Business insurance
Business insurance can help when your work causes trouble, like a customer who gets hurt or a work truck that gets wrecked. We build coverage around how your business actually runs, from a single truck to a full crew. Tell us what you do, and we'll do the comparing.
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- Business insurance
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Coverage on this page
First we learn how your business runs: what you do, who works for you, what you own, and what your contracts ask for. Then we compare 35+ insurance companies and show you our best 3 options, with the differences explained in plain words. If we can’t place what you need, we’ll tell you.
General liability
Short answer
General liability can help pay when someone says your business hurt them or broke their stuff. Say a customer slips in your shop. Most businesses that meet customers, work at other people's places, or sell products should have it.
Who it’s for
Most small businesses. Contractors, shops, cleaners, and anyone who works in a customer’s home usually need it. Landlords and clients often ask for proof of it before you start.
What it can cover
- Can help pay for injuries to other people, like a customer who trips in your store.
- Can help pay for damage to other people’s things, like a client’s floor you scratch while working.
- Can help pay your lawyer if you’re sued, even when the claim turns out to be wrong.
- Can help pay for harm caused by something you sold or a job you finished. This is often called products and completed operations.
- Can help pay for some claims about your ads, like using a photo you didn’t have the rights to.
Example
Say you run a small painting business. While you’re working in a client’s kitchen, your ladder tips and cracks their glass stovetop. A new one costs $1,800. Your general liability could help pay to replace it. If the client sues you over it, the policy could also help pay your lawyer.
Good to know
General liability is about other people. It usually doesn’t cover your own tools, injuries to your workers, crashes in your work vehicles, or mistakes in your advice. Those need other coverage, like workers’ comp, commercial auto, or professional liability.
Commercial property
Short answer
Commercial property insurance can help pay to fix or replace the things your business owns after a covered loss, like a fire or a break-in. That can mean your building, your equipment, and the stock on your shelves. You need it if your business has gear or goods you couldn't easily replace.
Who it’s for
Businesses with a shop, office, or warehouse, or stock on shelves. You likely need it even if you rent. Your landlord’s insurance is often for the building, not what’s inside it.
What it can cover
- Can help repair or replace your building, if you own it.
- Can help replace equipment, tools, and machines kept at your place of business.
- Can help replace furniture, computers, and fixtures.
- Can help replace inventory, meaning the goods you sell or the supplies you use to make them.
- Can help pay to redo changes you made to a space you rent, like new shelves or floors.
- Can help replace lost income if a covered loss closes you for a while. This is called business income coverage, and it’s sometimes an add-on.
Example
Say a pipe bursts overnight in your print shop. Water ruins two printers and $12,000 worth of paper and supplies, and you’re closed for a week. Commercial property could help replace the printers and supplies. With business income coverage, it could also help with lost sales and rent while you’re closed.
Good to know
Floods and earthquakes are usually left out and need their own coverage. Tools you take to job sites often need separate coverage too, sometimes called inland marine. If your business qualifies, a business owner’s policy can bundle property and general liability together.
Business owner's policy
Short answer
A business owner's policy, or BOP, puts a few kinds of coverage into one package. It can cover claims that you hurt someone or broke their stuff, plus your own building, gear, and stock. It's built for small businesses, but not all qualify.
Who it’s for
Smaller, lower-risk businesses, like an office, a boutique, a salon, or a corner bakery. Each insurance company sets its own rules. They usually look at your type of work, your size, your sales, and your building. Riskier work, like roofing, or a bar that makes most of its money on drinks, often doesn’t qualify.
What it can cover
- Can help pay when your business is blamed for someone else’s injury or damage. This part is called general liability.
- Can help repair your building, if you own it.
- Can help replace your equipment, furniture, and inventory, meaning the goods you sell.
- Can replace lost income if a covered loss forces you to close for a while. This is called business income coverage.
- Can include add-ons, which are extras that change the policy. Choices vary by insurance company.
