Best Business Owner’s Policy Insurance Providers in 2024
Help protect your Small Business with the best Business Owner’s Policy providers in 2024.
What is a Business Owner’s Policy?
Business Owner’s Policies, also referred to as a BOP, vary between insurance providers but generally combine liability and property coverages in a single, convenient policy. A typical business owner’s policy includes property and liability insurance.
A Business Owner’s Policy includes:
- Business Property Insurance, also known as Commercial Property Insurance – helps protect your business property – owned, leased, or rented.
- General Liability Insurance – helps protect your business from claims made against your business for damages to property you caused.
Depending on the insurance providers, BOP offerings generally vary. Some providers add in Business Income protection to their standard BOP to help Small Business Owners recoup lost income during a covered loss like losing income for having business operations cease for a week during a long-standing power outage. Others allow for fairly extensive personalization with the ability to add or subtract coverages that make the most sense for specific small business. For example, if a small business owner stores sensitive customer data as part of their normal business operation, some providers make it easy to add endorsements, like a data breach policy, to help better protect the small business owner from all the unique risks they face – even beyond property and liability coverages.
How Much Does A Business Owners Policy Cost?
The cost for a Business Owners Policy varies based on a number of factors. Generally these factors include, but are not limited to the industry of the business, amount and type of property owned, and the number of employees the business has. According to Insureon[1], an online insurance agency that focuses on Small Business, the average cost of the Business Owners’ Policy is about $99/mo. Finding a cheap Business Owners Policy could get you in trouble, so make sure you do your research to find the right policy for your Small Business.
Best Overall Business Owner’s Policy: The Hartford
The Hartford is our pick for the best overall Business Owner’s Policy. This isn’t too surprising to us, as The Hartford is a leader in Small Business Insurance with over 200 years of experience in the space, insures over 1MM Small Business Owners already, and seems to be wholeheartedly focused on Small Business in everything they do (see their Hartmob program which gives back to their insureds, as an example). Their BOP seemed different – maybe it’s what is included out of the box, or the ability to mix and match endorsements to make it tailor-fit for your business, whatever it was, we felt that they did it well, offering protection that helps meet unique needs at a competitive price. The Hartford’s BOP comes equipped with three primary coverages out of the box in Business Property, General Liability and Business Income coverages. Where it gets better is they give you the ability customize to your business beyond that, by adding endorsements, such as:
- Professional Liability
- Business Income
- Data Breach
- Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPL)
- Unmanned Aircraft (Drones)
When going through the quote platform, The Hartford made it easy to make these adjustments, and provided a good amount of transparency on the impacts of adding or removing coverages, as you go. Our only knock on The Hartford is they aren’t for all Small Businesses – as transportation, heavy construction and other higher hazard businesses don’t seem to be a fit for them.
Why We Like Them
- Recognized leader in the space with a great Business Owner’s Policy compared to peers.
- Fairly customizable with endorsements, options and experience.
Why We Don’t
- Not as broad of an appetite for certain Small Businesses compared to others on this list.
- Can’t get your BOP online (You can quote online, however).
2nd Place: Hiscox
Hiscox is next on our list with the 2nd highest rated Business Owner’s Policy. Hiscox has a fairly standard BOP offering that combines Business Property and General Liability insurance, a staple combination of coverage for most small businesses. Where Hiscox excels is how easy they make getting this policy, with the busy small business owner in mind. You can not only quote in the online quote application, but buy and receive your policy online too – something some members on this list don’t have. They also offer the ability to get your policy over the phone, with hours that were made to accommodate Small Business Owners. Again, something some members on this list don’t have.
Hiscox also seems to have a broader ability to accommodate more types of Small Business. Construction, for example, is a business category they don’t shy away from and every time we ran scenarios we end up finding they offer more good outcomes than bad.
Why We Like Them
- Good Business Owner’s Policy made easy for the Small Business Owner.
- Quote and Buy online or over the phone.
- Offer more good outcomes for SBOs due to broader appetite
Why We Don’t
- Not as customizable as others on this list.
3rd Place: BiBerk
Berkshire Hathaway’s BiBirk comes in as our 3rd place Business Owners Policy. Similar to the Small Business Insurance giants above, BiBirk is quickly making a name for themselves in the space, with over 100K Small Business Owners insured by their stable of coverages. Those coverages include their Business Owners Policy, which they promote as being upwards of 20% cheaper than others, but seemed to be full of bells and whistles you would expect with this value-packed coverage.
