Oregon ranked as the 18th best state to start a small business in 2022, scoring especially high with regard to an educated workforce, a lack of sales tax, and a booming economy. In addition, the Beaver state boasts stunning coastlines, beautiful mountains, and good weather.
Oregon is a great place to live and do business, as many entrepreneurs can attest. It’s important to protect your small business, which is why business insurance is a good idea.
- 7 best business insurance companies in Oregon
- Business insurance coverages in Oregon
- Which business insurance coverage do I really need in Oregon?
- How much does business insurance cost in Oregon?
- How to find cheap business insurance in Oregon?
- How to buy business insurance online in Oregon?
6 best business insurance companies in Oregon
Small business insurance is a very competitive market with hundreds of providers, which can make it confusing for you to find the best one for you. We have researched more than 30 providers in Oregon and here are our recommendations of the top 6 for your consideration:
- InsurePro: Best for small businesses who prefer pay-per-day coverage
- Simply Business: Best for finding cheap coverage
- CoverWallet: Best for comparing several quotes online
- NEXT: Best for contractors general liability insurance
- biBERK: Best for low-cost coverage
- Progressive: Best Overall for commercial auto and commercial truck insurance
InsurePro: Best for small businesses who prefer pay-per-day coverage
InsurePro is a digital broker specializing in small business insurance. They provide flexible, on-demand, and pay-per-day coverage of general liability, commercial auto, and workers comp insurance to small businesses. InsurePro can offer coverage by the month, by the season, or by the job. They partner with 20 insurance companies, which makes comparison shopping very easy.
InsurePro also offers traditional and permanent policies, just like other brokers or insurance companies. Their policies tend to have good rates as well. They also provide a good digital experience that you may prefer to conduct your business nowadays.
Simply Business: Best for finding cheap coverage
Simply Business is another popular digital broker for small businesses. They are great at helping you find competitive rates for the most basic types of business insurance such as general liability, workers comp, professional liability, and commercial auto insurance. They are able to do this effectively by partnering with a long list of carriers who may have cheaper rates.
They also have a great resource library, so if you need help or have questions, they’re a good website to check out. If you are new to buying small business insurance, you can discuss your situation with their knowledgeable agents too. It may be a good idea to talk to their agents to make sure you buy the right coverage to protect your business.
CoverWallet: Best for comparing several quotes online
CoverWallet is also an online insurance broker, just like InsurePro and Simply Business. However, CoverWallet is more focused on providing you with options and lets you do the comparison and choose the right coverage for you. They have built a sophisticated quote comparison platform. Upon completing your application, the platform will display 3-4 quotes from different companies side by side for you to choose the best and the cheapest one for your business.
CoverWallet has a wider variety of policies, and if you buy policies from several different companies, you can manage them in one “wallet.” CoverWallet’s digital experience is one of the best. You can get quotes, buy policies, and manage the policies entirely online.
NEXT: Best for contractors’ general liability insurance
NEXT is one of the newer insurance companies, or often referred to as an insuretech, ie. a technology company offering insurance products and services. With their advantage as a tech company, they innovate and offer unique insurance products, which wasn’t available previously, to small businesses. The first industry they have been focused on is contracting businesses. They offer general liability insurance to all types of contractors, including handyman, roofers, or HVAC contractors.
If you’re a contractor, sometimes you need proof of insurance in a hurry. With Next, you can shop for a policy, purchase it, and download a certificate of insurance all 10-15 minutes. NEXT pioneers offering general liability insurance for all types of contractors and makes it extremely easy and simple for any contractor to buy a policy.
Contractors who may have difficulties finding insurance coverage before should check NEXT out. Their rates are also very competitive.
biBERK: Best for low-cost digital coverage
biBERK is an insurance company specializing in serving small businesses directly. They have built a direct-to-customer business model, bypassing agents and brokers, so that they can cut costs and save a lot of money for their customers. In fact, they claim that they save their customers at least 20% on premiums.
biBERK offers workers comp, professional liability, commercial auto insurance, and cyber insurance in Oregon. They do not offer general liability insurance in Oregon, so you’ll have to look elsewhere for that.
Progressive: Best Overall for commercial auto and commercial truck insurance
Progressive is the market leader in the commercial vehicle insurance industry. They insure more commercial vehicles, including trucks, than any other insurance company.
Progressive can insure almost any type of truck, and it’s easy to get a quote from them. In addition, you can add general liability insurance, professional liability insurance, and cyber insurance. They also have a ton of discounts available.
