According to a report in Business News Daily, Florida’s state economy is the fourth largest in the United States. The Sunshine State’s annual small business growth rate regularly outpaces the U.S. average. Small businesses make up a huge part of the Florida economy. More than 99 percent of all the companies in the state are small ones. They employ 3.3 million workers, which is more than 40 percent of Florida’s workforce.
The top five industries for small businesses in Florida are:
- Accommodation and food services
- Healthcare and social assistance
- Professional, scientific, and technical services
- Construction
- Retail.
The one thing that businesses in all these diverse industries share in common is that they face risks. The risks include issues 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.
Getting a business insurance policy helps protect the Florida-based company you’ve worked so hard to build. Small business insurance helps cover the property and income of an organization and safeguards it against liability claims.
In this article, we’ll cover the top six business insurers in Florida and explain what makes them the best at what they do. We’ll also provide information about business insurance so you’ll have the knowledge you need to get complete coverage at the best possible price.
- Top 6 insurance companies for small businesses in Florida
- What is business insurance?
- What is business insurance for?
- Why do I need business insurance in Florida?
- What kind of business insurance do I need in Florida?
- Other business insurance coverages that small businesses in Florida might need
- How can I prevent business losses in Florida?
- What coverages should Florida businesses with employees get?
- Is there an easy way to get business insurance coverage?
- How much does small business insurance cost in Florida?
- How can I find cheap business insurance in the Sunshine State?
Top 6 insurance companies for small businesses in Florida
Here are our choices for the best business insurers in Florida and what makes each one the best at what they do:
- CoverWallet: Best for Florida businesses that want to compare coverages in one place
- biBerk: Best for low-cost Florida small business coverage
- Hiscox: Best for Florida small businesses with unique insurance needs
- NEXT: Best for Sunshine State startups
- Progressive: Best for growing companies
- Simply Business: Best for finding the cheapest coverage
CoverWallet: Best for Florida businesses that want to compare coverages in one place
CoverWallet is a leading online marketplace for small business insurance. They offer coverage from leading insurers including Travelers, Chubb, Liberty Mutual, and more.
No matter what type of business coverage you need, all you have to do is fill out a simple application and you’ll receive quotes from several leading insurers. It makes it easy to compare coverages and quotes so you can select the best policy for your business.
CoverWallet is the number one independent insurance marketplace for small businesses. The company has written more than one million policies for upwards of 350,000 businesses during the decade it’s been in operation. CoverWallet can provide business insurance for Florida companies in many industries. If you have any questions, CoverWallet has licensed insurance agents available to answer them.
biBerk: Best for low-cost Florida small business coverage
After the last few years, few small businesses in Florida are sitting on extra cash to spend on insurance. If that’s the case with your operation, biBerk could be the ideal insurer for you.
biBerk is a low-cost business insurance provider. Despite saving money on your business coverage, you can rest assured knowing you’re still getting quality protection for the company you’ve worked so hard to build. 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 knowing biBerk is a part of Berkshire Hathaway, a company headed by well-known investor Warren Buffett. It’s a firm that has millions of satisfied customers that’s been insuring businesses for more than 75 years.
Here is a sample basic business insurance quote for a small Miami marketing agency.
Hiscox: Best for Florida small businesses with unique insurance needs
Hiscox offers a complete array of business coverages and is a leading insurer that specializes in small business insurance.
Hiscox makes it easy to purchase all types of business 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, 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 Florida-based organization to a firm that’s been in operation since 1901. More than 400,000 companies choose Hiscox for their coverage.
NEXT: Best for a great digital experience and affordable rates
NEXT is a 100% digital carrier. They are new, founded in 2016, specializing in providing general liability insurance online for contractors. Working with NEXT is fast and easy. You can do everything completely online.
Pros:
- Manage your policies online
- Easy online application process
- Writes their own coverage
Cons:
- Limited specialty insurance types
- Limited customer service support during the buying process
Progressive: The best for discounts on Florida business insurance
Progressive may seem like a somewhat silly company because of its ongoing series of commercials featuring Flo and her gang. You might feel concerned about entrusting your Florida-based operation to the insurer.
The truth: It’s a reputable company that’s been in business since 1937. Progressive is known for its flexibility, great rates, and highly responsive service.
Progressive is famous for its discounts, which could help you save on your Florida business insurance. You can earn discounts for things like:
- Purchasing multiple coverages
- Implementing safe work site practices
- Paying annually rather than in smaller increments
- Agreeing to autopay.
It’s easy to get a quote online from Progressive. It should take you less than five minutes. Here’s a sample for basic business coverage for the same Miami ad agency.
Simply Business: Best for finding the cheapest 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 excelleny 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 Florida?
The purpose of the insurance is to help protect your Florida 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 Florida?
The most common types of business insurance coverage small companies in Florida 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 Florida?
If your business has employees, Florida, 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 Florida
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 Florida and how to find cheap commercial auto insurance.
General liability insurance in Florida
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 Florida for most small businesses, except construction ones. However, it is probably the most popular coverage for any small businesses to carry. Learn more at the best general liability insurance companies in Florida and the cheapest general liability insurance companies.
What does Business Owners Policy (BOP) insurance cover in Florida?
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 Florida
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.
Learn more at the best professional liability insurance companies in Florida. 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 Florida 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 Florida?
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 Florida businesses with employees get?
As covered in the section above, Florida 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 Florida?
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 Florida
- 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 Florida 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 Florida?
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 Florida it’s located
- The limits and coverage options you choose
- Whether or not you select full or partial replacement cost
- And more.
On average, small businesses in Florida pay $500-$3,500 a year for their business insurance coverage.
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 the Sunshine State?
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.
