Quick answer
A Florida lawn care or landscaping business usually needs general liability for property damage and injuries on clients' property, commercial auto for its trucks and trailers, equipment coverage for mowers and tools, and workers' compensation once it reaches Florida's employee threshold. Applying herbicides or pesticides for hire takes a state certification, and that certification requires proof of liability insurance at set minimums (section 482.156).
Coverage a lawn care or landscaping business usually needs
| Coverage | What it's for |
|---|---|
| General liability | Damage to clients' homes, cars and property from mowers and thrown debris, and injuries to people on the job site. Ask whether herbicide and pesticide application is covered; many policies limit it without an endorsement. |
| Commercial auto | Trucks and the trailers they pull. A personal auto policy can deny a claim for a vehicle used in the business. |
| Equipment (inland marine) | Mowers, trimmers, blowers and trailers, on the trailer or at a job site, including theft. An auto policy doesn't cover the equipment you haul. |
| Workers' compensation | Cuts, falls and heat illness. Required once you reach Florida's employee threshold for how your work is classified. |
| Umbrella or excess liability | Higher limits that some HOA, commercial property and government contracts require. |
Florida and federal rules that apply
- Commercial landscape maintenance workers who apply herbicides in beds, driveways, sidewalks and patios, or certain pesticides to ornamental plants, need a limited certification from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Before it's issued, the applicant must provide a certificate of insurance meeting the minimums in section 482.071(4) (section 482.156, Florida Statutes).
- Those minimums are bodily injury of $250,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence plus property damage of $250,000 per occurrence and $500,000 in the aggregate, or a $500,000 combined single limit (section 482.071(4)).
- Anyone applying commercial fertilizer to an urban landscape must hold the state's limited certification for urban landscape commercial fertilizer application (section 482.1562).
- Workers' compensation is required for most non-construction employers with four or more employees, and for construction work with one or more. Ask us how your work is classified, especially if you install hardscape or irrigation (Chapter 440).
As of October 2026. Sources are listed at the end of the page.
What drives the price
- Services you offer: mowing and maintenance rate differently from installation, irrigation and especially tree trimming or removal
- Herbicide, pesticide and fertilizer application
- Annual revenue and payroll
- Number of trucks and trailers, and who drives them
- Value of mowers and equipment
- Claims in the last three to five years
Have this ready before you ask for a quote
- Services you offer, and whether you do any tree work
- State certifications held (482.156 limited certification, fertilizer certification) and license numbers
- Annual revenue, payroll and number of employees
- Trucks and trailers: year, make, model and VIN
- Equipment list with values
- Contracts that require specific limits, additional insureds or a certificate
Don't have everything? Send what you have; an agent will ask for the rest. Coverage can't be bound or changed through this website, and each insurance company makes its own underwriting decision.