What is Snow Plow Insurance for a Contractor?
Posted on Dec 07, 2020
If you’re a snow plow contractor or own a snow removal business, one necessity to protect your vehicles, company, and other aspects of your business is snow plow insurance. Generally, snow plow contractors are required by law to obtain a certain level of snow plow insurance coverage.
Following a snow and/or ice storm, snow removal contractors are immediately on the job clearing the roads and digging things out in the aftermath. They’re the first called to remove the ice and snow so everyone else in communities can make it to work, school, and conduct business as usual.
Snow plow contractors provide an invaluable service to communities. But, they need to ensure their operations are protected.
What Is Snow Plow Insurance?
As a snow removal contractor, you’re required to have a general liability policy covering your operations. It protects you from any property damage or bodily injury your plowing could potentially cause.
While you might already carry a general liability policy to operate as a contractor, unless it’s explicitly endorsed for covering your snow plow operations, you won’t be covered automatically through that policy.
Benefits of Snow Plow Insurance
Some benefits of snow removal insurance are:
- It adds credibility. When you can prove you’re adequately insured with professional snow plow insurance, your customers will feel confident in choosing you.
- It’s a personally-designed policy. You can build your snow plow insurance policy around your own specific needs, so you’re not paying for coverage you don’t require. You’ll have a personally-designed policy that provides you with the right coverage specifically for you. Each policy is unique, just like the snowflakes you plow.
- It saves you money. Insurance used to be costly. Today, however, many insurance coverages are built around your budget. You can pay monthly, and you won’t have any extra fees.
- It’s simple. It takes mere minutes to purchase a snow plow insurance policy online.
- It’s tailored. Your policy will be tailored to your specific needs. Omit coverage that’s not required.
Remember, contract companies, including snow plow contractors, need to have some general liability insurance since it’s required by most contracts. While not all contracts require it, you should still consider it regardless because of snow plowing’s risky nature.
Recommended Insurance Coverage for Snow Removal Contractors
There are various types of available protection. Some recommended coverages might include:
1. Commercial Auto Insurance
Commercial auto insurance is crucial for businesses that operate mainly behind the wheel of vehicles. While you might occasionally shoveling out of your vehicle, your primary function of earning money is plowing snow. Because of this, you need commercial auto insurance for your business. When building your insurance policy, you’ll want to make it clear to your insurer that you do make money plowing roads.
2. General Liability Insurance
General liability insurance will protect you from damages you might cause through errors in your services. For example, if you were to dump salt into a parking lot and it caused damage to the sidewalk or a vehicle, you could be liable.
3. Umbrella Insurance
Umbrella insurance provides you with extra liability protection on top of your commercial general liability policy. It gives additional financial coverage as well if legal fees or judgments against you exceed your general liability coverage’s limit.
4. Hired and Non-Owned Insurance
If you run a snow removal company and hire staff that use their own vehicles to remove snow, you’ll require this insurance. Your policy’s liability extends to the operations of those you hire to plow for your company.
5. Workers’ Compensation
It’s risky for your employees to drive snow plows in hazardous weather conditions. Not only do most states require workers’ compensation coverage, but it also provides you with essential protection if you should have a driver become injured on the job.
The levels and types of snow plow insurance you require will depend on where, when, and how often you work. For instance, if you operate a large company, you might want to consider your liability limits. Determine if it makes sense to set separate limits for individual contracts and large jobs. Again, you’ll want to sit down with your insurance agent to fine-tune your policy.
Contact Otterstedt Insurance Agency for your Snow Plow Insurance Quote
At Otterstedt Insurance, we don’t just build you an insurance policy. We realize policies are just as different as people. Therefore, we’re here to help you build an insurance policy around your own insurance needs.
