According to the United States Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses make up a huge part of Ohio’s economy. There are almost 950,000 of them, which represents 99.6 percent of all companies in the state. Smaller companies in Ohio employ 2.2 million workers, which is more than 45 percent of the state’s workforce.
The one thing all Ohio businesses share in common, no matter what industry they’re in, is that they face countless risks. These include things like fires, customer and employee injuries, theft, lawsuits, and more. The most important thing business owners can do to get control over these risks is to get business insurance coverage, which can protect you against all these things and much more.
In this article, we’ll cover the top 7 business insurers in Ohio for different types of insurance coverage. We will also provide information about business insurance in general and different types of coverages so you’ll have the knowledge you need to get the right coverage at the best possible price.
- Top 7 small business insurance companies in Ohio for different coverages
- Why do I need business insurance in Ohio?
- What kind of business insurance do I need in Ohio?
- Other coverages small businesses in Ohio might need to get
- How can I prevent business losses in Ohio?
- Is there an easy way to get business insurance coverage?
- How much does small business insurance cost in Ohio?
- How can I find cheap business insurance in Ohio?
Top 7 small business insurance companies in Ohio for different coverages
Here are our choices for the best business insurers in Ohio and the coverages they are best known for.
- CoveWallet: Best for comparing online quotes
- The Hartford: Best for Business Owners Policy (BOP)
- Hiscox: Best for commercial property and liability coverage
- Embroker: Best for cyber insurance
- Progressive: Best provider of commercial auto insurance
- biBerk: Best for workers’ compensation insurance
- Simply Business: Best brokerage firm to work with to find cheap coverage
CoverWallet: Best for comparing online quotes
CoverWallet is a digital broker specializing in small business insurance. If your goal is to get and compare several quotes online before making your final decision, you may want to start with CoverWallet. As a broker, they work with several leading small business insurance companies and are able to provide quotes for you to compare after you submit your quote request. The whole process only takes less than 10 minutes.
Another good advantage of working with CoverWallet is that they can provide quotes for almost all coverages that small businesses may need and they cover a wide range of industries. So, as a small business, you can always get quotes from them successfully.
After buying a policy from CoverWallet, you will be able to manage your business insurance policies using their digital dashboard conveniently.
The Hartford: Best for Business Owners Policy (BOP)
The Hartford is one of America’s oldest companies and a solid, stable, and ethical insurer. The company is known for its Business Owners Policy (BOP), which provides most of the core coverages small businesses need. A BOP also makes it easy to add other types of coverage. You can get a free quote on The Hartford’s website or through an agent that represents the company’s products. If you get a quote online, insurance experts are available to help if you have any questions.
The Hartford may require that you give them a call to get coverage.
Hiscox: Best for commercial property and liability coverage
Hiscox is a leading insurer that specializes in small business insurance. It offers a complete array of business coverages, but is known for the core property and liability insurance protection every business needs.
Hiscox makes it easy to purchase business property, liability, and other types of insurance online. You can also speak with experienced business insurance experts who can help you customize your coverage to meet your unique company needs. Hiscox also offers top tier service and provides fast quotes, instant coverage, and quick claims processing.
If you choose Hiscox for your business coverage, you can rest assured knowing you’re entrusting your organization to a firm that’s been in operation since 1901. More than 400,000 companies choose Hiscox for their coverage.
You will likely need to complete your Hiscox quote with a phone call.
Embroker: Best for cyber insurance
The biggest risks faced by small businesses today are getting hacked, having private customer and business data becoming compromised, or being the victim of a ransomware attack. That’s why it’s important for business owners to secure cyber insurance, and Embroker is a leader in this type of coverage.
Embroker is an online business insurance marketplace that makes it easy for you to compare quotes from multiple insurance companies for cyber insurance and other business coverages and select the best deal. You simply answer some questions about your business and coverage needs online. Within a few minutes, you’ll have quotes for cyber and the other types of insurance you need from several different insurance companies. If you require help selecting a policy, you can connect with a licensed insurance expert over the phone. Embroker is licensed to sell insurance in all 50 states.
