Best Small Business Insurance

The Hartford is our pick for the best small business insurance due to its great balance of affordability and service. In our study, we also found that NEXT, Simply Business, Nationwide and biBerk are top options to consider.

The Hartford again comes out on top as the best business insurer by industry, winning 41 out of 79 business types we studied. NEXT finishes close behind with top provider scores for 21 of 79 industries, particularly for cleaning, food and landscaping.

By state, The Hartford comes out on top with 31 nominations for the best business insurance, with NEXT closing in second place with 20 nominations. Below, you can find which business insurer is best in your state.

To give you a more detailed look at the best business insurance, we've broken down our thoughts and what stands out about our top three picks.

Overall, The Hartford, NEXT and Simply Business offer the best small business insurance in the U.S. with affordable rates and excellent service. While these are top choices, do your due diligence by conducting cost and company research and comparing numerous providers to find the best option.

Below are frequently asked questions about the best insurance for small businesses:

MoneyGeek studied thousands of quotes from 79 industries and across four coverage types (professional and general liability, workers' comp and business owner's policy or BOP) for a base profile of a two-employee firm with $300,000 annual revenue and $150,000 payroll. Coverage for all policies was $1 million per claim and $2 million in aggregate annual claim limits with $5,000 property insurance limits (for BOP policies only).

Using quotes from this profile, we integrated it into the following company scoring model:

• Affordability (50% of score): Using our proprietary quote research, we judged each company's affordability equally across all four business types for our base profile.
• Customer experience (30% of score): We used industry resources like J.D. Power and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), review sites, public forums like Reddit and independent agency customer ratings for each company.
• Coverage options (15% of score): We judged the breadth of coverage options and types offered, along with the limits available for this rating.
• Financial strength (5% of score): We derived this score using industry ratings from sources like AM Best and Moody's, actual company financial reports and length of time in business.