Our Top Picks for the Best Small Business Insurance Companies

• The Hartford – Best Comprehensive Option
• Nationwide – Best for General Liability Insurance
• State Farm – Best for Commercial Liability Insurance
• Progressive – Best for Commercial Auto Insurance
• CyberPolicy – Best Business Insurance Marketplace
• Thimble – Best for Micro-Business Insurance

Best Small Business Insurance Reviews

The Hartford: Best Comprehensive Option

The Hartford stands out for its comprehensive Business Owner's Policy (BOP), which combines general liability, business property insurance, and business income insurance into a single policy. This package includes coverage for income loss caused by fires, damaging winds, or burglaries, as well as bodily injury or property damage, personal injury, and even advertising injury.

Aside from the Business Owner's Policy, Hartford also provides:

• Liability for employment practices
• Flooding in commercial areas
• Home-based businesses

Small business owners with Hartford can purchase add-ons to cover perils such as a data breach, debris removal, and the loss of valuable paper records.

Nationwide: Best for General Liability Insurance

Nationwide Insurance Company provides a wide range of products for small business owners, including business liability, commercial property, commercial auto insurance policies, and worker's compensation insurance.

This insurer's flexibility in adding general liability coverage to other policies, on the other hand, sets it apart. You can also add coverage to their general liability insurance, such as fire legal liability and employment-related practices liability.

Other coverage options include:

• Cyber liability
• Equipment breakdown
• Accounts receivable

Add-ons for commercial crime, business income, inland marine, and builder's risk, among others, are available through Nationwide.

StateFarm: Best for Commercial Liability Insurance

You can supplement your commercial liability coverage with StateFarm's Commercial Liability Umbrella Policy. Professional liability, errors and omissions liability, employment practices liability insurance (EPLI), Not-for-Profit liability insurance with EPLI, and Condo and Homeowners Association Directors and Officers Liability with EPLI are among the additional coverages provided by the company.

Other coverage options include:

• Business Owners Policy
• Commercial Auto
• Workers Compensation
• Health and Life Insurance
• Retirement Plans

StateFarm has a Business insurance directory, which includes a comprehensive list of the businesses and organizations that they insure. They provide online business resources as well as other financial services such as paperless billing and autopay. Check out our list of the best business checking accounts for 2021 for more information on business checking accounts.

Progressive: Best for Commercial Auto Insurance

Progressive's commercial auto coverage offerings are exceptional. Their policy typically covers liability, physical damages, medical payments, uninsured motorist, hired auto, and non-owned vehicles. Commercial trucks, business cars, emergency vehicles, military vehicles, and a variety of SUVs, vans, trucks, buses, tractors, and trailers are all insured by the company.

Progressive also provides general liability, professional liability, worker's compensation, BOP, health insurance, and cyber insurance to business owners.

CyberPolicy: Best Business Insurance Marketplace

CyberPolicy is a marketplace for small business insurance policies that works with some of the most prominent industry players, including Chubb, Hiscox, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, and BiBERK.

Assume you need to purchase insurance products while weighing your options. In that case, CyberPolicy offers one-stop shopping and a free quote. These marketplace offerings can be inexpensive, with some claiming that you can find customized policies for as little as $10 per month. Coverage can begin as soon as 24 hours after you purchase a policy.

Other coverage options include:

• Fidelity and crime
• Liability for employment practices
• Lessor’s risk
• Liquor liability

Customer service at CyberPolicy includes a licensed insurance advisor who is available via chat to assist you in determining the best commercial insurance options for your company.

Thimble: Best for Micro-Business Insurance

Thimble provides general liability insurance, professional liability insurance, and errors and omissions policies for small businesses. They offer online coverage for as long as you need it, whether hourly, daily, or monthly.

Thimble caters to over 100 different types of small business professionals, including freelancers, personal trainers, pet sitters, event organizers, photographers, landscapers, and beauty professionals.

Other coverage options include:

• Coverage of current events
• Drone insurance

Thimble's on-demand drone insurance is available through Verifly, their mobile app.

Other Companies We Considered

Hiscox

Geico

Liberty Mutual

Guide to Small Business Insurance

What is Business Insurance?

Natural disasters, fires, accidents, lawsuits, death, and other unforeseen events in the workplace are all covered by business insurance.

Going without business insurance carries significant risks. A claim filed against your uninsured business may eventually result in the legal seizure of assets, including personal assets, leaving you unable to pay your employees or others.

If your company requires financial assistance, take a look at our list of the best small business loans in 2021.

The Main Types of Business Insurance

Business insurance companies provide a wide range of options, but the commercial coverage you purchase from an insurance company will most likely fall into one of two categories: property and casualty.

Commercial Property Insurance

Commercial property insurance protects your company's possessions, including its real estate and vehicles, in the event of a loss (or damage to them). Add-ons can also protect you against financial losses or additional expenses incurred as a result of operating the business without these assets.