When you request a cyber insurance quote from Embroker, you will be asked complex fundraising questions that you may not be able to answer, or that do not apply to your business, making it impossible to get a quote online.
Progressive: Best provider of commercial auto insurance
Progressive may seem like a less-than-serious company because of its ongoing series of commercials featuring Flo.
The truth: It’s a reputable company that’s been offering auto insurance for more than 80 years and business-related coverage for a half century. Progressive provides not just a complete range of commercial auto insurance products, it can also supply all the coverage your business needs. The company is known for its flexibility, great rates, and top-tier service.
Progressive offers the following types of commercial vehicle insurance for businesses in Ohio:
- Commercial auto and truck
- Tow, dump, and food truck.
Two types of Progressive insurance cover specialized vehicles:
- Landscaper
- Contractor.
Progressive is known for its discounts, which could help you save on your commercial vehicle insurance and all your business coverage.
Tip: Progressive is a leading provider of insurance for delivery drivers and people who offer ride share services. It covers gaps between a personal auto policy and the coverage the delivery company or ride share service offers. It’s definitely something to look into if you do this kind of work.
biBerk: Best for workers’ compensation insurance
biBerk is known for being a low-cost small business insurer and it’s an acknowledged leader in workers’ compensation coverage.
Despite saving money on your workers’ comp coverage, you can rest assured knowing you’re still getting quality protection for the business you’ve worked so hard to build and the employees you care about. biBERK is able to lower insurance costs by almost 20 percent because it insures small businesses directly, without the added expense of having to work through a middleman or insurance broker.
You can feel confident getting your workers’ comp and other coverage through biBerk because it’s a part of Berkshire Hathaway, a company headed by well-known investor Warren Buffett. It’s a firm that has millions of satisfied customers. It’s been insuring businesses for more than 75 years.
Simply Business: Best brokerage firm to work with to find cheap coverage
Simply Business is a broker specializing in small business insurance. They work with many carriers with a focus to help you find low-cost coverage that your business may need, including general liability insurance. They vet the carriers that they work with carefully to ensure that all of them have excellent financial ratings.
Pros:
- Easy to get and compare several quotes online
- Able to get quotes from A-rated carriers which you may not be aware of
- Knowledgeable agents that are available to help you along the process
Cons:
- Quotes online are available for general liability and professional liability only
- Have to file a claim directly with the carriers
What is business insurance?
Business insurance, also known as commercial insurance, helps protect business owners from unexpected losses.
There are many types of business insurance options to help cover your operation for property damage, legal liability and employee-related risks.
What is business insurance for?
Business insurance can help you gain control over your company’s risks, which are considerable. It provides you with financial protection against losses that occur while conducting business. When you have business insurance coverage, your insurer helps pay the costs of covered losses up to the limits of your policy. Without coverage, you might have to pay out of pocket, which can easily bankrupt your business.
Why do I need business insurance in Ohio?
The purpose of the insurance is to help protect your Ohio company from common risks most businesses face, along with industry specific ones. It can protect the financial assets of your company, it’s physical property, employees, and intellectual property from:
- Lawsuits
- Property damage
- Theft
- Vandalism
- Loss of income
- Employee injuries and illnesses
- And more.
What kind of business insurance do I need in Ohio?
The most common types of business insurance coverage small companies in Ohio purchase include:
- Workers comp insurance
- Commercial auto insurance
- General liability insurance
- Business Owners Policy (or BOP) insurance
- Professional liability insurance or E&O or malpractice insurance
What is workers’ compensation coverage and do small businesses need it in Ohio?
If your business has employees, Ohio, with few exceptions, will require you to carry workers’ compensation coverage. This insurance provides benefits to your employees to help them recover from work-related injuries or illnesses. Some examples of these include:
- A clerk at your store is stocking shelves, slips off a ladder and breaks her leg. This makes her unable to do her job.
- An administrative assistant at your business has been working on a computer while sitting on an cheap old chair and comes down with carpal tunnel syndrome. She is no longer able to do her job because she’s in pain.
