How to use it
Work through the list before renewal
Check off what you have, identify missing records, and note changes in staffing, services, territory, contracts, vehicles, or equipment. Not every carrier will request every item, but being prepared can make the process more efficient.
Prepared from merimack.com • Confirm state requirements and coverage with the appropriate authorities and a licensed agent.
1. Business profile
Identify every entity and place of operation
- Legal entity name, DBA, federal tax identification number, and entity type
- Owner names, ownership percentages, duties, and desired workers’ compensation treatment
- Mailing address, shop, office, yard, storage, and garaging locations
- States where employees are based or work is performed
- Years in business and relevant prior experience
- Annual gross sales, projected sales, and largest individual contract
- Residential, commercial, municipal, community-association, and construction customer percentages
- Peak season, operating months, radius of operation, and emergency or storm-response work
- Related entities, joint ventures, acquired businesses, or subcontracting arrangements
2. Services
Break out what the crews actually do
- Mowing, edging, blowing, pruning, and routine maintenance
- Seasonal cleanup, mulching, planting, and sod
- Landscape installation and renovation
- Irrigation installation, service, and winterization
- Grading, drainage, trenching, and excavation
- Pavers, patios, retaining walls, and hardscaping
- Tree trimming, removal, climbing, bucket work, chipping, or stump grinding
- Pesticide, herbicide, fertilizer, or other chemical application
- Snow plowing, salting, deicing, or weather response
- Landscape design, consulting, or specifications
- Work near roads, utilities, airports, railroads, or other controlled sites
- Any service added or discontinued during the current policy term
3. Employees and subcontractors
Organize payroll by actual job duty
- Employee count by full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal status
- Estimated and prior-year payroll by state and job duty
- Clerical, sales, supervisory, driver, maintenance, installation, hardscape, and tree-work duties
- Employee hiring, age verification, training, supervision, and disciplinary procedures
- Owner or officer inclusion and exclusion elections where permitted
- Current workers’ compensation classifications, rates, experience modification, and audit
- Independent contractor and subcontractor payments by service
- Written subcontractor agreements, certificates, and required limits
- How subcontractors are selected, supervised, and prevented from using unauthorized lower-tier subcontractors
- Employee turnover, return-to-work program, and light-duty options
4. Vehicles, drivers, and trailers
Build a complete fleet schedule
- Year, make, model, VIN, ownership, value, and garaging for each vehicle
- Driver name, date of birth, license number, state, and driving role
- Motor vehicle record review and written driver eligibility standards
- Vehicle use, radius, annual mileage, commuting, and take-home arrangements
- Trailer year, make, serial number, value, size, and towing vehicle
- Hired, rented, borrowed, and employee-owned vehicle use
- Vehicle maintenance, inspection, camera, telematics, and accident procedures
- Trailer hookup, backing, spotter, loading, and load-securement practices
- Prior accidents, violations, suspended licenses, or driver restrictions
- Lenders, lessors, loss payees, and required physical-damage deductibles
5. Tools, equipment, property, and chemicals
Use current, defensible values
- Mower, trimmer, blower, saw, generator, hand-tool, and small-equipment inventory
- Loader, skid steer, mini excavator, trencher, grinder, chipper, and attachment schedule
- Year, make, model, serial number, ownership, and replacement value for major equipment
- Rented, leased, borrowed, financed, or newly acquired equipment
- Overnight storage, fencing, lighting, locks, alarms, cameras, and GPS tracking
- Shop, office, yard, storage building, contents, inventory, and business-income values
- Pesticide, herbicide, fertilizer, fuel, and chemical inventory
- Applicator licenses, training, labels, safety data sheets, transport, storage, and spill response
- Replacement cost or actual cash value preference and acceptable deductibles
- Theft, vandalism, fire, storm, flood, and catastrophe controls
6. Safety, contracts, and claims
Document how the business prevents and responds to loss
- New-hire orientation and task-specific equipment training
- Personal protective equipment and enforcement procedures
- Heat, hydration, weather, electrical-line, trench, ladder, and tree-work plans
- Daily equipment inspections, maintenance logs, guards, and lockout procedures
- Jobsite inspection, utility locate, traffic control, and public protection
- Incident reporting, emergency response, claim notification, and evidence preservation
- Customer contracts and insurance specifications
- Additional insured, primary, waiver, indemnification, and completed-operations requirements
- Five years of currently valued loss runs where available
- Open claims, claim narratives, and corrective action after prior losses
7. Current insurance and agent questions
Compare protection—not only the premium
- Current declarations, forms, endorsements, schedules, limits, deductibles, and premiums
- General liability classifications and description of insured operations
- Workers’ compensation states, classifications, payroll, owners, employers liability limits, and waivers
- Commercial auto vehicles, drivers, symbols, hired and non-owned coverage, trailers, and physical damage
- Equipment schedule, blanket limits, valuation, theft conditions, and newly acquired property
- Property, business income, pollution, employment practices, cyber, crime, and umbrella policies
- Are tree work, hardscaping, excavation, chemicals, design, and snow work covered or excluded?
- Are every entity, state, location, vehicle, driver, and major equipment item correctly scheduled?
- What must be reported during the policy term, and how quickly?
- Which quote differences reflect narrower terms rather than a true price advantage?
Checklist note: This resource is general information. Carrier applications and state requirements differ. Review the current operation, legal obligations, and issued policy with the appropriate professionals.
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