If you are looking for commercial auto insurance or commercial truck insurance, you should definitely get a quote from them. It is super easy and fast to get a quote on Progressive’s website. It shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes.
Business insurance coverages in Oregon
Small business owners need to get business insurance to protect their business’s assets. The question is, what kind of insurance do you really need, and how much?
The following are the most common types of business insurance. Your needs may vary according to your industry, your location, and your experience.
General liability insurance in Oregon
General liability insurance covers you for:
- Third-party bodily injury
- Third party property damage
- Advertising injury
Third-party bodily injury covers you if a client or a customer injures themselves on your property. You would be surprised at the number of lawsuits that stem from falls. A woman in Florida won a $120,000 settlement when she tripped over some floor tiles. Ask yourself if you can afford $120,000 out of pocket.
On the other hand, many professionals have accidentally damaged part of a client’s home or property. If your job involves going to clients’ homes, such as cleaning, plumbers, contractors, or real estate agents, you need general liability insurance to protect your business. We know you didn’t mean to destroy the garden when you parked the car, but you’re still responsible for the damages.
Learn more at general liability insurance cost and the best general liability insurance companies
Commercial property insurance in Oregon
Commercial property insurance covers your business’s physical space and the contents of that space. If you rent or lease a workspace in Oregon, the landlord will probably require you to have commercial property insurance. And if you own your own building, you definitely need it.
Commercial property insurance covers your assets as well, including inventory, should one of the above factors damage your property.
Oregon most often suffers damage from severe storms, floods, landslides, wildfires and earthquakes. If you want coverage for floods and earthquakes, you’ll have to add them on, as they are not usually included.
Learn more at commercial property insurance cost and the best commercial property insurance companies
Business Owners Policy (BOP) in Oregon
A business owners policy (BOP) combines general liability insurance and commercial property insurance under one policy, so you pay less than if you had purchased the policies separately. Sometimes business interruption insurance is included, but other companies have it as an option.
Shop around for the policy that provides the types of coverage you need.
Learn more at BOP insurance cost and the best BOP insurance companies
Professional liability insurance in Oregon
PLI covers you if you make a mistake or neglect to do something that causes your customer financial harm. If you provide advice in some capacity, you should consider professional liability insurance. Sometimes this type of policy is called Errors and Omissions insurance, and those in the healthcare field or law have malpractice insurance, but it’s all the same type of coverage.
Professions that should get professional liability insurance include:
- Teachers – Learn more at the best professional liability insurance for teachers
- Financial advisors – Learn more at the best E&O insurance for financial advisors and investment advisors
- Insurance agents – Learn more at the best E&O insurance for insurance agents
- Accountants – Learn more at the best professional liability insurance for accountants and CPAs
- Contractors – Learn more at the best professional liability insurance for contractors
- Real estate agents – Learn more at the best E&O insurance for real estate agents
Learn more at professional liability insurance cost and the best professional liability insurance companies
Workers comp insurance in Oregon
In Oregon, you are required to have workers compensation insurance if you have even one employee, even if they are part-time. If your payroll is less than $500 for any 30-day period, you may get an exemption. Other exceptions include:
- Sole proprietors
- Partners
- Private resident workers
- Casual labor
Workers comp protects your employees from having to pay for their own medical costs if they are injured or fall ill on the job. It also helps by paying them for lost wages while they recover. Workers comp benefits the employer, because without it, employees would sue you for their medical bills and you would need to pay for them out of pocket. Should the worst happen, workers comp will also pay death benefits to the family of the accident victim.
Luckily for small business owners in Oregon, workers comp rates are pretty low at an average of $1.12 per $100 of covered payroll. It varies depending on what type of job the employee does, with higher risk professions paying much more and low-risk professions paying much less. Rates range from $0.07 per $100 for clerical employees to $17.55 for package and parcel delivery.
Learn more at workers comp insurance cost and the best workers comp insurance companies
Commercial auto insurance in Oregon
Commercial auto insurance covers you if you are in an accident while using your vehicle for work. Personal auto coverage will not cover you if you use your vehicle for work-related purposes (other than commuting back and forth to your job). If your insurance company finds out you are using your personal vehicle for business purposes, they will raise your rates, or even drop you entirely.
Oregon law requires you to have at least 25/50/20, or $25,000 bodily injury liability, $50,000 per accident and $20,000 in property liability coverage. You are also required to have uninsured and underinsured liability coverage. PIP, or personal injury protection, is also required. PIP covers you and your passengers if you are injured in an accident. Oregon is a no-fault state, so it doesn’t matter who caused the accident. You will also need uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist coverage.
