Business Lines · Tree Service
Tree service insurance in Texas: why it's hard to place, and what actually covers you.
Tree care is one of the hardest trades in Texas to insure — and the reason usually has nothing to do with how well you run your business.
The short version
Climbing, chainsaws, chippers, and dropping heavy limbs near buildings and power lines put tree services in some of the highest-rated workers' compensation classifications in the country, and most standard carriers decline the class outright. The majority of tree services end up in surplus lines through a wholesale broker.
The two things that decide whether your policy is worth anything are exclusions, not limits. Watch for a height restriction capping how high crews may work, and for how the policy treats the tree you are working on — many general liability forms exclude damage to property in your care, custody, or control, which can mean the tree you drop on the client's house is the one thing not covered.
Why You Keep Getting Declined
It's the class code, not your company.
This surprises operators with clean records, so it's worth being direct about.
The work is high-severity
Falls from height, chainsaw injuries, struck-by incidents from falling limbs, and chipper accidents produce catastrophic claims rather than small ones. Insurers price severity, and tree care sits near the top.
Power lines change everything
Any work near energized lines is a different risk category. A carrier willing to write ornamental pruning may not write utility line clearance at all.
Height drives eligibility
Ground-based work, bucket truck work, and climbing are three different risks. The higher the crew goes, the shorter the list of carriers.
Storm work complicates it
Post-storm surge work — the most profitable work available after a hail or wind event — means unfamiliar crews, long hours, and unfamiliar properties. Underwriters know this and will ask.
If you've been declined repeatedly, you're not uninsurable — you're a surplus lines risk. Those markets exist specifically for classes standard carriers avoid, and reaching them requires an agency with wholesale relationships. A captive agent representing a single carrier structurally cannot do it.
Read This Before You Compare Prices
The exclusions that gut a tree service policy.
A cheap policy for a tree service is usually cheap because it excludes the work you actually do.
- Height restriction — coverage limited to work below a stated height
- Care, custody & control — may exclude the tree you're removing
- Crane use — often excluded without a specific endorsement
- Herbicide & pesticide — a separate exposure needing its own endorsement
- Underground utility strikes — stump grinding hits irrigation, gas, and fiber
- Subcontracted crews — uninsured subs land on your comp audit as your payroll
- Your equipment — chippers and bucket trucks need inland marine, not liability
Care, custody, and control deserves particular attention. Applied to tree work, it can mean the tree you're removing and sometimes the immediate area around it. If a limb takes out the client's roof, you want to know in advance whether that's a covered claim or an argument.
Workers' Compensation
Usually your largest insurance cost — and here's what drives it.
Classification code
Tree work carries some of the highest rates of any trade. Landscaping and grounds maintenance rate considerably lower. If your crews do both, splitting payroll correctly between the codes is worth real money — and misclassification is the most common expensive error in this trade.
Experience modifier
Above 1.0 is a surcharge, below 1.0 a credit. It's driven more by claim frequency than severity, so several small injuries hurt more than one large one. Basic safety discipline is directly financial.
Payroll audit
Premium is estimated up front then trued up at the end of the term. Underestimate payroll and you get a bill. Use uninsured subs and their payroll gets added to yours.
And the Texas wrinkle: workers' comp is optional here for private employers — Texas is the only state where that's true. For a trade with this injury profile, opting out means an injured climber can sue you directly for negligence without three of the defenses you would normally have. It's a legal choice, and a hard one to recommend for high-hazard physical work.
Straight Talk
When you need less than you think.
Landscaping isn't tree work
Mowing, planting, and grounds maintenance are far more insurable than removal. If tree work is a small fraction of what you do, say so precisely on the application — being described as a tree service when you're mostly a landscaper costs real money.
Ground-only is a better risk
If your crews never leave the ground, that's a meaningfully lower exposure and should be underwritten that way. Don't pay for climbing you don't do.
An umbrella can wait — sometimes
If no contract requires excess limits it can wait. Though in this trade umbrellas are cheaper relative to the exposure than in most, because the severity profile is exactly what excess coverage exists for.
Don't buy the cheapest quote
This is the one trade where that advice inverts. A materially cheaper quote usually means a height restriction, a care-custody-and-control exclusion, or a missing crane endorsement. Compare exclusions first and price second.
Get Started
Request a tree service insurance quote.
Tell us what your crews actually do — climbing, bucket, ground-only, crane, line clearance — and we'll tell you honestly what the market looks like for it.
Reach us directly
You'll hear back from a real person on our team, not a call center.
Plano, TX 75074
Tree Service FAQ
Questions we hear often.
Why can't I get insurance for my tree service?
Tree care is a high-hazard classification that most standard carriers decline regardless of your record. It's normally placed in surplus lines through a wholesale broker, which requires an agency with those relationships.
Does my general liability cover the tree I'm removing?
Often not. Many policies exclude damage to property in your care, custody, or control, which can include the tree you're working on and the area around it. Check the wording before you need it.
What is a height restriction on a tree service policy?
A clause limiting coverage to work below a stated height. Work above it isn't covered. It's a common reason a cheap policy turns out to be worthless.
Is my chipper or bucket truck covered by my liability policy?
No. Equipment needs inland marine coverage — an equipment floater. Liability covers damage you cause to others, not your own equipment.
Do I need workers' comp for a tree service in Texas?
Not by state law — Texas is the only state where private employers can opt out. But for work with this injury profile, opting out means an injured employee can sue you directly for negligence without three of the usual defenses, and most commercial contracts require coverage anyway.
Why is my workers' comp so much higher than a landscaper's?
Different classification codes. Tree work rates among the highest of any trade; landscaping rates far lower. If you do both, splitting payroll correctly between the codes matters.
Do I need to tell my insurer if I use a crane?
Yes. Crane-assisted removals are commonly excluded or require a specific endorsement.