Small Business Spotlight: Snow Removal

With winter right around the corner, you may be thinking about ways to earn some extra cash on the side. For people in the Midwest, that often involves snow removal and clearing driveways. But, before you do, we’ve come up with a few things to consider regarding your snow plow small business insurance.

Plowing Parking Lots and Driveways

If you have the right equipment, you might be able to work with local small businesses to clear snow before customers arrive. Picking up a few of these could mean a great side income! Before you put your blade down on your first driveway, consider your liability. If you have our Member’s Choice policy, the vehicle used for the snow removal should be classified as business use. If your operation is larger, or if you are operating as a separate business entity, our Commercial Package may be a better option.

Save on Your Snow Removal Business Coverage

No one thinks about snow removal when the weather is sunny and 70 degrees during warm summer months. Our Member’s Choice policy is able to protect small snow removal operations that work on parking lots and driveways. You should consider scheduling the blade to provide coverage while it is not attached to a vehicle. That way your blade is still protected while you’re enjoying the warmer weather.

Policy Coverage for Larger Scale Operations

If you’ve grown your snow removal business to more than just parking lots and driveways, you can look at the Commercial Package Policy (CPP) which may include auto and property coverage along with other optional coverages like workers’ compensation, umbrella, and business interruption.  On the CPP, the snow removal business must be endorsed as well as any other commercial operations. The CPP is able to write the whole business exposure, not just the vehicle, making it easier for you to keep up with any changes in only one place.

When You Have a Team

If you have a team of people that work with you, you could add workers’ compensation to help protect them if an accident were to happen while they were working. Workers’ compensation can help provide the business coverage both you and your employees would need.

An umbrella policy provides additional liability coverage. Umbrella coverage protects your overall financial well-being. Even if you have a personal umbrella, it can be a good idea to separate your business from your personal assets, which would include having a separate umbrella.

Business interruption protects your income if for some reason you’re out of business as a result of a covered loss. You are able to choose a limit based on the amount of time you think you would be out of business and what amount of income replacement you would need. This helps give you piece of mind when planning for that extra income.

Removing snow for neighbors or local businesses puts some extra cash in your wallet. Don’t find yourself in a panic if you are involved in any accident and find out you aren’t covered. Contact your Farm Bureau agent to make sure all your personal and business exposures are insured properly.