Trucking companies need more insurance to comply with state and federal regulations.
These are the bare minimums. You would probably want more coverage, otherwise just one accident can easily bankrupt you.
Learn more at commercial auto insurance cost and the best commercial auto insurance companies
Cyber liability insurance in Oregon
Now that almost everyone does business on the internet, cyber liability insurance is a must. According to the latest statistics, a ransomware attack will occur every two seconds by 2031. Businesses of all sizes need to be prepared.
Cyber security insurance protects companies from liability due to a data breach and can even help to cover the costs of reimbursing customers. Learn more at cyber liability insurance cost and the best cyber liability insurance companies
Business interruption insurance in Oregon
Business interruption insurance is sometimes part of a business owner’s policy, but even if it’s not, it can be worth getting. If a fire sweeps through your building, business interruption insurance can pay for wages, repairs, rent and other expenses when you are forced to close. It can even help cover the costs to help you relocate if the workspace is damaged.
Oregon has all types of weather, so if you’re concerned about floods or earthquakes, you will need to add them to the list of named perils. Business interruption insurance will not cover you if your business is forced to close due to a pandemic, as many business owners discovered in 2020. You can add pandemics to the policy, though.
Learn more at business interruption insurance cost and the best business interruption insurance companies
Which business insurance coverage do I really need in Oregon?
Most small businesses should get a general liability policy because it covers the basics and common reasons businesses are sued.
If you have more than one employee, you will need workers compensation insurance.
If you drive a vehicle for work (other than driving back and forth to an office) you will need commercial auto insurance.
Professional liability insurance is not required, but if you give advice or guidance in a professional capacity it might come in handy.
Who needs business insurance in Oregon?
Most small businesses should get at least a general liability policy, workers comp (if you have employees), and commercial auto insurance (if you drive a vehicle for business purposes).
Below are some popular small businesses that buy insurance in Oregon:
How much does business insurance cost in Oregon?
The average business in Oregon pays about $57 a month, or $684 per year, for a $1MM general liability insurance policy. If you have more policies, you’ll pay more. The easiest way to save money is to shop around and compare quotes from at least three different companies.
Below are the average costs in Oregon for different small business insurance coverages:
| Oregon business insurance coverages | Average costs |
| General liability | $57 per month |
| Business Owners Policy (BOP) | $148 per month |
| Workers comp insurance | $1.12 per $100 payroll |
| Commercial auto insurance | $128 per month |
| Professional liability insurance | $67 per month |
| Cyber liability insurance | $121 per month |
| Commercial property insurance | $107 per month |
Please keep in mind that these are just the average rates that hundreds of thousands small businesses pay in Oregon. Your rates will be different.
Rates also vary by a good bit between different companies, which is why it’s important to shop around.
What factors affect business insurance costs in Oregon?
There are a lot of things that affect how much business insurance costs. Just a few include:
- Location
- Number of employees
- Payroll
- Years of experience
- Industry (higher risk industries pay more)
- Claims history
- Coverage limits
It’s like buying auto insurance, in a way: insurance companies weigh the odds of how likely it is you’ll file a claim and then set your rates accordingly.
How to find cheap business insurance in Oregon?
Shop around. Different insurance companies can vary wildly in what rates they offer. For just a few hours of effort, you could easily save hundreds of dollars. It’s the easiest way to save the most money.
You can also bundle policies. Business Owners Policies bundle general liability and commercial property insurance together, so you save money. Even if you only buy one type of business insurance, you can usually bundle it with your homeowners insurance or your auto insurance to get a discount.
Go with a higher deductible–make sure you have the funds to cover the deductible if you need to, but this can reduce your monthly payments.
Run a safe workplace. Make sure things are picked up and tidy. Develop a safety plan and post it where everyone can see it. And check with your insurance company, because many of them will give you a discount if you adopt a safety plan from them.
How to buy business insurance online in Oregon?
You need to weigh the risks against the cost. You don’t want to get every policy out there, so consider which ones you really need. Then, shop around. Go to at least three or four companies and see what they offer you. You can even use a quote from one company to try and bargain with another.
You can save time by using an online insurance broker. Companies like CoverWallet, Simply Business and Commericalinsurance.net are good insurance brokers and will help save you time and money. Once you have your quotes, buy your policy. For most companies, you can do this online as well. Others require you to call to purchase insurance. Either way, it’s not that much time and it could save you money.
