Best General Liability Insurance Providers in 2024
Help protect your Small Business with our best General Liability Insurance providers in 2024.
What is General Liability Insurance?
General liability insurance helps protect your small business from claims of bodily injury or property damage that you or your employees may cause to others. General liability insurance helps protect your business against the following types of claims:
- Bodily injury: Expenses from claims for injuries, and more that are caused by your business’s negligence.
- Property damage: Costs of repairing or replacing property that is damaged by your business’s negligence.
- Advertising injury: Damage to someone’s reputation that is caused by your business’s advertising or marketing materials.
Businesses of all shapes and sizes should consider general liability insurance. General liability insurance typically is one of the first insurance policies a small business will get. While most small businesses should consider general liability insurance, examples of common business types with this coverage include:
- Contractors
- Lawyers
- Consultants
- Accountants
- Graphic Designers
- IT Consultants
- Lawyers
- Engineers
- Architects
- Salon/Barber
- Restaurants
How Much Does General Liability Insurance Cost?
The cost of general liability insurance can depend on a few business factors, including the size of business, the work performed, the type of business, and more. According to Hiscox, a leading Small Business Insurance provider, general liability policyholders on average $30 per month or less for their coverage[1].
Best Overall General Liability Insurance: Next
We rated Next Insurance as the best general liability insurance provider for a number of reasons. First, their online quote process is simple, helping small business owners get custom quote for their general liability insurance in only a few minutes. For those seeking to buy their general liability insurance policy online, Next offers that as well – and like the quote process, buying through Next is fast and easy as well. Next offers a certificate of insurance (COI) in seconds, post-purchase, which is important for small business owners needing to show proof of insurance for a job they secured. That can’t be said for all providers, as getting your certificate of insurance may not be as seamless as it should be.
Aside from the ease of getting general liability insurance from Next, the cost of their policies are competitive as well. In fact, Next communicates that small business owners can get general liability coverage from them for as little as $11 per month – which seems more affordable than some of the others on this list.[2]
Why We Like Them
- Get a quote, buy a policy, and print a certificate of insurance within minutes of starting.
- Competitive general liability insurance rates.
Why We Don’t
- Not as tenured as others on this list.
2nd Place: The Hartford
The Hartford comes in as our second-place general liability insurance provider. 200+ years of experience, check. Over 1MM small business customers serviced, check. Rated best small business insurance provider four times and counting.[3]Combine all of this with a good general liability product and it’s hard to imagine The Hartford being our second favorite provider of the product. For us, it came down to can you buy the product online without speaking to a licensed insurance agent – and at this point, you couldn’t. It also seemed as though The Hartford was more restrictive on the type of businesses they insured versus providers like Next and Hiscox.
Despite this, The Hartford offers a competitively priced general liability insurance product that’s backed by the service and claims experience small business owners have grown to expect for years.
Why We Like Them
- Recognized leader in small business insurance – including general liability insurance.
- Highly awarded online service solutions.
Why We Don’t
- No ability to purchase a policy online.
- More limited in the types of businesses they write about than others on the list
3rd Place: Hiscox
Hiscox ranks as our third-place general liability insurance provider. Hiscox is a consistent leader in small business insurance, and their general liability insurance product is a meaningful reason why they are viewed as such. Similar to their business owner’s policy and professional liability coverages, small business owners can get access to Hiscox coverage either directly through Hsicox themselves or through an independent agent advisor. Their coverage is competitive, as according to Hiscox, most small business owners pay roughly $30 per month for general liability insurance[4]. Getting a general liability quote with Hiscox is relatively quick and painless, as they give small business owners the ability to get both a quote and policy for their business without speaking to the underwriter. If the small business owner prefers, online and telephonic agents are available to provide consultation when and where needed, throughout the application process.
