Slabs, diggers and plate compactors
Hard landscaping is building outdoors. You lift paving slabs and sleepers, barrow tonnes of sub-base, run mini diggers and plate compactors and cut stone with disc cutters. Backs, shoulders and knees all take a beating, and vibrating tools can lead to hand-arm vibration problems over time.
Cutting stone and concrete makes silica dust, and long days outside bring sun exposure. Soft landscaping and planting are gentler but still involve plenty of digging and carrying.
Many landscapers also take on fencing, decking and garden buildings, which add saws, nail guns and heavy posts to the list. Insurers will want to know about all of it.
A busy season and a quiet one
Most landscaping happens from spring to autumn. Many landscapers earn the bulk of their income in those months and get through winter on smaller jobs, maintenance contracts or savings. An injury in April can cost you the year's best months.
Most landscapers are self-employed or run small businesses with a few staff. There is no sick pay for the owner, and wages, machine finance and van costs carry on.
Insurers want to see profits, not turnover. Machinery, fuel and materials all come off before your earnings are worked out, so a big turnover year may support less cover than you expect.
- Plan savings around the quiet winter months
- Think about how an injury in peak season would hit income
- Business expenses cover can help with staff and finance costs
- Keep tidy accounts so your full yearly earnings count
Where landscaping sits with insurers
Insurers sort jobs into classes. Hard landscaping with heavy lifting and machinery is usually placed in a heavy manual class, raising the premium and sometimes limiting the claim definition or payment period. Garden designers and landscape managers who rarely do the physical work may be rated much lower.
If you split your time between designing, quoting and building, describe it accurately. It can make a real difference to your terms.
Life insurance for landscapers
A life policy pays a lump sum to your family if you die within the term. Landscaping rarely affects life cover terms, so your age, health and smoking matter more. Many landscapers set cover to clear a mortgage and support a family.
If you have staff or business loans, key person cover or business loan protection can help the business survive if something happens to you.
How Hi Tomorrow helps landscapers
We ask what you build, what machinery you use and how your year runs, then compare our panel for the best terms. We explain the options for short-term and full-term cover so you can choose what fits your budget.
Landscapers who run crews often have van and machine finance in their own name. We can look at how much life cover would clear those debts as well as the mortgage, so nothing lands on your family. We help you apply and support you if you need to claim.