• Commercial auto coverage: Coverage for company-owned vehicles or any personal car used for business purposes
• Commercial real-estate insurance: Insures the company's real estate and other physical assets against loss and damage caused by fire, inclement weather, vandalism, or civil disobedience.
• Business income and extra expense insurance: Covers revenue loss due to physical damage caused by a fire or other calamity. Extra-expense coverage covers any costs incurred in excess of regular operational expenses as a result of property damage and other setbacks.
• Business interruption insurance: This coverage can help compensate you for lost business if a property is damaged or destroyed as a result of a covered peril.

Liability Coverage

Commercial liability insurance, also known as third-party coverage, covers claims made by people other than the insured party. This type of insurance protects businesses from lawsuits or other legal actions brought by employees, customers, clients, and visitors.

• General liability policy: Covers claims or lawsuits filed against your company for bodily harm, death, medical expenses, slander, libel, and damages allegedly caused to third parties or their property by your company.
• Umbrella liability: Supplemental coverage for catastrophic events that exceeds the limits of your primary liability policy.
• Errors and omissions liability: If your company provides advice or creates a product that causes harm to another company, this policy protects you. In the event of a lawsuit, it protects you from legal fees and pays out any claims.
• Key-person coverage: Covers any losses incurred by the business as a result of the death or disability of its owner or another key person.
• Malpractice insurance: Supplemental coverage for healthcare providers in the event of a malpractice or negligence lawsuit.

Employee Coverage

Casualty insurance for a business also includes coverage, which is sometimes mandatory, that protects employees if they lose their job or are injured or disabled while performing it.

• Worker's compensation insurance: If you have employees, your state will most likely require you to have workers compensation insurance. It covers workplace injuries, medical expenses, rehabilitation, and lost wages. It can be purchased to protect both business owners and employees.
• Disability insurance: If an employee is unable to work due to an injury or illness, this policy will pay a portion of their salary. Employers in California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island are required to carry disability insurance.
• Unemployment insurance: This insurance pays employees a percentage of their income when they are not working, in this case because they have lost their job. Unemployment insurance cannot be purchased through an insurance company. Nonetheless, it is funded by mandatory federal taxes that are passed on to state governments, who administer the program.
• Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI): This coverage can be beneficial if an employee files a lawsuit alleging discrimination, wrongful termination, or sexual harassment.

How to Choose a Business Insurance Policy

As with purchasing personal insurance, planning your business coverage ahead of time can pay off handsomely. When comparing business insurance online, these steps can help you save time and money.

Take stock of business assets

Make a detailed inventory of the company's assets, including property, equipment, and inventory. Then, determine the value of those assets to ensure that you purchase enough coverage to repair or replace them if the worst happens.

Determine how much coverage you require.

List all of your company's functions and activities, then assess the coverage you believe is required for each based on the risk.

Seek professional assistance, including research on insurance companies.

Even if you begin the process on your own, the coverage assessment described above is best completed with the assistance of an insurance professional.

One option is to look for an independent agent or marketplace that specializes in commercial insurance and represents a variety of insurers.

Compare quotes

The exclusions, deductibles, and coverage limits on the policies you compare online should be the same or similar. You can get insurance quotes from the companies represented by an agent or a marketplace site you're working with. Consider supplementing those with quotes from companies you contact on your own, including some on our list.

Look for discounts on policy bundles.

Many insurance companies will give you a discount if you buy multiple policies from them. Aside from the financial benefits of grouping policies in this manner, bundling coverage can reduce the time and effort required to pay premiums, contact customer service, or file claims.

Review your business insurance regularly

Reviewing your business insurance coverage allows you to assess how you've used it in the past and whether you need to increase or decrease it. You may be able to reduce coverage limits or raise deductibles to reduce premiums.

Along with annual reviews, try to re-evaluate your company's coverage levels and types whenever business needs or circumstances change.

Do Contractors & Freelancers Need Business Liability Insurance?

Yes, even if you are a sole proprietor or an independent contractor with no employees, you should consider purchasing business insurance to protect your equipment.

The best business insurance for you will depend on your specific requirements:

• Your company's size and the industry in which it operates
• Your company's assets, revenue, and employee count
• How much protection you need

How We Chose the Best Business Insurance Companies

We emphasized three major factors in making our selections for the best small business insurance providers for 2021:

• Various coverage options
• Covered business types and sizes
• The simplicity of applying for a policy and filing a claim

Summary of InsuredCircle Best Small Business Insurance of 2021

• The Hartford – Best Comprehensive Option
• Nationwide – Best for General Liability Insurance
• State Farm – Best for Commercial Liability Insurance
• Progressive – Best for Commercial Auto Insurance
• CyberPolicy – Best Business Insurance Marketplace
• Thimble – Best for Micro-Business Insurance