What insurance does a self-employed gardener need?

Working as a gardener, whether self employed or running a Limited Company, you probably spend long hours working outdoors. You might work with domestic or commercial premises, use and carry a range of tools and valuable equipment in your van or flat-bed truck. Being physical work, there’s always a risk of injury that might mean you can’t do your job for a few days, weeks or even months.

Worse, momentary oversight could mean a member of the public or one of your workers sustaining injury whilst working and blaming you for it. ROSPA estimate that around 300,000 people suffer accidents in the garden serious enough to need hospital treatment. What would the impact on you and your business be if something were to go wrong?

When you take a minute to think about it, you face a range of risks as a gardener, so taking out appropriate insurance should be a real priority to protect you and your business.

Public Liability Insurance for gardeners

Public liability insurance protects gardeners should a member of the public claim that they have suffered an injury or loss as a consequence of your work. It could be something simple like accidentally damaging some garden ornaments, or something more serious where a third party is injured stepping on your gardening equipment. The costs for legal defence, even in a small claim, can soon add up. Public Liability insurance for gardeners will protect you from costs of legal defence as well as any compensation that is awarded, up to the indemnity limit of the policy.

Public Liability insurance for gardeners

You can buy our tradesman insurance for gardeners and it includes public liability (along with a number of other covers, where needed). You can stipulate that you are self employed or a sole trader as part of the quote process, ensuring you have the right protection in place. Alternatively, you can buy public liability for your gardening business as a standalone, combined cover.

Employers Liability insurance for gardeners. – This can often get overlooked, particularly by small gardening businesses and sole traders. You are required by law to have Employers Liability in place even if you are only using a part time cash in hand labourer or even a friend volunteering to help you out on the odd afternoon. Employers liability insurance for gardeners works in a similar way to Public Liability but protects you from injury claims from those working for you.

Personal Accident insurance for gardeners

An accident that means you can’t work for a few weeks or even months could have a serious impact on your earnings. Particularly for self employed gardeners, personal accident cover should be a serious consideration. It can provide cover that means you’ll receive payments while you’re off work. Personal Accident cover can be set at the appropriate level should you sustain a permanent injury too.

Tools Insurance

It’s likely that you have a range of tools and equipment that are vital for you to do your job. Should these get damaged, lost or stolen, cover can be arranged to replace them with minimum fuss, leaving you clear to get on with the job as soon as possible.

Other types of insurance for gardening business

There are a number of other considerations to make when it comes to gardeners insurance, depending on your particular circumstances. For example, you will likely have a van or commercial vehicle that you use in the course of your work that will need insuring. Where you have plant and machinery, whether owned or hired in for specific jobs, this can also be accommodated. If you work from premises where you store your tools and have an office, we can arrange appropriate insurance for all of that too.

• Other insurances you may need to consider are:
• Property insurance for your office buildings, office equipment and stock.
• Tools insurance – especially when on site or in storage overnight.
• Hired and owned plant insurance for any larger equipment.
• Commercial vehicle and trailer cover.
• Personal accident cover – we can offer free personal accident insurance as part of your overall insurance package.
• Legal Expenses – access to legal advice and support when you need it.
• Cyber insurance – now the biggest cause of UK crime losses.
• Private medical insurance – healthcare when you need it.

 How much does gardeners insurance cost?

At BJP, we can get a range of insurance quotes from the leading providers. How much insurance for gardeners cost will depend on your specific business requirements – the range of the covers that you need – as well as the indemnity limits (the maximum amount that the policy will pay out in a specific claim situation) for each of those cover types. To get a quote that offers you the adequate protection that you need, without paying for cover you don’t need, simply give us a call or fill out an enquiry form.

Insure with us and you’ll also have access to value added services including:

• A dedicated account handling team ready to assist with any queries you may have.
• Full legal expenses cover included in case proceedings are raised against you.

BJP use a full fact-finding service to establish your full gardener insurance demands and needs in order to offer you the most comprehensive insurance at the most competitive premiums. We are an independent business insurance and commercial insurance broker. We specialise in obtaining insurance quotes from a wide range of different insurers to ensure that we get the best possible insurance cover at the best price.

To receive a quote, or to seek advice from one of our insurance advisers about insurance for gardeners, please complete the enquiry form and we’ll be glad to assist you. An adviser will contact you within a working day to discuss your requirements. Or you can call us on 0345 365 2121 to obtain further information or for a full quotation to suit your needs.