Michigan Snow Removal Insurance: What Plow and Landscaping Contractors Need

Running a plow and landscape operation in Oakland, Macomb, Genesee or Lapeer County? Have us review your program before the season starts →

Michigan snow removal insurance comes down to four pieces: general liability with no snow-and-ice exclusion, a business auto policy on every plow truck, workers' comp rated under the right Michigan class codes, and limits large enough to back the hold-harmless clause in your contracts. For an established contractor, that means at least $1 million per occurrence and $1 million aggregate, and usually an umbrella above it.

Why snow removal claims got bigger in Michigan in 2023

For years, Michigan property owners won a lot of snow-and-ice slip-and-fall cases early, on the argument that the danger was open and obvious and the owner owed no duty. On July 28, 2023, the Michigan Supreme Court changed that in Kandil-Elsayed v F & E Oil, a 5–2 decision involving a fall on snow and ice at a gas station. The Court held that whether a hazard was open and obvious no longer decides whether the owner owed a duty. It is now weighed as part of breach and comparative fault, which generally means a jury hears it.

The practical result is that more snow-and-ice cases survive long enough to settle, and property owners and managers push those claims toward the contractor they hired. A bill to restore the old rule, House Bill 4582, passed the Michigan House on March 11, 2026 and was sent to a Senate committee. As of this writing it is not law. Price your season as if the current rule stays.

The hold-harmless clause is where the money is

Nearly every commercial snow contract has an indemnification clause: you agree to defend and hold the owner harmless for claims arising out of your work. Owners and contractors both tend to assume Michigan law cancels these. It mostly does not.

• What Michigan's anti-indemnity statute actually does. MCL 691.991 voids an indemnity clause only to the extent it covers the owner's sole negligence in contracts for construction, repair or maintenance of improvements to real property. Since 2013, public entities also cannot require indemnity beyond the contractor's share of fault. Whether a court would treat a snow contract as "maintenance" under that statute has not been squarely decided, so plan as if your clause will be enforced as written.
• What that looks like in a real Michigan case. In City of Birmingham v Royal Oak Landscaping & Snow Removal (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2005, unpublished), a pedestrian fell on a downtown sidewalk and blamed both the city's uneven concrete and the plow contractor. Because the city was not solely negligent, the court held the contractor owed the city's entire $18,000 settlement under its indemnity clause, including any share attributable to the city's own sidewalk and lighting. That case predates the 2013 amendment limiting what public entities can require, so a city contract signed today might be treated differently — but the same clause in a contract with a private owner or property manager is still enforceable as written.
• Why your liability policy has to match the contract. A standard general liability policy covers liability you assume in an "insured contract." Some policies narrow that with a contractual liability limitation endorsement (ISO CG 21 39). If yours carries it, the indemnity promise in your snow contract may be a promise you are paying for yourself.

That is also the case for limits. An indemnity clause does not have a dollar cap. A serious slip-and-fall with surgery can exceed a $500,000 policy on its own. This is why we set $1 million per occurrence / $1 million aggregate as the floor for established contractors and recommend a commercial umbrella above it. See our commercial umbrella page for how that layer works.

Your plow truck is an auto, not equipment

The standard ISO general liability form defines "mobile equipment" broadly, then carves out self-propelled vehicles with permanently attached equipment designed primarily for snow removal. Those are treated as autos, and autos are excluded from general liability. The liability for a plow truck belongs on a commercial auto policy.

• Personal auto policies are the common gap. Plenty of plow pickups are still titled to the owner and insured on a personal policy. Personal auto policies are not built for plowing for hire, and some carriers exclude it outright. If a truck earns money in winter, put it on the business auto policy.
• Completed operations after the truck leaves. ISO's Snow Plow Operations Coverage endorsement (CG 22 92) states that the auto exclusion does not apply to plow autos within the products-completed operations hazard — the fall hours after you left. Commentators argue whether it adds anything the base form does not already give, and some carriers go the other way with their own snow exclusions. Ask which way your policy reads.
• Skid steers and loaders used for stacking and sidewalks are generally mobile equipment for liability purposes. The machines themselves need a contractor's equipment (inland marine) policy for theft and damage.

The snow-and-ice exclusion on landscaper policies

Many general liability policies written for lawn and landscape contractors exclude snow and ice removal or cover it only if it is scheduled. These are carrier-specific endorsements, not a standard ISO form, so the only way to know is to read your schedule of forms. A mowing company that picks up six plowing accounts in November without telling its agent can be running the most dangerous part of its year uninsured.

