What Insurance Does a Tree Surgeon Need?

Which Types of Insurance Policy Should a Tree Surgeon Have?

Although there are no specific requirements laid down in Scottish law for tree surgeons to follow, there are several types of insurance that every reputable service provide in the country should most definitely have:

• Public Liability Insurance – This type of insurance should be carried by any type of service provider, in all industries and market sectors. It provides coverage for costs incurred when claims for damages are made against the insured by third parties, most usually customers or business partners. For example: if a tree surgeon should accidentally damage a customer’s home or business premises whilst attending to trees on their land, public liability insurance would meet the cost of any necessary repairs (assuming the service provider was found to be at fault of course).

As you would expect from a reputable arboricultural service provider, we carry generous public liability cover, to the tune of £10 million. What this means for our customers is that in the unlikely event we should accidentally damage their trees or property during the course of our work, there is no need to worry about our financial status when it comes to compensation: our comprehensive cover will take care of any and all costs in cases where we are at fault.

• Professional Indemnity Insurance – This type of insurance is most often talked about in relation to providers of legal or financial advice in the UK, owing to the potentially high costs of negligent advice in these areas. However, in our opinion, it is a crucial type of cover for any person or corporate body providing advice and services in a professional capacity. Therefore, when answering the question “What insurance does a tree surgeon need?” it would be remiss of us not to stress the importance of professional indemnity cover.

There are numerous cases in which professional indemnity insurance could prove to be the difference between a problem being satisfactorily resolved and financial ruin for one or more parties. If, for instance, you suffer extensive damages as a result of following the advice given by a professional tree surgeon, you should be guaranteed adequate compensation if they hold this type of insurance. If they do not, you would have to hope that they have enough liquid assets to settle your claim. As leading arboricultural professionals in North East Scotland, we carry £1 million of professional indemnity insurance: more than enough to reassure our clients that we are fully capable of dealing with any and all eventualities that may arise.

• Employers’ Liability Insurance – This type of interest may be of less interest to most customers but you should never hire a company that does not carry adequate employers’ liability insurance as it would indicate a distinct lack of professionalism. To protect both ourselves and our employers, we carry £10 million of employers’ liability insurance.

All these types of insurance should be held by a tree surgeon operating in North East Scotland and if you should encounter a service provider who does not have all these policies, we recommend looking for another company to meet your future arboricultural needs, such as Epic Tree Care.