# The correct process to begin residential plowing for money?



## JoeT (Jan 6, 2019)

Question to all you Maine, residential-only, plow drivers. I'm reading about contracts, logs, commercial insurance vs personal insurance, commercial plates on plow truck, etc. I'm not sure how other states operate, but anytime we've ever hired a plow up here in Maine, it was just a matter of calling a number and giving an address, that's it... no contract. And I see plow drivers go from one driveway right into the next and so on down the road, so how could they be logging these, especially time-in and time-out of residents... I mean, that's not something somebody could easily remember without recording each one. So what is the deal?... What is the correct process to plowing residential only while staying out of trouble... in Maine? (Besides the obvious of not hitting anything with the plow or plow vehicle.)

I plow our home and two relatives, and thought about taking on a few accounts to help some people out and make a little extra cash to support this. I've added plow insurance through my personal vehicle insurer, and made up a plow log sheet, setup so I could also give a copy to customers as a bill and/or for their records. I didn't think I needed to do anything more than that... Am I wrong? 

I bought a plow because we bought a new home with a long driveway, and we've had the worst luck with plow drivers. It's not good when you pay a plow driver then have to go out to snowblow the driveway because there is so much snow left. And I don't mean the edges, I mean windrows everywhere. I had one guy who didn't even plow the edges at the entry for a turning radius, in fact it was narrower at the end of the drive than the rest.

I am a rookie plow driver but not new to driving trucks, as I have a class A CDL and haul a 30' camper during summer months. I am a cautious, safety-minded driver. I have never had an accident in my 36 years of driving, but I do understand that accidents can happen. And I want to make sure I have my ducks in a row if things go wrong. (In other words, if I screw up.) Any advice much appreciated.


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

JoeT said:


> Question to all you Maine, residential-only, plow drivers. I'm reading about contracts, logs, commercial insurance vs personal insurance, commercial plates on plow truck, etc. I'm not sure how other states operate, but anytime we've ever hired a plow up here in Maine, it was just a matter of calling a number and giving an address, that's it... no contract. And I see plow drivers go from one driveway right into the next and so on down the road, so how could they be logging these, especially time-in and time-out of residents... I mean, that's not something somebody could easily remember without recording each one. So what is the deal?... What is the correct process to plowing residential only while staying out of trouble... in Maine? (Besides the obvious of not hitting anything with the plow or plow vehicle.)
> 
> I plow our home and two relatives, and thought about taking on a few accounts to help some people out and make a little extra cash to support this. I've added plow insurance through my personal vehicle insurer, and made up a plow log sheet, setup so I could also give a copy to customers as a bill and/or for their records. I didn't think I needed to do anything more than that... Am I wrong?
> 
> ...


I would suggest you talk to your insurance agent about a general liability policy to cover and incidents that may happen, anymore a $2mil policy is the norm. Also talk to a lawyer about contracts along with the benefits of setting up a LLC to protect yourself and assets in the event there's a problem.


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## MSsnowplowing (Nov 1, 2012)

search the posts here, quite a few people myself included have put their contracts up for others to use. 

anyone not using a contract these days is just looking for trouble.
A contract spells out what you are doing and protects you and the client.

As Buff said, you should start a LLC to protect yourself and get yourself a GL policy 1 or 2 million. 

Search topics such as per storm and seasonal.

What about sanding or salting the driveway or sidewalks. 

there is a ton of good information here on the site, read up and educate yourself before you jump right in and it will be easier for you.


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## Brettny (Jul 12, 2017)

If your doing all that for a few extra bucks i dont see it being worth while. Unless your out of work all winter.


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## JoeT (Jan 6, 2019)

Brettny said:


> If your doing all that for a few extra bucks i dont see it being worth while. Unless your out of work all winter.


I'm not doing "all this" for a few extra bucks, but rather for a few family members and my own (long) driveway. I already have the plow equipment and I already have the commercial insurance because it was actually cheaper than my personal policy. So I figured since I already have all this, THEN doing 3-6 driveways for some extra cash would just be a bonus, the way I see it.


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

It all sounds like a good start. But your commercial policy is cheaper than your residential?


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## JoeT (Jan 6, 2019)

Randall Ave said:


> It all sounds like a good start. But your commercial policy is cheaper than your residential?


Yes. I added the plow to my truck policy and the price skyrocketed. Then I found commercial insurance which was a much better policy for less money. Not as low as the amount of my truck WITHOUT the plow, but certainly better than adding the plow to my original truck policy.


