Tree service and arborist insurance in Spokane
Chainsaws, chippers, climbing and gravity. One of the few trades where a single mistake can destroy a house, and the carriers that write it know that.
Felling is the claim carriers underwrite around
A removal that goes wrong does not produce a small claim. A mature pine through a roof in a Spokane windstorm is a structural repair plus contents plus somewhere for the family to live, and if anybody was underneath it stops being a property claim at all. This is why tree service sits with a narrow group of carriers and why limits below $1M are not realistic for removal work.
Climbing and rigging experience is an underwriting question. So is whether you do crane-assisted removals and whether you work near energised lines — some carriers exclude line-clearance work entirely, and doing it under a policy that excludes it is the same as not having one.
Workers’ compensation is the expensive half
Tree work carries one of the higher L&I rates in Washington, driven by falls and chainsaw injuries. The lever you control is classification and claims history. Crews that do a mix of tree work and general landscaping frequently get everything rated at the tree rate — worth separating properly, because the difference across a year of payroll is substantial.
Equipment on and off the truck
Chippers, stump grinders, climbing kit and saws represent real money, and they live on trailers and job sites rather than in a building. Commercial auto covers the truck and trailer; the equipment needs inland marine scheduled at current replacement values. Theft of chippers in particular is common enough that carriers ask how you secure them overnight.
Biggest exposures for tree services
- A felled tree or dropped limb hitting a building, vehicle or power line
- Climber falls and chipper injuries
- Property damage from crane and bucket truck set-up
- Stump grinding damaging irrigation, cabling and utilities
Pre-filled for your trade. Two minutes.
Coverage
What tree services usually carry
General Liability
The baseline policy.
Read moreWorkers' Compensation
Required in Washington for nearly every employer.
Read moreCommercial Auto
Coverage for the vehicles your business owns, leases, rents or asks employees to drive.
Read moreCommercial Umbrella
Extra liability limits that sit above your general liability, auto and employer liability policies.
Read moreQuestions
Tree Services insurance FAQs
$1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate is the practical floor for anyone doing removals, and an umbrella on top is normal rather than cautious. A single tree through a roof can approach the underlying limit before any injury is counted.
Often not. Line-clearance work is excluded by a number of carriers, and the ones that do write it ask about training and clearances. If you take that work, it has to be disclosed — a claim arising from excluded operations gets denied regardless of what you paid in premium.
Generally yes under general liability for resulting damage, but underground utility strikes are a frequent and avoidable claim. Calling 811 before grinding is both the legal expectation in Washington and the thing that makes the claim defensible.
Other trades
We write these too
General Contractors
Registration, a bond, liability and workers’ comp — general contractors carry more moving parts than any trade we write, and the most contract-driven requirements.
Read moreRoofers
The hardest trade in construction to insure, and the one where carrier appetite narrows fastest.
Read moreElectricians
Low claim frequency, high claim severity.
Read morePlumbers
Every job you touch carries water, and water finds its way into places that cost far more to repair than the work you were paid for.
Read moreStart with your trade. We will take it from there.
Tell us what the business does and we will pre-select the coverage it normally needs, then compare carriers for you. About two minutes, no obligation.
Prefer to talk it through? Call (509) 944-0847.