- A carpenter at your cabinet factory has been breathing in saw dust and chemical odors for years and comes down with lung disease. His doctor will not allow him to return to work.
Workers’ comp also pays funeral expenses and death benefits to immediate family members should an employee pass away because of a job related incident.
Learn more about workers comp insurance at the best workers comp insurance companies and the cheapest workers comp insurance companies.
Commercial auto insurance in Ohio
Commercial auto insurance pays for damage to vehicles and the cost of medical care if you or an employee is involved in an accident while driving for work related reasons. It is required by state laws to have commercial auto insurance for your business. Personal auto insurance doesn’t cover you and your vehicle if you drive for work.
If you don’t have proper business vehicle insurance, when you are involved in an accident as you are driving for work, your personal auto insurance company will refuse the claim and might drop you from their coverage as well. Learn more the differences between commercial auto insurance and personal auto insurance and why small businesses needs to have commercial auto insurance coverage.
Commercial auto insurance is usually a bit more expensive than personal auto insurance, but without it, you may have to pay out of pocket a lot more. Learn more at the best commercial auto insurance companies in Ohio and how to find cheap commercial auto insurance.
General liability insurance in Ohio
General liability insurance, or also called commercial liability, which helps protect your business from claims of bodily injury and property damage that happen in your workplace or while your employees are doing their jobs. This includes things like customer injuries that result from a slip and fall in your office or workplace or client property damage that occur because of a worker incident in a client’s home.
General liability insurance isn’t required by state laws in Ohio for most small businesses. However, it is probably the most popular coverage for any small businesses to carry. Learn more at the best general liability insurance companies in Ohio and the cheapest general liability insurance companies.
What does Business Owners Policy (BOP) insurance cover in Ohio?
A Business Owners Policy (BOP) will help protect your business property, income and financial assets. A BOP typically includes three types of coverage:
- Business property coverage protects the buildings your business operates out of, whether you own or rent them and the equipment used to run your company. This includes your:
- Physical location
- Tools
- Inventory
- Supplies
- Computers
- And more.
- General liability insurance covers legal claims against your business related to:
- Bodily injury
- Property damage
- Reputational harm, such as libel and slander.
- Business income insurance, often referred to as business interruption coverage, helps replace lost income if you can’t operate your business because of property damage that’s covered by your business policy. This includes damage from fire, wind, weather events, and burglaries. Learn more at the best business income insurance companies.
Depending on the specific needs of your business, you can work with your insurance agent or company rep to figure out what other coverages you may need.
Professional liability insurance in Ohio
Professional liability insurance covers you and the people who work for you if you’re ever sued by a client for giving them bad advice or not performing services to their satisfaction.
If you are in the business providing customers with advice and services, you might need professional liability insurance, also called errors and omissions (E&O) in real estate, insurance, or finance industries, or malpractice insurance in healthcare and legal industries.
The coverage details are a bit different and nuanced in different industries and specialties. Use our guides specific to each industry and specialty to find the coverage that you need:
- Lawyers – Top 5 Providers of Legal Malpractice Insurance & How Much It Costs
- Accountants & CPAs – Professional Liability Insurance (E&O) for Accountants and CPAs
- Tax preparers – The Best E&O Insurance for Tax Preparers
- Doctors – The 5 Best Providers of Medical Malpractice Insurance
- Consultants – Professional Liability Insurance (E&O) for Consultants
- Real estate agents – Top 5 Providers of Real Estate E&O Insurance & Costs
- Insurance agents – E&O Insurance for Insurance Agents: Cost and Top 5 Providers
- Engineers – Top 5 Providers of Professional Liability Insurance for Architects and Engineers
- Marketing and advertising services
- Psychologists – Top 4 Providers of Malpractice Insurance for Psychologists and Counselors
- Nurses – The Best 4 Providers of Nursing Malpractice Insurance
- Nurse practitioners: The Best Malpractice Insurance for Nurse Practitioners
- Dentists – Top 5 Providers of Dental Malpractice Insurance
- Dental hygienists – The Best Malpractice Insurance for Dental Hygienists
- Physician’s assistants – The Best Malpractice Insurance for Physician’s Assistants
- Physical Therapists – The 6 Best Malpractice Insurance Providers for Physical Therapists
- Chiropractors – 4 Best Choices for Cheap Chiropractic Malpractice Insurance
- Pharmacists – The Best Malpractice Insurance for Pharmacists and Costs
- Social workers – The Best Malpractice Insurance for Social Workers
Other business insurance coverages that small businesses in Ohio might need
- Commercial property, which covers losses in your workplace resulting from things like weather damage, fire, theft, or vandalism.
