If you’ve stumbled upon this page odds are you’re a ‘budding’ Gardener, curious about Gardeners Insurance. With the insurance world littered with jargon, it can be a confusing subject to explore if you’re not ‘seasoned’ in the topic!
What insurance do you need to be a Gardener?
As a Gardener, you’ll know better than anyone how hands-on your work can be. Cover can vary greatly depending on your business. There are a few key areas to consider when looking for Gardener Insurance, such as:
- Cover for your tools
- As it states on the tin, covering your tools should an insured event occur. This could be lawnmowers, general gardening tools, and in some cases employees’ tools too. This can often extend to include cover whilst in the back of a locked and secured van.
- Cover for your employees
- Employers’ Liability! A requirement by law covering you for death, injury or sickness of your employees related to their employment with you.
- Plant, both hired in and own
- Cover for plant, such as mini diggers or ride-on lawnmowers. We would recommend checking you have adequate cover for both hired-in plant as well as anything you own directly.
- Personal accident cover
- Provides a payout if you or in some cases a staff member become injured or killed.
- Legal expenses
- Provides cover for legal costs resulting from an uninsured loss. Can, in some circumstances, provide you with legal advice, tax advice, legal defence, advice on contract disputes, and employment disputes.
- Public liability cover
- Cover for third-party injury, death, or damage to property.
The above list is not exhaustive but should give you a solid start to discuss when exploring your options. A good broker will be able to guide you through and make recommendations based on your needs.
Do you need Public Liability Insurance as a Gardener?
Whilst you are not legally required by law, we strongly recommend you include this when looking for Gardeners Insurance. As detailed above, it covers you for third-party death, injury, and damage. So, for example, if you spray weedkiller down and this ends up leaking into a fishpond and unfortunately kills the fish, Public Liability could cover this cost for you. It could cover you if you leave a lawnmower on the path and a member of the public trips over it causing injury as another example.
What level of PI cover do I need with Gardeners Insurance?
Professional Indemnity Insurance, sometimes referred to as PI cover, provides you with cover for damages caused by negligent advice, design, or specifications. You may not need this with your Gardeners Insurance and will depend on what services you offer. If you’re unsure, it is worth discussing this with us in more detail and we can help provide advice and guidance on this.
How much is Gardeners Insurance?
Gardeners insurance cover can vary greatly depending on how your business operates. There are many considerations, each business is unique and can offer many different services. For example, some companies can offer tree pruning which requires working at height increasing the risk, other companies may only offer a lawn mowing service. The value of tools can also vary greatly, some larger firms may have multiple ride-on lawnmowers with many other specialist tools and machinery to get the job done, whereas a sole trader may only have a small but effective armoury of tools at their disposal costing far less to replace.
It is because of these variations that we would advise anyone looking to buy Gardeners Insurance to be wary of ‘One size fits all’ cover. At 1st choice insurance, we tailor our market search relevant to your demands and needs as a customer to ensure we find you the most suitable package. In fact, our customer service is something we take great pride in with 98% of customers recommending us.
Do I need to cover all my equipment?
Whilst we can see the appeal to try to save some money on your quote by only covering your more expensive gear, many insurers will apply something called an ‘average clause’ should a claim come in. In short, the average clause means the claim payout will be reduced in line with the amount of underinsurance. For example, if you had fuel for a lawnmower in the back of your van which ignited and destroyed all your tools with a total value of £10,000, but you only declared £5,000 only wanting to cover your shiny new ride-on lawnmower, the payment from the insurer could be significantly less. In this example, you are 50% underinsured, which would mean the settlement could be stepped back in line with this. This could mean a payout of only £2500 if the average clause came into effect.
What is not included in Gardeners Insurance?
Whilst cover can be wide, it’s important to understand that not everything will be covered under every circumstance. For example, some common exclusions can be:
- Your tools need to be kept secure and out of sight for theft to apply in most cases
- Gardeners Insurance does not cover your van itself
- You must make an effort to secure any plant, and a claim for theft often stipulates there must have been forced entry.
- You may have height and depth limits – limits on how far down you can dig, or how high off the ground you can work before cover no longer applies.
- Your insurer may sometimes exclude or impose increased conditions on tree pruning.
Every policy varies and what can be covered with one, may not be covered under another. It’s important to read your schedule of cover closely to check your limitations. The Above list is not exhaustive and does not necessarily apply to every policy for Gardeners Insurance.
How do I get a quote for Gardeners Insurance?
We make getting a quote for your Gardeners Insurance as hassle-free as possible. Our expert advisors will take a short call to discover your needs and then work tirelessly to pair you with the best policy to fit your business, no matter the size. You can either give us a call on 01743 770 500, or alternatively request a call back by filling in the form on this page.
