Landscaping Insurance

Tools and Equipment Insurance, also known as General Property Insurance, can help cover insured tools and portable equipment used in your landscaping business, subject to the policy wording.

Landscapers often carry expensive gear between jobs. Theft, accidental damage or loss can delay work, increase costs and affect site schedules.

Small Contractors (1 to 5 Employees)

For small landscaping businesses, this cover can help with insured tools and portable items stored in utes, trailers, garages, sheds, depots or on site.

Covered items may include:

• Mowers, blowers and whipper snippers
• Hedge trimmers, chainsaws and pruning tools
• Power tools and hand tools
• Irrigation tools and testing gear
• Compact equipment and accessories, where accepted by the insurer
• Trailer-mounted storage, where declared and accepted

Larger Contractors

For larger landscaping businesses, tools and equipment cover can be structured around multiple crews, vehicle setups, storage locations and scheduled equipment.

Cover may be arranged for:

• Multiple tool kits across different crews
• Higher-value mowing and maintenance equipment
• Equipment stored across depots, vehicles and job sites
• Portable equipment used across multiple sites
• Hired-in or borrowed equipment, where available

Commercial Vehicle Insurance can help cover eligible business vehicles used by landscapers, such as utes, vans, trailers, tipper trucks and work vehicles, subject to the policy terms and selected cover.

Landscaping work often depends on vehicles for moving tools, crew, soil, mulch, plants, turf, pavers, irrigation materials and equipment between sites.

Small Contractors (1 to 5 Employees)

For sole traders and small crews, Commercial Vehicle Insurance may cover work vehicles used to travel between residential jobs, suppliers, depots and construction sites.

Cover may include:

• Business use vehicles
• Utes, vans and trailers
• Vehicle damage, depending on the selected cover
• Third-party property damage liability from vehicle use
• Finance clauses or interested party endorsements, where required

Larger Contractors

For larger landscaping contractors, fleet insurance may be more practical where several vehicles are used across crews, projects and locations.

Fleet cover may help manage:

• Multiple business vehicles under one arrangement
• Vehicle additions and removals as the fleet changes
• Tippers, plant trailers and fitted storage systems
• Finance and leasing requirements
• Claims support across multiple vehicles

Contractor Plant and Machinery Insurance may be relevant if your landscaping work involves skid steers, trenchers, mini excavators, compact loaders, stump grinders, tipper trucks or other plant.

Standard tools insurance may not cover plant or hired machinery unless it is declared and accepted by the insurer.

Cover may include:

• Theft, fire, vandalism and accidental damage to insured plant
• Owned plant and hired-in plant, where included
• Attachments such as augers, buckets, forks and mulchers
• Plant in transit, storage or use on site, where covered
• Registered machinery used on public roads, where arranged
• Wet hire or dry hire exposure, where accepted
• Breakdown cover, where available

This cover is commonly considered by landscapers carrying out site preparation, excavation, drainage, retaining wall work, turf preparation, civil landscaping and larger softscaping projects.

Contract Works Insurance may be relevant where your landscaping business is responsible for works in progress, materials, construction obligations or project delivery under a contract.

For landscapers, this cover may be considered on larger residential, commercial, civil or staged projects where damage to incomplete works could create cost and delay issues.

Cover may include:

• Insured works in progress
• Materials stored on site
• Theft, vandalism, fire or storm damage to insured works
• Project-specific or annual cover options
• Materials in transit or temporary storage, where included
• Principal-supplied materials, where covered

Contract Works Insurance may be requested by builders, developers, principal contractors, councils or project owners. The exact requirement depends on the contract and your role on the project.

Professional Indemnity Insurance may be relevant if your landscaping business provides design advice, plans, specifications, written reports, drainage advice, retaining wall input or other professional services.

Not every landscaper needs Professional Indemnity Insurance. It becomes more relevant where your advice, design input or documentation could later be challenged as incorrect, incomplete or negligent.

You may need this cover if you:

• Prepare landscaping plans or layout advice
• Provide drainage recommendations
• Give advice about retaining walls or structural elements
• Work under design-and-construct contracts
• Prepare written reports, specifications or scope documents
• Are required to hold Professional Indemnity Insurance under a contract

Cover may include:

• Legal defence costs
• Claims alleging breach of professional duty
• Claims linked to advice, reports, specifications or documentation
• Retroactive cover for past work, where included

Professional Indemnity Insurance is generally separate from Public Liability Insurance. Public Liability may respond to certain third-party injury or property damage claims, while Professional Indemnity may respond to claims linked to professional advice or services.

Personal Accident and Illness Insurance may be considered by sole traders and contractors who are not covered by Workers Compensation Insurance. It may provide financial support if you are unable to work due to an insured injury or illness, subject to the policy wording.

