With general liability insurance, your business will have coverage against damage, lost business income, lawsuits, and other specific risks associated with running a business. As a result, general liability coverage is often recommended for all firms and even compulsory for construction companies. However, finding a suitable option for your business can be difficult as several options out there offer unacceptable services. To avoid such issues for you and your business, we have put together a list of the best companies that provide general liability insurance to small businesses in Indiana.
Please take a look at our list and find the right coverage for you.
- Top 6 general liability insurance companies in Indiana
- What is general liability insurance?
- What does general liability insurance cover in Indiana?
- How much does general liability insurance cost in Indiana?
- How to find cheap general liability insurance in Indiana?
Top 6 general liability insurance companies in Indiana
After studying more than 20 companies offering general liability insurance in Indiana, here are the top 6 providers we recommend and what they are best for:
- CoverWallet: Best for comparing leading insurance quotes
- The Hartford: Best overall for small businesses
- Hiscox: Most competitive prices
- Huckleberry: Good reviews
- NEXT: Best overall digital experience
- Liberty Mutual: Best customer service
CoverWallet: Best for comparing leading insurance quotes
CoverWallet is a digital business insurance broker that sells a variety of commercial insurance policies for business owners in Indiana. They are not an insurance company; instead, they provide quotes for people needing general liability insurance from their partners. To get your quotes, you have to enter all of your information on their website, and they will pull several quotes from their partner companies.
If you decide to purchase a general liability insurance policy from Coverwallet, you will receive a certificate of insurance digitally and immediately. You can also use their excellent digital dashboard to manage all of your commercial insurance policies in Indiana. You can file claims online, renew your policies online, and manage your policies entirely digitally.
CoverWallet may be a good option if you are looking for an affordable general liability insurance policy in Indiana and want to get the best and cheapest quote by comparing several quotes in one place. In the example below, CoverWallet gave us one quote from Liberty Mutual only. When we called to discuss purchasing, we were able to compare with other quotes available to us as well.
The Hartford: Best overall for small businesses
The Hartford is one of Indiana’s leading providers of general liability insurance. The Hartford has been in business for about 50 years, giving them all the experience they need to understand risks that affect different business types. They have a particular unit dedicated to small businesses. The general liability insurance for small businesses from The Hartford comes either as a single policy or bundled with other policies. When you buy in a bundle, you get to enjoy a discount. To make things easy, the company allows you to make your claims online. You might have to call and speak with their friendly customer support team to get your quotes to get a quote. In recognition of their excellent work, The Hartford has an A+ rating from standard and poor’s. Besides, they have lots of good reviews on many review websites on the internet.
Hiscox: Most competitive prices
Hiscox provides general liability insurance at discounted rates for small businesses. Their general liability insurance is available to a wide range of professionals, and they have a convenient rate calculator on their website so you can get your quotes as fast as possible. In Indiana, Hiscox is well-known for providing competitive quotes for businesses. Hiscox may be your best bet if your company is small. They have an “A” rating from A.M. Best, a national credit rating company. They have a Small Business unit explicitly dedicated to working with small businesses with fewer than ten employees.
The following is a hypothetic quote generated from the website of the company for a landscape business in Indiana with about 3 full time employees and an annual income of $500,000.
When you compare several general liability insurance quotes, you need to pay attention to make sure that you are comparing apple-to-apple, ie. the policies need to have the same coverage amounts. For example, in the quote we receive from the Hiscox below, the coverage is $300K. You will notice that most quotes you receive have $1M coverage.
Huckleberry: Good reviews
Huckleberry is a new company that tries to provide simple and easy general liability insurance for small business owners. They are not insurance carriers; instead, they are brokers that underwrite and sell policies on behalf of legitimate carriers. So far, they have done nothing but impress their clients that use their services. They offer their services online all day long. They have good ratings and fair reviews from their clients on the internet in terms of pricing and other things.
Next Insurance: The best for overall digital experience
Next insurance is an entrepreneur-focused online insurance provider. Next is entirely online and provides free monthly payments and 24-hour access for small businesses in Indiana. The beauty of the website is that they employ cutting-edge technology to locate the best quotes for your small business quickly. They have one of the quickest online quote generators of any insurance company on the internet. No matter what you do in Indiana, they will find quotes for you instantly and can even design custom policies for your business. Next insurance may be your best bet if you’re starting a small business.
The following is a sample general liability quote for a florist shop with 3 workers and $450,000 net annual income in Indiana from Next’s website.
Liberty Mutual: Best customer service
Liberty Mutual provides a comprehensive general liability insurance policy for business owners in Indiana. Usually, the company offers its general liability insurance as a bundle together with other packages. All of their policies are sold through a network of independent brokers and agents.
