Best Small Business Insurance of April 2023

If you’re a business owner, you likely need some form of insurance to cover your work. 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 ever face a lawsuit, theft, disaster or other unexpected events.

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

Nationwide’s business insurance offers customers a wide array of business coverage options in a variety of industries with the financial strength of a large insurer. It’s rated third-highest for 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 era with online quotes and claims, and a mobile app allows you to access your policy documents from your phone. It offers many different coverage types that can be tailored to independent contractors’ and self-employed people’s needs.

The Hartford has over 1 million small business clients and has been in business for over 200 years. It’s easy to estimate how much you’ll pay, both with online quotes and average annual premiums for several coverage types listed on their website.

Chubb offers a number of policies that can be tailored to medium-sized businesses with up to $30 million in revenue. Working with businesses in all sorts of industries and offering dozens of coverage types, Chubb’s business insurance can fit your company’s specific needs. Chubb ranked second for customer satisfaction in J.D. 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 points out of 1,000. Additionally, the company earned an A++ rating from AM Best for financial strength, though it does have an above-average complaint index through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

Travelers is rated A++ for financial strength by AM Best, and has a very low complaint index score according to NAIC. Its worker’s compensation coverage stands out with unique tools including TravPay, which can help streamline worker’s compensation by linking payroll to your policy. And, in the case of a worker’s compensation claim, the TravComp feature can help streamline the process.

Progressive is one of the largest commercial auto insurers by market share according to NAIC. In addition to its commercial auto insurance, it offers a number of other business coverages and has a strong financial strength rating with a below-average complaint index score.

But, that doesn’t change the fact that it might be helpful to have. If you do work where someone could potentially sue you for professional negligence or for injuries or damages, liability insurance could help cover the costs. According to The Zebra, an insurance comparison site, there are about 12 million contract lawsuits filed against small businesses per year, with the average liability suit costing about $54,000. A small business liability policy could help cover that cost.

Business insurance can help your business stay afloat 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 right fit for your needs.

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

When selecting the best business insurance companies, we looked at ratings on customer satisfaction 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 on debts. We also considered complaint index ratings from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Finally, we considered the variety of industries insured and the number of types of coverages sold.

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

Catch up on Select’s in-depth coverage of personal finance, tech and tools, wellness and more, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date.