Example
Say you run a small gift shop. In the spring, a customer trips over a box and sprains an ankle. In the fall, a break-in costs you $5,000 in stock. One BOP could help with both. The general liability part could help with the customer’s injury. The property part could help replace the stock, minus your deductible, the part you pay first on a claim.
Good to know
A BOP usually doesn’t include workers’ comp, commercial auto, or professional liability. Those are separate policies.
Workers' compensation
Short answer
Workers' compensation can help pay medical bills and part of lost pay when an employee gets hurt or sick because of their job. Most states require it once you have employees, and the rules vary by state.
Who it’s for
Businesses with employees. Part-time help often counts too. Owners can sometimes choose whether to cover themselves. Clients and general contractors often ask for proof of it before you start a job.
What it can cover
- Can help pay for a worker’s medical care after a job injury or illness, like doctor visits, surgery, and therapy.
- Can help replace part of your worker’s lost pay while they heal.
- Can help your worker get back to work, like with retraining.
- Can pay benefits to a worker’s family if a job injury is fatal.
- Can help if a worker sues you over an injury. This is called employer’s liability, and it’s often included.
Example
Say you own a small landscaping company. One of your crew hurts his back lifting a mower and misses four weeks of work. His medical bills come to $9,000. Workers’ comp could help pay those bills and part of the pay he missed while he healed.
Good to know
Your price usually depends on your payroll and the kind of work your crew does. Calling someone an independent contractor doesn’t always mean you can skip coverage for them. Each state has its own rules about who counts as an employee, so ask us what applies to you.
Commercial auto
Short answer
Commercial auto can cover cars, trucks, and vans you use for work, like a contractor's pickup. You likely need it if your business owns the vehicle, you haul tools or goods, or your workers drive. Personal car insurance often limits or leaves out work use.
Who it’s for
Contractors, plumbers, caterers, cleaners, and delivery businesses. It’s also for any business with a vehicle in the company’s name, or workers who drive for the job.
What it can cover
- Can help pay for someone else’s injuries or damage when you’re blamed for a crash, called liability coverage.
- Can help pay for damage to your own vehicle from a crash, called collision coverage.
- Can help pay for theft, hail, fire, and vandalism losses, called comprehensive coverage.
- Can help pay medical bills for people riding in your vehicle, on many policies.
- Can help pay when a driver with little or no insurance causes the crash.
- Can help protect your business when workers drive rented cars or their own cars for work, with an add-on called hired and non-owned auto.
Example
Say your helper takes the company van to pick up supplies and rear-ends a car at a red light. The other driver’s repairs and doctor visits come to $7,500, and your van needs $3,000 of work. Commercial auto could help pay for both. On the van, you’d pay your deductible, the part you pay first on a claim.
Good to know
Car insurance usually doesn’t cover the tools and gear you carry in the vehicle. Those need their own coverage, sometimes called inland marine. If you haul goods for other people for pay, look at trucking coverage instead.
Trucking
Short answer
Trucking insurance can cover trucks that haul goods, from one rig to a small fleet. It often bundles three things: liability, the load, and the truck. If you haul for pay, especially across state lines, you may also need federal and state filings.
Who it’s for
Owner-operators and small fleets that haul for hire, meaning they carry other people’s goods for pay. It also fits businesses that haul their own goods in heavy trucks, like a gravel yard or a farm.
What it can cover
- Liability, which can help pay when your truck causes a crash that hurts someone or damages their property.
- Cargo coverage, which can help if the load you’re carrying is damaged or stolen.
- Physical damage coverage, which can help repair or replace your truck and trailer after a crash, fire, or theft.
- Coverage that can help when a driver with little or no insurance hits you, on many policies.
- Add-ons that can cover trailers you don’t own or a cooling unit for food loads, depending on the insurance company.
Example
Say you’re an owner-operator hauling a load of furniture. A deer runs out, you swerve, and your trailer tips. The furniture, worth $40,000, is ruined, and your truck needs $15,000 in repairs. Cargo coverage could help pay for the load. Physical damage coverage could help fix the truck, minus your deductible.
