Use a broker who lets you issue your own certificates online, instead of emailing a request and waiting. A certificate of insurance is a one page summary of your policies, limits, and dates, and managers want a fresh one each renewal. Morrow clients log in and send one in about a minute, any hour, any day, at no charge. Changes to the policy itself still go through your broker. Who this is for: grounds care companies who need proof of insurance to keep an account.
The short version
- A landscaping certificate shows general liability, workers comp, commercial auto, and an umbrella.
- Property managers, homeowner associations, towns, parks departments, and builders all ask for one.
- Morrow clients make their own certificates online in about a minute, day or night, at no charge.
- Your trucks and trailers are the part customers check hardest, including crew who drive their own pickups to a site.
What does a landscaping certificate have to show?
Four policies turn up on grounds care accounts, and two get read hardest.
| Policy | What it covers | Limit customers usually ask for |
|---|---|---|
| General liability | A rock thrown by a mower, a cut line, a limb through a roof | $1,000,000 for one incident and $2,000,000 for the year |
| Commercial auto | Trucks, dump bodies, and trailers you own, plus cover for the business when an employee drives his own truck on company work | $1,000,000 for each accident |
| Workers comp | Mower and saw injuries, heat illness, and lifting injuries | Whatever your state requires, plus three limits for employee suits, commonly $100,000 each accident, $500,000 for disease in a policy year, and $100,000 for disease per employee. Contracts often ask for all three at $500,000 or $1,000,000 |
| Umbrella | A second layer above your liability and auto limits | $1,000,000 on small accounts, $5,000,000 on towns |
In North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, and Wyoming, workers comp comes from the state fund, and fund policies pay nothing when an employee sues. Ask for stop gap cover, which fills the hole.
Who asks a landscaper for a certificate?
- Property managers and associations, at every renewal.
- Building owners, for grounds and lot work.
- Towns and parks departments, with their own forms.
- Snow customers, who ask for higher limits.
Why is truck and trailer cover the piece that gets checked?
Because your crews spend half the day towing. A loaded trailer that comes loose is the claim most likely to blow past a $1,000,000 limit.
Ask your broker about cover for rented vehicles and for employees driving their own trucks on company work. That cover pays claims made against your business. It does not repair the employee's truck, and a sole proprietor's own pickup usually has to sit on the business policy. See how that shows up on a certificate.
What happens if I spray fertilizer or weed killer?
Then you have a risk most liability policies leave out. Chemicals that drift onto a neighbor's garden, or a treatment that kills a customer's plantings, are treated as pollution. Many insurers add cover for spraying for extra premium.
Fuel is different. The standard liability form gives back fuel and fluids that escape from your own mobile equipment, such as a mower or a skid steer, unless your insurer added a total pollution exclusion that deletes the give back. A spill from a truck on the road is an auto claim instead. Applied chemicals are the real gap, and that is what a separate pollution policy is for.
What extra wording do landscaping contracts ask for?
| What the contract asks for | What it means | How it gets there |
|---|---|---|
| Additional insured | Your customer can use your liability policy if they are sued because of your work | Blanket wording (CG 20 33) adds the customer you signed the contract with, for work in progress, when the contract required it in writing before the loss. It does not reach the owner, the lender, or the architect above your customer. A broader blanket form (CG 20 38) can reach them, but it leaves out coverage after the job is finished |
| Coverage after the job ends | It keeps going after the work is done | A scheduled change (CG 20 37). Carriers make blanket versions by typing that wording into its schedule, or on their own form |
| Named on the auto policy too | The same protection on your trucks | A change on the auto policy, not the liability policy |
| Your policy pays first | Your policy pays first and your customer's does not chip in | Its own added line (CG 20 01), not a line inside the form above |
| No claim against your customer | Your insurer agrees not to go after your customer for its money back | One change on liability (CG 24 04) and another on workers comp (WC 00 03 13) |
Typing extra names into the description box adds nobody to your policy. The change goes on the policy.
How do I issue one myself in about a minute?
- Log in from the truck.
- Pick the policies the contract asks for.
- Type the customer's legal name exactly as the contract spells it.
- Add the property address.
- Email it or upload it.
No charge, and no wait for Monday, which is what the night before a snow event needs. See getting one instantly.
What still has to go through my broker?
- Naming a customer your policy does not already pick up.
- Raising a limit for a town or large account.
- Adding cover for spraying, or a pollution policy.
- Adding a waiver on workers comp, which some states handle their own way.
You get a reply usually within the hour on business days. Insurers almost never backdate. A change added today does nothing for something that already went wrong, and a customer saying you can start does not create coverage for the gap.
What this looks like in real life
Illustrative example. It is typical of what we see and is not a promise of how any specific situation would be handled.
The setup: A landscaping company in New Jersey holds a $96,000 a year contract for four properties, plus the snow work. At renewal the manager wants $2,000,000 of total liability, $1,000,000 on the trucks, and cover for weed and bug treatment.
What went wrong: The owner uploads his usual certificate on the last day. It is rejected twice: his policy leaves out spraying, and his total limit is $1,000,000.
What it cost: Two of the four properties went elsewhere while the coverage was fixed, about $31,000 a year, and the snow route went too.
The fix: The packet arrived five weeks early. A broker reading it that week would have priced both changes in time.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How can I get a free, instant certificate of insurance for my landscaping business?
Use a broker whose clients issue their own. Morrow clients log in, pick the customer, and send one in about a minute, at no charge.
Q: Do I need extra coverage if my crews spray fertilizer or weed killer?
Usually yes. Most liability policies leave out damage from chemicals you apply, so it is added or bought separately.
Q: Why do customers care so much about my truck insurance?
Because towing trailers all day is the biggest risk you carry. Larger accounts want $1,000,000 on the trucks.
Q: Does a certificate of insurance cost money?
It should not. Brokers issue them at no charge as part of servicing your policy.
Q: What happens if I bring in a tree service for one job?
Your certificate covers your business only. Get their certificate first, showing liability and workers comp, or your insurer can bill you for their payroll at your year end payroll check.
Q: Do towns and parks departments want to be named on my policy?
Almost always, and they set their own limits and use their own form. Read the bid documents for the exact legal name.
How Morrow helps
Morrow is a licensed independent commercial insurance brokerage that works with contractors and trades every day. Landscapers get certificate requests from property managers, homeowner associations, and towns at every renewal, and our clients issue every one of them themselves.
- Free contract review. Send us the contract or bid documents and we mark up the insurance section in plain English, whether or not you buy anything from us.
- Free, instant certificates. Clients issue their own certificates of insurance online in about a minute, any hour, any day, at no charge.
- Markets you cannot reach online. One application, shopped across many insurance companies for general liability, workers comp, auto, umbrella, and pollution coverage.
One more thing. This article is general information and is not legal advice or a statement of coverage. Your contract and your policy wording control in every case. Requirements vary by customer, by state, and by insurance company, so have a licensed advisor review your own contract and your own policy before relying on any of it.
Last updated: Reviewed by the Morrow commercial lines team. Last updated September 2026.