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## Kevin_NJ (Jul 24, 2003)

Randall Ave said:


> It all sounds like a good start. But your commercial policy is cheaper than your residential?


He's not from where we are.


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## Brettny (Jul 12, 2017)

Must not be.

I hope it works out for you. But why put plowing on your policy for familys driveways?


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## JoeT (Jan 6, 2019)

It's cheaper! And then, if I can pick up a few nearby for some extra coin, bonus! (Since I already the insurance.)


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## MSsnowplowing (Nov 1, 2012)

JoeT said:


> I'm not doing "all this" for a few extra bucks, but rather for a few family members and my own (long) driveway. I already have the plow equipment and I already have the commercial insurance because it was actually cheaper than my personal policy. So I figured since I already have all this, THEN doing 3-6 driveways for some extra cash would just be a bonus, the way I see it.


You better check on that commercial insurance for your truck.

Typical commercial insurance for your truck covers accidents and not slips and falls.

General Liability insurance covers slips and falls.

If you are plowing anyone over than family members then you have to think about slips and falls.

The LLC protects your personal assets.

Can you get away with not having a LLC, sure you can, I didn't for the first several years and that was taking a chance on my part. 
When I starting getting bigger that's when I formed a LLC.
It was needed as I was dealing with larger places plus I wanted to protect the name.

I did get and carry GL insurance from day one.

One thing, in your contracts make sure you state you assume no liability for slips and falls if your not putting down product on driveways or sidewalks.


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## JoeT (Jan 6, 2019)

MSsnowplowing said:


> You better check on that commercial insurance for your truck.
> 
> Typical commercial insurance for your truck covers accidents and not slips and falls.
> 
> ...


My commercial does have a personal injury insurance. I do not (yet) have GL. But, Maine law states that the home-owner is responsible for preventing slips or falls in their own driveway. So unless there is a contract stating that I am responsible, then I am clear of that. I have hired many plows in my life, have never been asked to sign a contract, and have always been responsible for prepping the plowed surface to prevent slipping. Maine-ers, correct me if I'm wrong, but maybe we do things differently up here?


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## midnight pumpkin (Jan 27, 2017)

As far as I've seen insurance for plowing only is not affordable. The only justification is if you have some sort of year-round business like landscaping or whatever. Everyone has different situations but for me here in Maine, contracts for residential is a ridiculous idea. I'm sure others can justify it. I don't need/want that, but i have another business to fall back on if it doesn't snow.


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## MSsnowplowing (Nov 1, 2012)

JoeT said:


> My commercial does have a personal injury insurance. I do not (yet) have GL. But, Maine law states that the home-owner is responsible for preventing slips or falls in their own driveway. So unless there is a contract stating that I am responsible, then I am clear of that. I have hired many plows in my life, have never been asked to sign a contract, and have always been responsible for prepping the plowed surface to prevent slipping. Maine-ers, correct me if I'm wrong, but maybe we do things differently up here?


As I'm in CT and your in Maine I don't know if your state has different laws concerning insurance, your best bet is to ask you agent.

I know in CT our truck insurance does cover personal injury but that is in the case of an accident and does not cover slips and fall thus the need for GL insurance.

As for contracts, if you can still do a handshake and there's no problem, good for you, I wish it was like this still.

One time plows I don't bother with a contract but if they want the entire season, then yes. 
Makes it easier to spell it out so there is no confusion at all, the client knows exactly what is getting done and when and how much.

And if you get into commercials, contracts are for your protection -(having had to sue one commercial place that didn't want to pay for extra work done after a 3 foot snow storm and another that got taken over by a bank and the bank refused to pay. Won both because of the contract and if I didn't have a contract I would have lost a little over $3,000)

Search the site and you will find contracts here others have uploaded myself included.


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## JV Lawn & More (Mar 3, 2019)

I have been plowing snow since I was tall enough to reach the clutch on the tractor but am new to having a business my self. I started out with just a hand shake(only residential ATM) but learned real quick the importance of a signed agreement or contract. It keeps everyone straight and makes sure you and the customer are on the same page. What's your trigger amount? Probably different among customers, I have some that are 2" and some that are 5". Are they scheduled for each event or are they will call? Do you charge extra over a certain amount? I reserve it for long or difficult driveways but I set a base rate up to 6" and then charge and additional $20 for each 6" over base. It's nice when the customer sees that in writing plus there's no remembering who gets it who doesn't.


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