Good to know
If you haul for hire, especially across state lines, you may need federal and state filings before you can run. The insurance company usually files proof of your coverage. Tell us what you haul and where, and we’ll help you sort out what applies.
Professional liability
Short answer
Professional liability can help pay when a client says your advice or work cost them money. It's also called errors and omissions, or E&O. You need it if clients pay you for what you know, like a bookkeeper or a web designer.
Who it’s for
People and firms who sell advice or skilled services. Think consultants, bookkeepers, web designers, marketers, and real estate agents. Some clients and contracts require it before you start.
What it can cover
- Can help pay for claims that you made a mistake in your work, like a math error in a client’s report.
- Can help pay for claims that you missed something you should have caught.
- Can help pay for claims that you didn’t deliver what you promised, or delivered it late.
- Can help pay your lawyer if you’re sued, even when the claim turns out to be wrong.
- Can help pay settlements or court awards, up to your limit, the most the insurance company would pay.
Example
Say you’re a web designer. A site you built for a client crashes during their biggest sale of the year. They say they lost $10,000 in sales because of your code, and they sue. Professional liability could help pay your lawyer and any settlement, depending on your policy.
Good to know
General liability usually doesn’t cover these claims. It’s for injuries and damage to things, not money a client says they lost. Many professional liability policies only cover claims made while the policy is active, so a gap in coverage can matter.
Short answer
A surety bond is a promise to someone else, like a customer or the government, that you'll do the job or follow the rules. It isn't insurance for you. If the bond company pays a claim, it may ask you to pay it back.
Who it’s for
Contractors and other trades that need a bond to get a license or permit. It’s also for businesses that bid on public jobs or large private ones. Your city, your state, or your client usually tells you when you need one.
What it can cover
- License and permit bonds, which some cities and states require before you can get a license or permit.
- Contract bonds, which promise a project owner that you’ll finish a job as agreed.
- Payment bonds, a kind of contract bond that promises you’ll pay your workers and suppliers.
- Protection that can help the person who asked for the bond, not you.
- Claims when you don’t keep your promise. The bond company may pay the person you harmed, then ask you to repay it.
Example
Say you’re a remodeler, and your city requires a license bond before you can pull permits. You buy the bond and start work. Later a homeowner says you broke city building rules and left them with costly repairs. If the claim holds up, the bond company may pay the homeowner. Then it may ask you to pay back every dollar.
Good to know
The bond company usually checks your credit, your experience, and your finances before it issues a bond. A bond works alongside insurance, not in place of it. You may still need general liability.
Do I need business insurance if I work from home?
Often, yes. Home insurance often includes very little coverage for business property. It also often leaves out claims tied to your business, like a client who trips on your steps. Tell us what you do from home and we'll show you what fits.
Is a certificate of insurance something you can get me fast?
Usually, yes. A certificate of insurance is a one-page summary that proves you have coverage. Once your policy is in place, our automated process can turn most of them around in minutes. Special requests, like specific wording or adding an additional insured, need a person to handle them and take longer.
Do I need workers' comp for part-time help?
Often, yes. Most states require it once you have employees, and part-time workers often count, but the rules vary by state. Tell us who works for you and we'll check what your state asks for.
My client wants to be added to my policy. What does that mean?
They're asking to be an additional insured, which means your policy can also help protect them if your work leads to a claim against them. It's usually done with an add-on to your policy. Send us the contract wording and we'll check what they need.
Do my independent contractors need their own insurance?
It's smart to ask for it. If a contractor without coverage gets hurt or causes damage, the claim may land on your policy, and some states may treat them as your employees. Ask for a certificate of insurance before they start.
Coverage descriptions on this site are general information, not a contract or a promise of coverage. What a policy can cover depends on the insurance company, your application, the coverages you choose, and the policy's terms and exclusions.
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