Even though the information on Liberty Mutual’s website is limited, you can’t get a quote or learn basic information about its general liability insurance. That includes the types of businesses covered and the extent of the coverage.
The general liability insurance provided by Liberty Mutual also includes crisis management support services, which can provide up to $250,000 in consulting expenses to help steer media coverage and public relations.
In terms of customer service, Liberty’s customer support team has highly trained professionals that understand complex risks across a wide range of industries. Their dedicated complex liability claims unit also has extensive experience dealing with catastrophic losses.
>>MORE: The Best General Liability Insurance Companies
What is general liability insurance?
General liability insurance is unique insurance that protects businesses from third-party property damage or personal injuries caused by the business owner or an employee. Also called business liability insurance saves you and your company from “general” claims involving bodily harm and property damage.
Although the state laws of Indiana do not require that you have general liability insurance (except if you own a construction company), it is a necessary coverage required by almost every business. It helps to secure the success of companies by protecting you and your employees when unfortunate occurrences happen in the future.
What does general liability insurance cover in Indiana?
General liability insurance can help you reduce the cost and stress of unanticipated incidents. It can also provide you with peace of mind knowing that you are adequately protected from life’s unpredictability. Who knows, it might even save your company from having to close its doors due to future lawsuits.
The following are five scenarios that adequately describes what General liability insurance covers:
1. A customer injury lawsuit.
Imagine a customer’s child is running up and down the aisles of your store. And then, the child trips or falls and breaks their leg all of a sudden. As a result, the child’s family decides to sue you for $30,000 in medical expenses. Your general liability insurance may cover these expenses.
Or, in another example, assume a customer steps on a heavy tool in your shop that breaks three of his toes. As a result, he requires surgery, and he sues you for $50,000 in medical expenses. Your general liability insurance may be able to cover some of the costs.
2. Third-party property damage
Let’s assume you own a furniture shop, and you need to rearrange your workplace. You suddenly notice deep scratches across the entire floor after dragging the furniture to its new location. You also caused damage to various sections of the walls during the process. When your landlord notices the damage, he sues you for $30,000 in monetary damages. Your general liability insurance may cover the lawsuit’s costs.
3. An advertising lawsuit
Assume you spend a year with your trusted team members developing a new advertising campaign. Unknown to you, a member of your team used copyrighted material by mistake. Then a competitor sues you for $50,000 for using their copyrighted material a few days later. Your general liability insurance may cover these expenses.
4. A product liability lawsuit.
For example, you own a coffee shop where you sell coffee pots and coffee. However, after a customer buys one from you, they are burned by hot water due to a flaw in the design. As a result, they sue you for $50,000 in medical expenses. Product liability insurance can help cover these expenses. Learn more at the best product liability insurance companies.
Generally speaking, general liability insurance will not cover the following:
- Damage or injuries you intentionally cause
- Damages to your personal or business property
- Professional services provided to a client
- Injuries or disabilities among your workforce
- Losses or injuries that happen due to your negligence
- Damages to your automobiles or boats
- Losses due to breach of your private and confidential information
How much does general liability insurance cost in Indiana?
The cost of general liability insurance in Indiana can vary significantly between insurance companies. Generally speaking, companies calculate general liability insurance rates by taking into account the following factors:
- The business’s gross sales
- The gross payroll for employees and owners
- The area of the premises in square feet
- Any subcontractor exposures (if applicable).
- Level of risk
Of all these factors, the level of risk is the most significant factor determining what you will pay. As a typical small business owner in Indiana, you can expect to pay between $300 and $5,000 per year for general liability insurance. The final cost of liability coverage will differ significantly from one business to the next based on the SIC code or the insurance company’s classification system for GL rating. Additional factors used to calculate insurance costs include the nature of your business, its physical location, prior claims experience, and the number of years it has been in operation.
>>MORE: How Much Does General Liability Insurance Cost?
How to find cheap general liability insurance in Indiana?
Businesses in Indiana are able to choose their own general liability insurance provider. You owe it to yourself to compare coverage and costs from several insurers. They have different ways of calculating premium costs and you will likely find a range of prices. You can select the one that offers you the coverage you need at the best possible cost. Also remember to shop again when you need to renew your general liability insurance policy.
Some insurance companies offer good discounts if you have appropriate safety standards and programs in place. Implementing and maintaining these safety programs will reduce your workers comp insurance premiums over time as well.
You can also bundle different business insurance policies to earn additional discounts.
>>MORE: Cheapest General Liability Insurance Companies
Final thoughts
Now that you know the best 6 insurance companies in Indiana to get general liability insurance, it’s time to choose. Remember to pick the company that offers the most services to suit your needs.
