Cover Your Ice
SPECIAL SECTION
Many landscaping and lawn care professionals extend their
services into the offseason to include snow and ice management.
Veterans and newcomers alike do it to grow profits and cover
their bottom line, but too many forget about liability issues. They
provide winter maintenance services to reduce their clients' risk,
but may not realize that in a slip-and-fall claim, the blame can
fall on them.
Lawyers typically won't stop with your client when looking
for compensation. Lawsuits can easily ruin a business, especially
when gambling with liability in the high stakes of snow and ice
management. This is why contractors must insure themselves and
take steps to reduce their liability exposure.
UNDERSTAND YOUR COVERAGE
When entering the snow and ice management business, the
first step a contractor must take to protect against liability is to
investigate his or her current insurance policy. Many don't realize
that their current general liability policy may not cover snow and
ice management services. They must meet with their insurance
agents to discuss coverage on new business plans, but also read
through the insurance policy themselves. Whether trusted or not,
the agent is ultimately a salesperson, and may not know all the
right answers.
The amount of coverage needed depends largely on the size
of an operation, but other factors come into play as well. State
laws often dictate what types of coverage are mandatory. Also,
contractors must consider their clients, because many commercial
facilities require a certain amount of coverage. Typically, these
clients stipulate between $1 million and $3 million worth of
coverage. To help meet the demands, umbrella policies can
supplement the general liability insurance.
As with any insurance policy, nobody hopes to ever use it.
However, any snow and ice management contractor is apt to
receive a slip-and-fall claim if they are in the business long enough.
To further protect themselves in these situations, contractors must
combine their coverage with preventative measures to reduce
liability exposure. By doing so, they can help prove due diligence
in their efforts (and not negligence).
CHOOSE YOUR WORDS CAREFULLY
Crucial to reducing liability, service agreements spell out the
responsibilities of a contractor, and nothing should be left out.
Avoid the blame in snow and ice management liability issues
■ BY MICHAEL FRANK
18 October 2015 Landscape and Irrigation www.landscapeirrigation.com
ALL
PHOTOS
PROVIDED
BY
SNOWEX
