Last updated: September 14, 2026
Compare Michigan landscaping insurance for the three-employee / one full-time workers’ comp triggers, MDARD pesticide application business insurance, and client certificates before you quote.
Requirements · Coverages · Costs · Quote checklist · FAQs
Get a landscaping insurance quote
Use Simply Business to request a quote for your landscaping operation. Describe the lawn, hardscape, pesticide and vehicle work you do and confirm coverages and availability with the provider.
Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Michigan landscaping insurance requirements to check first
Michigan’s Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency and MCL 418.115 require private employers to carry workers’ compensation if they regularly employ three or more employees at one time (including part-time), or regularly employ one or more employees 35 hours or more per week for 13 weeks or longer in the preceding 52 weeks. Partners, corporate officers and LLC manager-members count as employees of the entity; a sole proprietor is never an employee of that sole proprietorship. Corporations/LLCs/partnerships generally need a policy or a filed WC-337 exclusion.
Michigan does not issue a statewide landscaping contractor license for ordinary lawn care. For-hire pesticide applications require a MDARD Pesticide Application Business License plus a certified commercial applicator in categories such as 3A turfgrass or 3B ornamental.
MDARD pesticide business insurance vs client COIs
MDARD requires proof of financial responsibility as a certificate of comprehensive general liability insurance that does not exclude pesticide applications. For typical turf/ornamental categories, minimums are not less than $100,000 bodily injury and $25,000 property damage per occurrence (aerial, fumigation and right-of-way categories may use a $300,000 combined single limit alternative). Rule 285.636.14 suspends the license if required insurance lapses. That pesticide-business floor is not a statewide GL mandate for mowing-only crews. HOAs and GCs can still demand higher limits by contract.
Which landscaping coverages should you compare?
| What you need to protect | What to compare |
|---|---|
| Customer injury, damaged plants, irrigation and hardscape claims | General liability, including products and completed operations for finished landscape work. |
| Herbicide drift, fertilizer burn and chemical application claims | Ask whether pesticide/herbicide exposures sit on the GL form or need a separate endorsement — and whether your pesticide license has its own financial-responsibility floor. |
| Crew injuries while mowing, planting, digging or loading | Workers’ compensation (state rules differ — see requirements above). |
| Trailers, mowers, blowers and truck tools | Inland marine / tools & equipment at the shop, in transit and on jobs. |
| The pickup, dump truck or trailer on public roads | Commercial auto separate from general liability; hired/non-owned auto if helpers drive personal vehicles. |
| License, pesticide-dealer or municipal bond floors | Surety amount, obligee and whether a liability policy can substitute under statute. |
General liability for landscape work
General liability responds to third-party bodily injury and property-damage claims tied to your operations — for example a slip on a wet walkway after you mowed, or irrigation damage to a neighbor’s foundation. Ask how the form treats products/completed operations after the bed or hardscape is finished, and whether herbicide drift or fertilizer burn needs a pesticide endorsement or sits on the base form.
Commercial auto, trailers and tools
A pickup hauling a trailer is usually a commercial-auto question, not a general-liability question. Confirm hired and non-owned auto if helpers drive personal vehicles to jobs. Tools and equipment (inland marine) cover scheduled mowers and trailers at the shop, in transit and on jobs — separate from the truck’s physical-damage coverage.
What these policies usually do not do
General liability is not workers’ compensation, professional design liability, or a surety bond. A certificate of insurance is proof of a policy in force — it does not by itself add a homeowner or GC as an additional insured. Ask for the endorsement when a contract requires it.
How much does Michigan landscaping insurance cost?
Insureon’s national landscaping customer medians (page updated February 24, 2026; rechecked September 14, 2026) provide a starting reference: general liability $51/month ($610/year), workers’ compensation $169/month ($2,029/year), tools & equipment $38/month ($450/year), commercial auto $204/month ($2,452/year), license/permit bonds $9/month ($112/year), commercial umbrella $88/month ($1,060/year), and a business owner’s policy $94/month ($1,130/year). These are national Insureon landscaping-customer medians — not Michigan-specific rates and not Simply Business prices.
Do not add every row together. A business owner’s policy can bundle general liability with property, so those lines may overlap. Workers’ compensation, commercial auto, tools and bonds remain separate questions. Your provider needs payroll, revenue, services (mowing vs hardscape vs pesticide), claims, limits and equipment values to quote the actual crew.
Request an annual total for the same service mix and coverage dates. Ask whether payment plans, certificates, additional-insured endorsements or midyear changes add charges.
Prepare your Michigan landscaping insurance quote
- Business entity, operating address, start date and years in business.
- Services: mowing/maintenance, design/install, irrigation, hardscape, tree work, pesticide/fertilizer.
- Revenue, payroll, worker roles, owner participation and any 1099 help.
- Vehicles and trailers, drivers, and overnight storage.
- Equipment values (mowers, trailers, tools) and any pesticide inventory.
- Claim history, current policies, license/bond status, and each GC or HOA’s written insurance requirements.
Have providers quote the same activities, limits, deductibles and effective date. Ask for the annual total, payment charges and costs for required endorsements. Get written confirmation of unresolved exclusions before relying on the policy for a new contract.
Get a landscaping insurance quote
Use Simply Business to request a quote for your landscaping operation. Describe the lawn, hardscape, pesticide and vehicle work you do and confirm coverages and availability with the provider.
Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Frequently asked questions
When does a Michigan landscaper need workers’ compensation?
When you regularly employ three or more people at once, or one or more people 35+ hours/week for 13+ weeks in the prior year (MCL 418.115). Partners and officers count toward the headcount; sole proprietors do not count themselves as employees.
Does Michigan require general liability for every landscaper?
No statewide GL floor for ordinary landscaping was identified. MDARD pesticide application businesses must carry at least $100,000 BI / $25,000 PD per occurrence (higher combined options for certain categories). Contracts may still require a COI.
Does general liability cover the landscaping truck?
No. Vehicle liability is a commercial auto product. Trailers, hired/non-owned drivers and tools in transit are separate questions from a GL policy.
Does a certificate make a homeowner or GC an additional insured?
No. A certificate is evidence of a policy; it does not create coverage. Ask whether the requested additional-insured wording is in the policy or an endorsement before you send the COI.
Related guides
Michigan landscaping · Landscaping business insurance
Requirements and source benchmarks checked September 14, 2026. Policy terms and availability depend on the insurer and your business.
Sources
- Michigan LEO/WDCA — Insurance requirements — 3+ or 1 FT/13-week WC triggers
- MCL 418.115 — Statutory employer coverage tests
- MDARD — Pesticide Application Businesses — Business license + insurance liability requirements
- Insureon — landscaping insurance cost — National customer medians, updated Feb 24, 2026