Landscaping work can involve manual handling, machinery use, repetitive movement, outdoor work, heat exposure, lifting and work across uneven ground. If you are self-employed and cannot work, your income may be affected quickly.

Cover may include:

• Weekly benefit payments while recovering from an insured injury or illness
• Lump sum benefits for serious injury, where included
• Optional illness cover
• Optional capital benefits
• Optional medical cost benefits, depending on the policy

Cover is subject to policy terms, conditions, limits, exclusions and insurer acceptance.

Workers Compensation Insurance is generally required when a landscaping business employs workers. Requirements vary by state and territory, so the right approach depends on where your workers are based, where the work is performed, how your workforce is structured, and whether you use employees, apprentices, casuals, working directors, labour hire or subcontractors.

Due to licensing restrictions, All Trades Cover can only offer Workers Compensation Insurance in Western Australia. For other states and territories, requirements should be checked with the relevant state scheme or regulator.

For WA-based landscaping businesses, we may be able to help with:

• Workers Compensation setup
• Wage estimates and annual declarations
• Worker classification, including apprentices, casuals and working directors
• Subcontractor and labour hire considerations
• Principal’s Indemnity, where required and available
• Claims lodgement support
• Return-to-work coordination
• Insurer correspondence and paperwork
• Claims history reviews and renewal discussions where past claims have affected premium

This cover is commonly considered by landscaping businesses with employees, apprentices, working directors, subcontractor arrangements or labour hire exposure.

Cover is subject to policy terms, conditions, limits, exclusions and insurer acceptance.

Business Package Insurance can combine several common business insurance covers within one policy arrangement. Depending on the insurer and the sections selected, it may help a landscaping business manage liability, property, equipment and business interruption risks under one policy.

For landscaping businesses, a Business Package may include:

• Public and Products Liability
• General Property cover for insured tools and portable equipment
• Property cover for insured buildings, contents, stock and other business property at locations such as offices, depots, yards or storage premises
• Theft cover for insured business property
• Business Interruption cover following an insured event
• Money cover, glass cover and electronic equipment cover, where selected and available
• Additional cover sections or policy extensions, depending on the business activities, insurer availability and policy wording

This type of insurance may be relevant for landscaping businesses that own tools, portable equipment, stock or other business property, or operate from an office, depot, yard or storage location.

The cover available will depend on the policy sections selected and is subject to insurer acceptance and the applicable policy terms, conditions, limits and exclusions.

Management Liability Insurance is designed to help protect the business and the people who run it from certain claims relating to management decisions, governance issues, employment disputes or regulatory investigations.

As a landscaping business grows, exposure can move beyond day-to-day site work. Claims can arise from staff management, WHS obligations, subcontractor arrangements, payroll issues, contract compliance or decisions made by directors, officers or senior managers.

A policy may include:

• Directors and Officers Liability, either as part of a Management Liability policy or arranged separately
• Employment Practices Liability, such as unfair dismissal, discrimination or harassment claims
• Statutory Liability, where available
• Crime or fidelity cover for internal or external fraud or theft
• Tax audit and regulatory investigation costs, where covered

This cover may be considered by landscaping businesses managing employees, subcontractor crews, WHS obligations, multi-site work and contract compliance requirements.

Cover is subject to policy terms, conditions, limits, exclusions and insurer acceptance.

Tax Audit Insurance can help cover certain professional fees if your business is audited, reviewed or investigated by the ATO or a state revenue office. It may help pay for accountant, bookkeeper or adviser time required to respond to the audit, subject to the policy wording.

This may be relevant for landscapers claiming vehicle, tools, travel, subcontractor, materials, payroll or other work-related deductions.

Cover may include:

• Accounting fees during an audit
• ATO, BAS and GST-related reviews or investigations
• Payroll tax and superannuation audits
• State revenue office reviews, where covered
• Record review and response costs, where included

Tax Audit Insurance does not usually cover tax liabilities, fines, penalties or interest payable to a revenue authority.

Cyber Insurance can help cover certain financial and operational impacts of cyber incidents, such as phishing, ransomware, data breaches, invoice scams or business email compromise, subject to the policy wording.

This may be relevant for landscaping businesses using job management software, cloud accounting, online quoting, digital payroll, online invoicing or client databases.

Cover may include:

• Cyber incident response costs
• Data restoration and system recovery
• Business interruption following a cyber event
• Legal and notification costs for data breaches
• Ransomware and phishing response support
• Invoice redirection or social engineering losses, where available
• Third-party liability for exposed client, contractor or employee data

Cover is subject to policy terms, conditions, limits, exclusions and insurer acceptance.