Best Small Business Insurance

Before you start looking for the best small business insurance company, you need to figure out what coverage is right for you. Below we've given heuristics to simplify this coverage type selection process:

• General liability insurance: All small businesses need this coverage, regardless of business industry, since it covers liabilities arising from property or bodily injury damages from products and services.
• Workers' comp insurance: Required for all businesses with employees and if you are a 1099 employee (except for Texas).
• Professional liability insurance (E&O/Professional Indemnity): If you do service work in relation to contracts, this essential coverage protects your company from liabilities coming from claims of negligence and not following through with obligations.
• Commercial auto insurance: Required in all states if you use vehicles for business, for each vehicle you use for commercial purposes.
• Commercial property insurance: Often required for commercial leases and financing ventures and particularly useful to cover valuable items that are always held as a specific location. Can be bundled as part of a BOP policy.
• Business interruption coverage (business income): Often bundled in a BOP insurance policy, all businesses with a risk of shutdown that you can't afford should get this coverage.
• Cyber insurance: If you handle customer data through your computer and/or online, you should get cyber insurance to cover liabilities and losses from data breach.
• Liquor liability insurance: All businesses that sell alcohol are required to get this coverage.

Getting the right limits for the best business insurance types is a question of the magnitude of risk in your industry for claims for covered items. For example, you may want less professional liability insurance coverage as a cleaner versus if you were a construction contractor due to the varying potential financial risk for businesses and customers. We recommend speaking to an independent agent on the subject, but as a very general recommendation, we've outlined the following:

• Any liability coverage policies: Liability policies with $1 million per occurance/claim and $2 million in aggregate generally work for most small businesses. For auto policies $1 million combined single limit liability insurance covers most businesses for all possible issues.
• Property coverages: You should cover your items up to their replacement value for completely new and comparable property.
• Business interruption: Enough coverage to cover you for 3 months of interrupted operations is completely necessary while 6 months can make sense in high-risk weather areas.
• Cyber insurance: $500,000 to $1 million in limits is generally recommended for most small businesses

Get a yardstick for how much you'll actually save with insurers by getting average commercial insurance costs for your business profile and researching savings methods available to you. However, cost is not everything, and looking into customer reputations for buying, policy management, and claims helps you get a more comprehensive view. Also, ensure that the providers you pick for your final best small business insurer list have the coverages you need and tailored options that make them a unique fit.

To get the best small business insurance pricing possible, ensure you compare at least five company's quotes for apples-to-apples coverage. Depending on the method, your rates will vary also, so split your quote methodology between agents, online comparison sites and provider websites.

The right insurance coverage for your small business currently may not be ideal as your company as it grows. So, to keep ensuring you get the best small business insurance, review your policies, ensure your provider is up to date with any changes, and keep researching options over time.