment insurance and contractors E&O coverage, which protects you if a client sues you for doing a bad job.
Thimble
Best for solopreneurs, seasonal businesses
Since Thimble is an online insurance agent that doesn't underwrite its own policies, we don't give it a star rating.
If your lawn care business is a side hustle, consider a policy from Thimble. The online agency sells policies from Markel, which underwrites lots of lawn care and arborist services in our data from Coverdash. It also sells policies for just one job or month at a time. So if you’re experimenting with adding tree service, for example, you can buy a policy for your first job before upgrading your whole package.
Like Ergo Next, Thimble sells policies online, then you can manage your coverage and provide proof of insurance from an online dashboard. You can add additional insureds yourself too. Thimble’s business equipment insurance only covers tools worth up to $5,000, though. If your equipment is worth more than that, consider Ergo Next instead.
What is lawn care business insurance?
Insurance helps protect your lawn care business if you’re sued, something gets stolen or an employee gets hurt on the job.
Insurance can pay out in cases like these:
- Your weed-wacker flings a rock into a client’s window. It cracks and needs to be replaced.
- Someone steals a lawn mower out of your garage overnight.
- Your company truck rear-ends a car on its way to a job.
- An employee suffers heat exhaustion after a long summer workday and needs medical attention.
- A pesticide you applied blows onto a neighbor’s yard. Their kids develop rashes after playing outside.
What kind of insurance does a lawn care business need?
Lawn care businesses need a few different insurance policies to protect their finances and employees.
Business owner’s policies for lawn care businesses
Most lawn care companies should start with a business owner’s policy, or BOP. This is a common insurance package for small businesses. It includes:
- General liability insurance. This protects you from claims that say your business caused bodily injury or property damage, or that you committed libel, slander or copyright infringement.
- Commercial property insurance. This insures your office space or equipment garage — whichever is your permanent business location — and the equipment stored inside. It doesn’t cover your equipment while you’re out on a job, though. You’ll need tools and equipment insurance for that.
- Business interruption insurance. This helps make you whole if you lose business while dealing with another insurance claim. For instance, say someone breaks into your storage unit and steals your lawn mowers. As a result, you have to cancel a week of jobs. Business interruption insurance could help cover some of that lost revenue.
If your business is very small and you store your equipment in your own garage, you can buy standalone general liability insurance. The property insurance in a BOP only covers your permanent business location. If you don’t have one, you may not need that coverage.
🤓 Nerdy Tip
Homeowners insurance usually covers up to $2,500 in property that you use for your business. Renters insurance policies vary. If your lawn care tools are worth more than that, consider a home-based business endorsement or buy commercial property insurance anyway. Workers’ comp insurance
Workers’ compensation pays out if one of your employees gets hurt while on the job. It covers their medical costs and a portion of their usual wages while they recover.
Most businesses are legally required to have workers’ comp. If you don’t, you could face fines or even jail time. Click here to see the details of what your state requires.
You should also consider getting workers’ comp to cover yourself, even if you don’t have to. Personal health insurance generally doesn’t cover treatment for injuries that happen at work. And lawn care work is risky. If you get hurt and can’t work, your workers’ comp policy will help cover your personal wages until you can return to the job.
Commercial auto insurance
Commercial auto insurance covers the vehicle you use for your business. Even if you use your personal truck to haul your equipment, you should still have a commercial auto policy. Your personal insurance probably excludes damage if it happens while you’re using your truck for work.
Beyond that, make sure you get a commercial auto policy that covers utility trailers. Ideally, look for one that also covers your equipment when it’s on the trailer — not all do.That means, if you get into an accident at high speed and your tractor rolls off the trailer and gets damaged, this policy could pay for the repairs. If your auto policy doesn’t cover that, your tools and equipment insurance should.
Tools and equipment insurance or inland marine insurance
Inland marine insurance doesn’t have anything to do with water, despite the name. Instead, it covers your business property while it’s in transit. That includes the time you spend driving to job sites and parked in clients’ driveways.
Inland marine insurance, also called tools and equipment insurance, provides property coverage. It can cover you in case something gets stolen or if it’s damaged by a fire or natural disaster.
Pollution liability insurance or herbicide coverage
If your lawn care business applies chemicals, they might drift onto a neighboring property and cause damage or an injury. That could result in a lawsuit against your business.
General liability insurance usually excludes pollution claims.
There are several other policies to protect yourself against this risk. They might be sold on their own or as endorsements to other liability insurance policies:
- Herbicide and pesticide applicator coverage. The Hartford sells this insurance. It can pay out in case a customer or neighbor claims your pesticide made them sick.