While getting a general liability insurance quote and policy seems easy with Hiscox, they don’t have coverage options for critical small business owner coverages such as workers’ compensation and commercial auto, today. They do, however, refer small business owners seeking that coverage to a preferred provider. For example, small business owners looking for worker’s compensation insurance would be referred to their partner, The Hartford[5]. Their service and claims experiences appear to be behind some of the other providers on this list, most notably The Hartford.
Why We Like Them
- A recognized leader in the space with a good general liability insurance product.
- Get a quote, buy a policy, and print proof of insurance within minutes of starting – tough to find a company comparable below.
Why We Don’t
- Core products like workers’ compensation insurance are not part of Hiscox’s product suite and are referred elsewhere.
- Online service and claims experience (outside certificate of insurance) seems less advanced than others on this list
4th Place: CoverWallet
CoverWallet comes in as our fourth-place insurance provider for general liability insurance. Back in 2019, Aon, a leading insurance brokerage, purchased CoverWallet, making the already strong insurance marketplace stronger.[4] CoverWallet makes the buying process for busy small business owners much simpler. Think of CoverWallet as a small business owner shopping assistant. Today, a small business owner seeking general liability insurance would provide their information to CoverWallet in their online form or over the phone with an insurance professional, and after understanding the nature of their business operations would offer provider options to getting the insurance their business needs. This approach helps save the small business owner time shopping several providers separately, but also offers consultation real-time but sharing providers that can actually help get the insurance they need, fast.
Similar to some of the other large marketplaces and online brokers, CoverWallet doesn’t partner with every provider, so it’s still important to perform your own research prior to working directly with them to ensure you are scanning all meaningful providers that offer general liability insurance, versus just the providers CoverWallet works with.
Why We Like Them
- Aim to find you the right insurer based on the information you provide
- Easy quote and insurer match process
Why We Don’t
- Missing some top insurers as partners
[4] https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2019/11/20/549046.htm
5th Place: Tivly
Tivly comes in as our fifth-place general liability option for small business owners. Like CoverWallet, Tivly (formerly Commercialinsurance.net) makes it easy for the Small Business Owner looking for general liability insurance but unsure where to go for it. You fill out a short lead form, then will receive a call from an insurance specialist that will walk you through getting a general liability insurance quote from one of the over 200 insurance providers in their network[5].
Tivly offers small business owners a vast array of products and providers for many small business owners and general liability insurance is no exception.
Why We Like Them
- Fast, easy way to find the right insurance
- Strong provider network
Why We Don’t
- Limited online capabilities
6th Place: Simply Business
Simply Business rounds out our best general liability insurance provider list. Founded in 2005, Simply Business is an online business insurance brokerage that specializes in helping small business owners find affordable quotes from top insurance providers. Simply Business has a good online application capability with solid offline support if you have questions along the way. We did notice a few obvious omissions from their Insurance carrier partnerships, examples being The Hartford and Progressive Commercial, to name a few. Overall, getting a general liability quote from Simply Business is generally fast and easy, and is well complemented by insurance specialists to assist small business owners through the quoting process.
Why We Like Them
- Strong online capability and seeming able to find insurance for many business types, including general liability insurance
Why We Don’t
A few notable omissions from prominent insurance providers they work with
How We Ranked Insurance Providers & Marketplaces
We spent hours canvassing the marketplace for the Best Professional Liability Insurance companies, and reviewed them based on the coverages they offer, their respective positions in space, ease of doing business, and overall customer experience to help best align our Small Business Owner followers with the right insurance solution for their Business.
Disclaimer
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[1] https://www.hiscox.com/small-business-insurance/general-liability-insurance/general-liability-insurance-cost
[2] https://www.nextinsurance.com/general-liability-insurance/cost/
[3] https://www.thehartford.com/small-business-insurance/top-small-business-digital-insurer
[4] https://www.hiscox.com/small-business-insurance/general-liability-insurance
[5] https://www.hiscox.com/small-business-insurance/workers-compensation-insurance