BiBerk’s Business Owners Policy comes standard with General Liability and Business Property Insurance, which also includes coverage for Business Income lost during a disruption in business operations. They offer the ability to add endorsements too, which, like The Hartford, can make the policy more tailored for Small Business Owners with unique risks. Their endorsements are classified in two types – Industry and Risk-Specific Endorsements. Restaurants, for example, are more prone to risks like food spoilage than other business categories and therefore may opt to get a food spoilage endorsement on their BOP. This is an example of an Industry endorsement. A Risk-Specific endorsement is meant for a Small Business Owner that needs extra coverage to cover operations that fall outside of the traditional BOP. Take needing coverage for providing advice to clients as an example – unless you add Professional Liability, also known as E&O Insurance as an endorsement to the BOP – claims made against your mistakes from your advice would otherwise go uncovered. BiBerk’s BOP seemed to line up well with the industry leaders above, making it a compelling option for many Small Business Owners seeking this coverage.
Why We Like Them
- Strong base product features
- Endorsements can be added to customize your BOP to your business
- Quick & easy quote, can buy online
Why We Don’t
- Limited on number of states eligible for BOP
4th Place: CoverWallet
CoverWallet is a standout Business Insurance marketplace, and because of that, we ranked them as the 4th place outlet for a Business Owners Policy. Unlike the carriers mentioned above, CoverWallet is unique with their ability to partner Small Business Owners with carriers vying for their business, alike. If a Small Business Owner goes to CoverWallet seeking a Business Owners Policy, the information requested will lead to them pairing you with a top insurer, and usually pretty fast. The process leads to more positive outcomes for Small Business Owners in the end, usually that is. One knock on CoverWallet is some of the carrier above, most of which are well-known Small Business Insurance leaders, arent part of their marketplace, and therefore you won’t have the opportunity to be paired with them accordingly. The other knock is the propensity to sometimes have to provide more information about your business for CoverWallet, than anyone else. That’s because in some cases, insurers do require you to verify the information you added at CoverWallet, when you reach the company they pair you with as well, which is not ideal. In the end, CoverWallet does give you options and usually better outcomes for more businesses than most, given the nature of their business.
Why We Like Them
- More positive outcomes for more Small Business Owners
- Multiple BOP insurer partners
Why We Don’t
- Missing some top insurers as partners and SBOs notice
5th Place: Tivly
Tivly comes in as our 5th place Business Owners Policy outlet or Small Business Owners. Similar to CoverWallet, they are a Small Business Insurance marketplace with the ability, based on the information you provide about your business, to pair you with an insurer that makes the most sense for your business. The difference between CoverWallet and Tivly is the manner in which they do the pairing. CoverWallet does this primarily online during their quote application process, while Tivly reviews your options with you over the phone. Pick your preference, but you should accomplish the same goal of getting a Business Owner’s Policy that’s just right for your business in either experience.
Why We Like Them
- Partner with many of the top insurers in the Small Business Insurance space.
- Phone-based upfront consulting makes for a fairly quick pairing with the insurer
Why We Don’t
- If you prefer getting a BOP online, go elsewhere.
6th Place: Progressive Commercial
Progressive comes in with our 6th place Business Owners Policy. Known as a massive Commercial Auto player in the place, Progressive recently rolled out their own BOP product to better complement their Small Business offering. There’s a lot to like about Progressive, and by all accounts it appears they are planning on being a mainstay in this space for a long time – something that makes sense given their position in the Auto and Home world. Similar to the companies above, their online quote was easy to navigate and relatively low effort. If you prefer to talk to and insurance advisor on the phone, they have that covered too, offering coverage 24/7, which was far better hours than anyone else on this list. As Progressive matures in the BOP space, we expect them to move quickly up this list.
Why We Like Them
- Own the Business Auto space, now broadening to BOP
- Strong online and offline quote options, including 24/7 support over the phone
Why We Don’t
- Relatively new to BOP
How We Ranked Insurance Providers & Marketplaces
We spent hours canvassing the marketplace for the Best Business Owners Policy companies, 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
At BuyLiability.com, we spend hours researching Small Business Insurance companies and marketplaces to help create useful, unbiased product reviews for Small Business Owners like you. In doing so, we make every effort to keep the most updated and accurate information on our website, but we make no warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, and completeness of the information referenced within. Accordingly, we are not liable in any manner for any direct, indirect, or consequential damages arising out of the access, use, or inability to use our website or any third-party site linked to our site. We have no control over third-party websites that we link to on our site and as a result, are not liable for third-party websites that we link to on our site and are not responsible for the content, its accuracy, function, or legality of the actual websites.
From time to time, we receive advertising revenue from companies seeking to advertise on our website; those payments, however, do not influence our reviews but rather help us keep the lights on. Links that go to third-party websites and quote applications are referred to as affiliate links. When you click one of those links and fill out an application to get a quote, we receive a small commission, so we can keep this site running without requiring a paid subscription fee from our readers.