Certificates are the other half. Property managers routinely ask to be added as additional insured. For snow work you want both ongoing operations (CG 20 10) and completed operations (CG 20 37) additional insured coverage, plus primary and non-contributory wording and a waiver of subrogation if the contract calls for them. Additional insured status for the truck is on the auto policy, not the general liability policy.

Michigan's class codes split your year into pieces

Michigan rates workers' compensation under its own classification manual, maintained by the Compensation Advisory Organization of Michigan. National class-code sites describe a different book. For a combined landscape and snow operation, the splits matter:

• Code 0042, landscape gardening — installing plantings, sod and landscapes. Grading and excavation are separately rated.
• Code 9102, lawn maintenance — Michigan puts mowing and maintenance here, not in 0042.
• Code 9402 — Michigan's manual applies this to clearing snow from streets, roads and parking lots, including plowing and salting. The 9102 description says outright that a lawn-maintenance insured's winter snow plowing is separately rated as 9402.

If your payroll records do not separate winter plowing from summer maintenance, the auditor decides for you. Our post on Michigan workers' comp class codes explains how that plays out at audit.

Spraying? The state sets a floor, and your policy cannot exclude it

If you apply fertilizer-and-weed-control or other pesticides for hire, Michigan requires a Pesticide Application Business License from MDARD in addition to your applicators' certifications. The state rule requires general liability insurance of at least $100,000 bodily injury and $25,000 property damage per occurrence, and it says the insurance may not exclude injury or damage arising from pesticide applications. If your policy carries a pesticide or herbicide exclusion, it does not satisfy the license requirement. The license is suspended if the coverage lapses. Treat the state minimum as a licensing floor, not a limit anyone should carry; the same $1 million floor applies.

Frequently Asked Questions

What insurance does a snow plow contractor need in Michigan?

At minimum: general liability that does not exclude snow and ice work, a commercial auto policy covering every plow truck, workers' compensation if you have employees, and inland marine coverage for loaders, skid steers and spreaders. For an established contractor we recommend at least $1 million per occurrence and $1 million aggregate on the liability, with a commercial umbrella above it, because contract indemnity clauses are not capped.

Does general liability cover my plow truck?

Generally not. The standard ISO general liability form treats a vehicle with permanently attached snow removal equipment as an auto, and autos are excluded. Liability for the truck belongs on a commercial auto policy. A separate endorsement, CG 22 92, addresses completed-operations claims that arise after plowing is finished.

Does Michigan law void the hold-harmless clause in my snow contract?

Usually not entirely. MCL 691.991 voids indemnity only for the property owner's sole negligence, and since 2013 limits public entities to the contractor's share of fault. Whether it applies to snow removal contracts at all has not been squarely decided. In a 2005 unpublished case, a Michigan plow contractor owed a city's entire settlement because the city was not solely at fault. Clauses in contracts with private owners and property managers are generally enforced as written.

What is the workers' comp class code for snow plowing in Michigan?

Michigan's manual rates clearing snow from streets, roads and parking lots, including plowing and salting, under code 9402. Lawn mowing and maintenance is 9102, and landscape installation is 0042. Keep payroll records that separate the work, or the auditor may put it all in the highest-rated code.

Is the open and obvious doctrine gone in Michigan?

Not gone, but changed. Since the Michigan Supreme Court's July 2023 decision in Kandil-Elsayed, whether a hazard was open and obvious is weighed under breach and comparative fault instead of deciding whether the owner owed a duty at all. That lets more snow-and-ice cases reach a jury. A bill to reverse it passed the House in March 2026 but is not law as of this writing.

The bottom line

A snow program is decided by three documents: the contract you sign, the schedule of forms on your general liability policy, and the list of vehicles on your auto policy. If the contract promises more than the policy delivers, the difference comes out of your business. The time to fix that is before the first plowable event, not after the first fall.

We work best with established Michigan snow and landscape contractors — payroll on the books, trucks titled to the business, commercial accounts under written contract, and a few years of loss runs. Send us your current declarations pages, your full schedule of forms, a copy of your standard snow contract and your last two loss runs, and we will show you where the contract and the coverage do not match before we talk about price. J. Jacobs & Associates has written Michigan contractors for more than forty years, and as an independent agency we take your program to multiple preferred commercial carriers instead of one. Call (248) 693-6455 or request a contractor review.