Founded in 2008. The Landscape Juice Network (LJN) is the largest and fastest growing professional landscaping and horticultural association in the United Kingdom.
LJN's professional business forum is unrivalled and open to anyone within within the UK landscape industry
LJN's Business Objectives Group (BOG) is for any Pro serious about building their business.
For the researching visitor there's a wealth of landscaping ideas, garden design ideas, lawn advice tips and advice about garden maintenance.
Replies
While you’re at it, when people ask to see my insurance before I work on their premises should I ask to see their insurance even if they are private home owners, to ensure I am covered if they are responsible for an incident and they do have insurance that covers both me and their property in such an eventuality?
For example I break a leg due to their carelessness.
Andy
A client's lack of insurance doesen't diminish their responibilty toward you.
I'd be sure a contractor could sue if they tripped over a wobbly paving slab, for example.
Having just changed insurers for our all-risks Contractor Policy it’s clear that insurance companies are now breaking policies down and offering a much more granular / menu based approach.
So, do business ‘over-insure’ rather than just go for the legal minimum cover that suits there business ?
Should we now use the term ‘Insured’ rather than ‘Fully Insured’ - ie can you now ever be fully insured ?
I prefer to use the term Public Liability Insured, rather than Fully Insured. I am always amazed at how many do not have insurance.
How do you know how many don’t have insurance?
im insured but I don’t plaster it over my truck!
I know three contractors (one is a landscaper) who don't bother with insurance simply because I asked who their insurance is. Their response is if a stone break a window while strimming, they would foot the bill etc.
Industry stats suggest 1 in 6 SMEs do not have insurance’.
Even if that figure is out two or three fold, that’s still a few contractors taking huge risks .....
I see a lot of local trades their vans having sign written "fully insured". I always think that's misleading as are they really insured for every and any risk that could happen for their business? I doubt it. I don't advertise I'm insured as it's a given really, just like having appropriate skills and tools for the job.
Ideally, customers should do their own due dilligence and check any contractor has insurance but after seeing 100's of customers only one has ever asked to see my public liabiliy insurance certificate. Commerical customers are more likely to request certificates, etc than domestic customers.
As for injuring yourself or a staff member when on a customer's site. if commerical there "should be libility cover in place. For domestic customers, their home insurance cover should over pulic liability but I've never asked a customer about their cover and cant see I will!
I recently broke the glass on a Rockdoor window, with a chipping from a strimmer. It's £575 for a new door, plus fitting.
The excess on my insurane is £500. Even though I'm insured, it makes sense for me to just pay it in cash.
For me personally, except for it hitting someone on the head, insurance is no good for these situations.
Craig.
We are insured and last year a rogue stone flew from a mower through a side gate and smashed the rear quarterlight window of a new Rolls Royce. The cost to repair was £1500 so we referred it to our insurers.
We paid our £250 excess and on renewal our insurance premium has increased by over £1k due to the claim (our first in 17 years). No doubt it will still be at the same level next year and the year after meaning we will likely be penalised for claiming.
In future we will think very carefully about claims, and like Craig's post above will probably reserve it for more serious items.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next