How much does lawn care insurance cost?

If you mow, trim and clean up yards for pay, sooner or later something goes wrong. A rock flies out from under the mower and cracks a window. A trailer clips a mailbox. A helper sprains an ankle on a slope. Insurance is what turns those days from a disaster into an annoyance, and many customers, landlords and property managers won't hire you without it.

Here's what a small lawn care business usually carries, what each policy costs, and how to keep the bill down. The prices come from two insurers that publish what their customers pay: Insureon and NEXT. Your own quote will depend on your state, your work and your history, but these numbers tell you what to budget.

The short answer

Most solo lawn care businesses start with general liability, which runs about $36 to $55 a month for many owners. Add cover for your mowers and trimmers, and a commercial auto policy once you use a truck or trailer for work. Workers' compensation comes in when you hire.

A median means half paid less and half paid more. NEXT's ranges, from its own customers over the past year (updated October 2026), are in the same territory: $18 to $55 a month for general liability for most of them, and a median of $154 for workers' compensation.

General liability: the one to get first

General liability pays when your work damages someone else's property or injures someone who isn't your employee. For lawn care, the classic claims are a stone thrown through a window or into a car, a damaged sprinkler head or fence, and a customer tripping over your equipment.

It's also the policy customers ask about. Homeowners' associations, property managers and commercial clients often want a certificate of insurance before you start, sometimes naming them as an additional insured.

What moves the price: your coverage limits (many small businesses choose $1 million per claim), your revenue, whether you use subcontractors, the kind of work (tree work costs far more to insure than mowing) and your claims history.

Cover for your mowers and trimmers

Your equipment is most of what you own as a lawn care business, and it spends its days on a trailer, in driveways and in the back of a truck. Tools and equipment insurance, also called inland marine, pays to repair or replace it after theft or damage, including on a job site, which home and auto policies usually won't. If one machine is worth a lot, such as a zero-turn mower, check whether it needs to be listed on the policy by name.

Commercial auto, once you drive for work

Your personal auto policy may not cover a truck you use for business, or the trailer behind it. If you haul equipment from yard to yard, ask your insurer whether you need commercial auto. It's often the largest bill, and the price depends heavily on your vehicles, how far you drive and your driving record.

Workers' compensation, when you hire

Most states require workers' compensation once you have employees, though the rules on how many and which kinds of workers vary by state. It pays medical bills and lost wages when someone who works for you gets hurt, and it's priced on your payroll and the risk of the work. If it's just you, check your state's rules: many don't require it for a sole owner with no employees.

A bundle can be cheaper

A business owner's policy (BOP) combines general liability with cover for your business property, often for less than buying both separately. It suits businesses with a storage unit, a garage full of gear or a small office.

Do you need a bond?

Not usually, for mowing. Some cities and states ask landscapers and contractors for a license or permit bond, and some commercial contracts require one. Insureon puts license and permit bonds at about $9 a month.

How to pay less

• Start with what you need. General liability and equipment cover protect a solo mower well. Add commercial auto and workers' comp as your business grows into them.
• Bundle. A business owner's policy, or several policies from the same insurer, often costs less than separate ones.
• Describe your work accurately. Mowing and cleanups are priced very differently from tree removal or pesticide spraying. If you don't do the riskier work, say so.
• Pay yearly if you can. Many insurers charge less than twelve monthly payments.
• Keep your record clean. Claims raise prices. Paying for a cracked window yourself can cost less than a claim on your record.
• Compare a few quotes. Online insurers and independent agents can each quote in minutes.

Insurance is one line in your startup budget

Insurance is a small part of what it costs to start mowing for pay. Equipment, a trailer, a website and your first months of fuel all add up. Our guide to how to start a lawn care business walks through every cost, what owners make, the licenses some states ask for (spraying weedkiller usually needs one) and every step to your first customers.

If you're still at the naming stage, we wrote 48 lawn care business name ideas to start from. When you're ready for customers to find you, PressUp builds a landscaping website from a few sentences about your business.

The prices above are what other businesses paid, as published by Insureon and NEXT. They're a guide for your budget, not a quote. Ask an insurer or an independent agent for one based on your business.