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
Is there a way you could provide details on what certain policys cost? (even a rough price)
Example.
How much would it cost to insure one employee?
How much for tool cover? Say £5000
How much for liablility insurances at £5mill
I know they are vague examples, but hopefully you get the jist!
I find the whole aspect of changing cover/providers daunting.
We have a Contractors All Risk Policy that covers our PLI, ELI, Unit/Yard, Tools, Hired in Plant etc.
It is so difficult to compare policies between companies as they are not 'transparent' in how they assess risk, determine premiums.
Eg, why on Employers Liability are they more interested in the wage bill, than the number of employees ? The risk is against the employee claiming or being injured and that is not related to wages ?
We have so many endorsements on our policy to allow certain functions or to prohibit / restrict functions. We changed a good few years ago and despite detailing all the endorsements and being told we had like for like cover, it was a considerable time before we found we did not. Their answer, 'Well you should have read the policy booklet'. We moved our business as a result of that little debacle. It could have left us totally exposed. Now, for us that was a 'Booklet', A4 sized with nearly a hundred pages of legalese and fine print. Oh yeah sure I'm going to read, understand and compare all that....;-(
I certainly believe most insurers don't fully understand the Trades they insure, they try to pigeon hole you. Nearly everyone I know does not fit neatly into an insurers little tick boxes. Try it. Most insurers only recognise several categories - landscape architect, landscape designer, landscaper. Most don't know aabout landscape gardeners, grounds care, gritting services etc.
And don't get me going on minor tree works cover - that is a total laugh that conversation...;-)
We once tried Direct Line, at the end of a painful conversation they asked a killer question (bearing in mind I spent 15 minutes already detailing we were landscape gardeners etc) - do you use any machinery - answer yes, does it make noise above 90db ? - well yes nearly everything we use does and we have risk assessments/work methods to cover this. Oh sorry we can't cover any trades that use machinery above 90db !!!!! So, that's builders, plumbers, landscapers etc etc. Bl**dy hell guys. Talk about cherry picking risks..
I'm lucky enough now to have found a Broker that works at understanding our needs.
Hence I am in no hurry to change unless the process becomes easy, transparent and benefits my business through decreased costs or better cover.
My policy only costs around £400 (public li, employers li, tool cover etc.) You must be paying a fair bit Gary?
Gary @ Acer Paving & Landscaping said:
Gary,
Is the comment 'identical' your understanding or that given by your Broker/Insurer ?
I ask because in our situation we stayed with the same company, but changed to another 'policy' on their advice. During that change a number of endorsements changed or were dropped.
However the initial comment was its an identical policy, so now we do a 'stare and compare' every year...just in case.
Gary @ Acer Paving & Landscaping said:
Hi Gary,
That's good news for you. Unfortunately on average premiums are going up. Insurers calculate and review the risks of claims constantly. This reflects in the premium you have to pay.
There are lots of factors why your premium goes up or down. The most common reasons are:
1. You just happen to live in an area (postcode) where nobody makes a claim. An insurer will adjust the premium.
2. Your trade in general make fewer claims than a year ago
3. Some insurers give you a no-claims discount, sometimes up to 50%.
It's all about a risk and predictions.
Jasper
Gary @ Acer Paving & Landscaping said:
Hi Steve,
That's a difficult one. But to give you an estimate:
Public liability insurance £5m for a landscape gardener excluding treefelling who is in business for over 5 years will pay between £63-70.
If you just started your business it's £100-120 p/year. The longer you trade, the more no-claims discount you will get.
Tool cover + Public liability insurance (£5m) for a landscape gardener exluding treefelling in London who is in business for over 5 years will pay £190-210 per year.
As you can see, I created a customer profile because there is just not one fixed price in general. I hope this helps.
Steve www.soniclandscaping.co.uk said:
Hi Simon,
No we don't. We do offer business interruption cover in our quotes. Life insurance and other covers are too different for us to include in our packages. If you take out insurance and you think you are double covered by different insurance products, always contact your broker who can go through the policy details.
Simon Smith said:
Hi Gary,
Your insurance needs are tailor made, I totally agree. It can be a pain to compare all the insurance policies.
We look at the number of employees (manual and clerical) and we do have some exceptions regarding your trade. The tree felling is an important one. It makes big difference in premium. With the information you gave in your post, I got 5 insurers back with premiums ranging from 1100 - 3200 !!
In these cases, ALWAYS speak to an insurance specialist. What you did was great. If you have found a broker who understands you, go with them.
We're more than happy to review your cover off course, but you are absolutely right: with such a tailor made policy it pays to speak with a specialist before you buy.
Gary RK said:
Thanks Jasper for an honest and refershing response.
Our Premium comes just below the mid point of your range, partly for our endorsments, number of staff and hired in plant cover.
The biggest issue was getting an endorsement for minor tree works with a height limit. Strangley, cover for Gritting etc was the least of our problems and resulted in no increase (not sure I understand how the risk was negated by the insurers !!)
At the relevant time I may be wise for us to discuss further
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next