Best Small Business Insurance for April 2023

If you are a business owner, you will most likely need some form of insurance to cover your business. Whether you have a fleet of vehicles to insure or just need liability coverage for freelance work, having the right coverage for your business can be a lifeline if you encounter a lawsuit, theft, disaster or other unexpected events.

Getting the right coverage can help ensure that you’ll be able to take on whatever comes your way at work. Ahead, CNBC Select reviews the best small business insurance companies to consider to protect your business. (Read our methodology for more information on how to choose the best business insurance companies.)

Nationwide Business Insurance provides customers with a wide range of business coverage options in a variety of industries with the financial strength of a large insurance company. It is ranked #3 in small business insurance customer satisfaction and has an A+ rating from AM Best for financial strength.

Next Insurance brings the business insurance experience into the modern age with online quotes and claims, and the mobile app allows you to access your policy documents from your phone. It offers many different types of coverage that can be tailored to the needs of independent contractors and the self-employed.

The Hartford has over 1 million small business customers and has been in business for more than 200 years. It’s easy to estimate how much you’ll pay, whether from online quotes or average annual premiums for the many types of coverage listed on their website.

Chubb offers a number of policies that can be tailored to medium-sized companies with up to $30 million in revenue. Working with companies in all types of industries and offering dozens of types of coverage, Chubb’s business insurance can meet your company’s specific needs. Chubb’s ranked second in customer satisfaction in JD Power’s Small Business Insurance Customer Satisfaction Survey.

State Farm was J.D. Power’s top pick for small business insurance customer satisfaction, scoring 856 out of 1,000. In addition, the company has an A++ rating from AM Best for financial strength, even though it has an above-average complaint index by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

Travelers is rated A++ for financial strength by AM Best, and has a very low score on the complaints index according to the NAIC. Workers’ compensation coverage features unique tools including TravPay, which can help simplify workers’ compensation by linking payroll to your policy. And in the event that a worker claims compensation, TravComp can help streamline the process.

Progressive is one of the largest commercial auto insurers by market share according to NAIC. In addition to commercial auto insurance, they offer a number of other commercial covers and have a strong financial strength rating with a complaint index score below average.

Business insurance covers companies against financial losses associated with unexpected events, such as property damage, lawsuits, property damage, theft, personal injury, and more. While there are many different policies that cover specific situations and scenarios, one of the most popular types of business insurance coverage is the Business Owner’s Policy (BOP).

BOP combines general liability insurance, commercial property, and business interruption insurance into one policy. Covered property generally protects a company’s property from things like fire or theft. Liability coverage can protect your business against personal injury claims or defective products, such as if someone slips and falls in your workplace. Business interruption insurance can cover losses if your business is damaged in a disaster.

While the employer’s policy is the main type of business insurance, there are a number of other coverages available, including:

• Workers compensation: Protects your business from workplace illnesses or injuries. It is often required for businesses with employees, although it may vary by state.
• professional responsibility: It covers negligence and inaccurate statements that are not covered by general liability insurance. It is also sometimes called errors and omissions insurance, or E&O insurance.
• Commercial auto insurance: Covers any cars or vehicles your business owns.

There are several reasons for obtaining commercial insurance. First, anything can happen while doing business, from lawsuits to natural disasters. Having a business insurance policy can help keep your business afloat if you run into any of these snags.

In some cases, small business insurance may be required. In many states, businesses that have employees require workers’ compensation insurance.

Whether or not liability insurance is required depends on the type of work you do and where you work.

But that doesn’t change the fact that it might be worth having. If you work where someone could sue you for professional negligence, injuries or damages, liability insurance may help cover the costs. According to The Zebra, an insurance comparison site, there are about 12 million contractual claims filed against small businesses annually, with the average liability lawsuit costing around $54,000. A small business liability policy can help cover this cost.

Business insurance can help keep your business running no matter what comes your way. Evaluating your options based on customer satisfaction, financial strength, and the types of insurance sold can help you find the one that best suits your needs.

To find the best business insurance companies, CNBC Select collected hundreds of data points on more than a dozen companies that offer business insurance.

In selecting the best business insurance companies, we looked at customer satisfaction ratings from J.D. Power’s Small Business Insurance Customer Satisfaction Study. We also compiled data from AM Best’s Financial Strength Ratings, which measure an insurance company’s financial ability to pay down debt. We also looked at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Complaints Index rankings. Finally, we took into account the variety of industries insured and the number of types of coverages sold.

After considering the above features, we’ve sorted the best business insurance companies by best overall, best for small businesses, best for medium-sized businesses, best for independent contractors, best for customer satisfaction, best for workers’ compensation coverage and best for commercial auto coverage.

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