- Pollution or environmental liability insurance. Travelers sells this coverage. It protects you in case someone files a legal claim related to a pesticide you applied. It can cover legal and cleanup costs.
Professional liability insurance or contractors E&O insurance
Errors and omissions insurance protects you from claims your clients file. These claims might allege that your landscape design caused drainage issues or that you damaged a utility line during dig work.
Contractors E&O insurance is specific to construction and landscape contractors. It’s a good idea if you do custom work for clients or have large contracts, like with a homeowner’s association. If you’re mowing lawns and blowing leaves at individual houses, you probably don’t need it.
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NerdWallet Small Business helps you get real-time quotes from 30+ insurers, and instant access to your Certificate of Insurance (COI) through our partner, Coverdash.
What to watch out for with lawn care business insurance
Make sure you’re specific about what your lawn care business does. Otherwise, your premium might jump suddenly.
One of the most important factors in the cost of your business insurance is what, specifically, your company does. Some activities are riskier than others. For instance, say your lawn care company starts out by just mowing lawns. Then, a year in, you decide to add tree and hedge trimming. That’s riskier — especially if your staffers have to go up on ladders to finish jobs.
If the insurance company audits you and finds out you’ve added tree trimming, they’ll update your premium accordingly. (Don’t lie. That’s insurance fraud.)
Expect an audit every year, especially if you have workers’ comp.
What to do if you hire or act as a subcontractor
If you’re a subcontractor: Often, your contractor will ask you to add them to your general liability policy as an additional insured. That way, if you make a mistake on the job that causes an injury or property damage, your insurance policy will pay out before theirs does.
Make sure you know how to add additional insureds. Online insurance companies, like Ergo Next and Thimble, make this easy to do online.
If you hire subcontractors: You can ask your subcontractors to add you as an additional insured.
If your workers are 1099 contractors, you might not have to provide workers’ comp for them. But state governments watch these classifications closely. If they think you’re misclassifying employees on purpose — like to reduce your workers’ comp costs or your tax burden — you might face fines.
How much does lawn care business insurance cost?
Arborist service businesses with 25 or fewer employees pay these median annual premiums:
- General liability insurance: $677.
- Business owner’s policies: $1,133.
- Workers’ comp: $3,230.
This is according to data from Coverdash, an online insurance company, shared with NerdWallet in April 2026.
That said, every lawn care business will have different insurance costs. Premiums can vary depending on:
- How many employees you have. Insurers base workers’ comp premiums on how many employees you have and what they do. More employees working on client lawns means more risk for injury. A back-office employee shouldn’t increase your premiums quite as much.
- How much your property is worth. The more equipment you own and the more specialized it gets, the more you’ll have to pay for property insurance.
- Where you operate. Some states see more lawsuits than others. Insurance companies may charge businesses in those states more.
- What your business does. If you spray certain pesticides, you may need pollution liability insurance or a pesticide applicator endorsement. That’s more coverage, which costs more.
- Policy limits. The higher your policy limits, the higher your premium costs tend to be.
- Previous claims. Insurance costs usually increase after you file a claim.
Always get quotes from multiple insurance companies. Every insurer measures risk a little differently, so they’ll charge slightly different premiums. Choose the company that offers you the coverage you need at the best price.
How to get insurance for your lawn care company
Follow these steps to get the coverage you need.
- Decide how to shop. If you need to buy insurance fast, use an online business insurance brokerage to get multiple quotes at once. If you want to talk to someone in person, look for an independent agent. This person can help you shop for insurance now, plus support you if you have to file a claim or expand your coverage in the future.
- Figure out what coverage you need. If you’re working with an agent, they should help you with this. If you’re shopping on your own, figure out what you need — most likely a BOP, workers’ comp, commercial auto insurance and tools and equipment coverage.
- Get quotes. Compare quotes from at least two different insurers. This helps make sure you’re getting a competitive price. You should also compare policy limits and what endorsements they include, like coverage for herbicide and pesticide application. Again, if you’re working with an agent, they’ll help you with this.
- Buy insurance. Choose a package and make your first premium payment. You can usually choose to pay your entire premium upfront or pay in installments (sometimes with a small fee). If you choose the latter, set up automatic payments so your coverage doesn’t lapse.
- Learn how to access your certificate of insurance. A certificate of insurance proves that you have coverage. You may need to show it to a contractor or client. If you buy insurance from an online company, make sure you know how to access your COI in the online dashboard. If you work with an agent, ask for a copy and save it in a memorable place so you can find it later.