- Business income interruption, which will help replace a portion of your business income if your company is unable to operate because of covered reasons.
- Product liability, which covers you if a product you manufacture or sell is faulty and doesn’t perform as intended and you’re sued because of it. Learn more at the best product liability insurance companies.
- Cyber insurance, which helps pay expenses related to the theft or loss of critical customer, employee, or business information. Learn more at the best cyber insurance companies and the best data breach insurance companies.
- Directors and officers, or D&O insurance, which will help pay legal expenses and damages if a director or officer at your company is sued because of a business-related decision. Learn more at the best D&O insurance companies.
How can I prevent business losses in Ohio?
Many business insurers offer programs that can help you reduce business related risks. This includes doing things like eliminating workplace hazards and encouraging safe work practices. By doing these things, you could be able to save on your business insurance costs. Check with your business insurer to find out whether they offer workplace safety programs.
What coverages should Ohio businesses with employees get?
As covered in the section above, Ohio requires businesses with employees to carry workers’ compensation insurance.
You may also want to consider getting employment practices liability insurance. It helps protect your business if a current or former employee makes an employment-related claim. For example, if you are sued for wrongful termination or discrimination, employment practices liability insurance can help cover your legal costs.
Also, if you or your employees drive their own or company owned vehicles for work, it’s a smart idea to get commercial auto insurance. That’s because personal auto insurance does not cover accidents that take place while conducting business. If you have a work-related incident, you would have to pay for any damage or injuries that happen to you and your vehicle and anyone else impacted by the accident.
Is there an easy way to get business insurance coverage in Ohio?
The simplest way to get small business insurance coverage is through a business owners policy (BOP), which typically bundles together business property and liability coverage. A BOP makes it easy to add on additional types of coverage beyond these.
The types and amount of coverage you need depend on a number of factors including:
- Your industry
- The size of your business
- It’s location or locations in Ohio
- The number of employees
- And more.
At a minimum, you probably want to have liability and property coverage through a BOP. And if you have employees, the state of Ohio will likely require you to get workers’ compensation insurance. When you apply for coverage online, it’s likely that the insurer will suggest the additional coverages you should get. An experienced business insurance agent or company rep will be able to recommend coverages to you, as well.
How much does small business insurance cost in Ohio?
On average, small businesses in Ohio pay $3,000 a year (or $250 a month) for insurance coverage. Premium costs can vary dramatically because they’re based on so many factors including:
- The age and value of your business property
- The contents of your property
- Your business type
- Where in Ohio it’s located
- The limits and coverage options you choose
- Whether or not you select full or partial replacement cost
- And more.
What’s important is that you get quotes from multiple providers so you can compare coverages and costs to get the best and most cost effective coverage for your business.
How can I find cheap business insurance in Ohio?
Here are some tips to help you find the coverage you need at a fair price:
- Shop around. Get quotes from a few companies or compare the multiple quotes generated by a service like CoverWallet.
- Don’t stop shopping around. Make sure you get new quotes before you renew your policy.
- Take advantage of discounts. If they’re not offered to you when getting a quote, ask about them, whether you’re buying online or through an agent.
Taking these steps will help ensure you’re not paying too much for your small business insurance.
Top industries for small businesses in Ohio
The top ten industries for small businesses in Ohio are:
- Healthcare and social assistance
- Manufacturing
- Accommodation and food services
- Retail
- Miscellaneous services
- Professional, scientific, and technical services
- Construction
- Wholesale
- Administrative, support, and waste management
- Finance and insurance.
