Client wants to be added to our snow insurance — what are they asking for?

A property manager signs your snow contract, then adds: “and we need to be added to your insurance.” Contractors hit this demand every winter and, as one r/landscaping thread put it, react with some version of why would my client be on my policy? The request is standard commercial risk transfer — but you should know exactly what you’re granting before you say yes, because the cost isn’t the premium.

Decode the request

“Add us to your insurance” can mean three different things:

Nearly every serious version of this request is the middle row. Snow and ice work generates slip-and-fall lawsuits, and injured people sue everyone in sight — the property owner, the manager, and the contractor. Additional insured status means that when the owner gets named over ice you were hired to clear, your policy steps up for them. A certificate alone can’t do that; by law it confers no rights.

What saying yes actually does

Your insurer endorses the client onto your policy — either by name (a scheduled endorsement) or automatically, if your policy carries a blanket additional insured endorsement covering anyone you agree in a written contract to add. Ask your agent which you have before assuming you need to buy anything.

From that point, for claims arising out of your snow work:

• Your policy defends the client. Their legal fees and any settlement come out of your coverage.
• You share limits. Your per-occurrence limit now serves two parties’ defense and indemnity for the same incident.
• Claims land on your record. A slip-and-fall tendered by your client becomes part of the loss-run history every future insurer reads — the same history that drives the file-or-self-pay decision and your renewal pricing.

That’s the real price: not dollars this year, but claims exposure and renewal leverage across years. The endorsement itself is often free under a blanket form or a modest charge when scheduled.

Where to draw the line

Standard additional insured endorsements cover the client for liability arising out of your work — not for the client’s own independent negligence. Keep the deal inside that boundary:

1. Say yes to the normal ask. Commercial snow contracts routinely require additional insured status; refusing it usually means losing the contract to someone who won’t.
2. Read the insurance clause before signing. Watch for demands that your coverage be “primary and noncontributory,” for waivers of subrogation, and for indemnity language that reaches beyond your own work. Those are negotiable terms, and your agent should see them first.
3. Push back on residential one-offs. A homeowner asking to be “put on your insurance” for a driveway route is unusual; a certificate showing your coverage is the proportionate answer.
4. Deliver both documents. Once endorsed, issue a certificate showing the additional insured status — the endorsement grants the right, the certificate proves it.

Questions contractors actually ask

Does it cost more to add an additional insured? Often nothing, if your policy has a blanket endorsement; otherwise carriers charge for scheduled endorsements. The economically significant cost is shared limits and claims history, not the endorsement fee.

Can the client file a claim on my policy? Yes — that’s what the status is for. An additional insured can tender a covered claim directly to your insurer.

A property owner wants to be “listed as insured” on my insurance — is that normal? For commercial work, entirely. It’s the standard mechanism for making the contractor’s policy respond first to claims arising from the contractor’s work.

Do I need insurance before taking snow accounts at all? Yes — slip-and- fall exposure is the defining risk of the trade, and commercial clients won’t contract without proof. The coverage stack matches lawn care, with seasonal snow work disclosed to your carrier.

Sources are linked below. Endorsement wording varies by carrier; the boundaries described here reflect standard additional insured forms — read yours before signing a contract that promises more.