Consulting Arborist Insurance

[c.breck.m]

Hi all,

Sorry if this has already been discussed in other places but I currently do municipal urban forestry work and am thinking of trying to get started as a private consulting arborist. One of my main concerns is not getting sued, and I’m wondering if any consultants out there could share what kind of insurance they carry. I would be doing tree risk assessments, tree protection plans for construction, supervision for planting projects required by the city, etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ATH]

You want Errors and Omissions or Professional Liability. Same (or close enough to the same) thing, different names. Call around to several independent agencies. It is not a "common" thing I found. Mine is underwritten by Westbend and is part of a total business liability package...

PS: here is a thread about the topic elsewhere...hope posting that is OK

 

[SuperDuty04]

You might also check with Erie Insurance. That’s who I have my contractor insurance through and they’re very good and offer lots of different types of coverages to protect contractors in various trades.

 

[c.breck.m]

Thank you both. Do you think it’s necessary to set up as an LLC as well or would Errors and Omissions be enough?

 

[greengreer]

An LLC is another form of insurance if all else fails. It's not expensive or hard to do, just make sure you have your ducks in a row and do everything to keep the protection of the "corporate veil"

 

[SuperDuty04]

I’d definitely do a llc.

 

[c.breck.m]

Thanks all.