You have a large amount of choices when it comes to finding insurance for your small business. One factor in those choices is picking between a larger insurer and a smaller insurer. Smaller insurers tend to offer a more customized, personal experience. One such example is Cincinnati Insurance. Below we’ll look at the products offered, the company’s reputation, and what the digital experience is like. Read on for our Cincinnati business insurance review.
Pros
- For the size of this company, the list of business insurance products offered is fairly extensive.
- Consumer complaints balance each other into being neither too high nor too low in relation to expected complaints for the market.
- This company is very focused on having potential customers work with local independent insurance agents to set up policies. This is a pro for those who like a face-to-face custom experience.
- The financial strength of this company is very solid. It has an A+ rating with A.M Best.
Cons
- Because the company is so focused on the independent agent relationship, there is not an online quote process. This is a con for those who want the convenience of a digital-based experience.
- Cincinnati is still a smaller company, so it’s hard to get a feel for true customer satisfaction.
Small Business Insurance Product Offered by Cincinnati Business Insurance
Score: 90/100
Cincinnati is another company that offers a wide variety of business insurance products. It offers:
- Professional Liability (E&O)
- Business Automobile
- Workers’ Compensation
- Business Liability
- Commercial Property Insurance
- Management Liability
- Reinsurance
- Surety Solutions
- Umbrella Liability
- Business Life Insurance
- Bridge Endorsement
- Crime
- Cyber Risk
- Excess and Surplus
- Inland Marine
You can also search their website for a wide range of products offered by industry. For instance, if you select the craft beverage option, the company offers products like winery property endorsement that covers incidental vines and trellises.
As a side note in our Cincinnati business insurance review, you can also find loss control services that help you identify control measures to minimize losses in the first place. The company also offers leasing and financing.
>>MORE: Best Professional Liability Insurance Companies for Small Businesses
Financial Strength Rating for Cincinnati Small Business Insurance
Score: 95/100
Through A.M. Best, The Cincinnati Insurance Company has an A+ (Superior) financial strength insurance rating. The company’s outlook is listed as stable.
The long-term issuer credit rating is listed as an aa-, or a “superior” rating. The outlook for that metric is listed as positive.
Customer Satisfaction Rating for Cincinnati Small Business Insurance
Score: 90/100
Cincinnati is a small company, so it was not ranked in the J.D. Power U.S. Small Commercial Insurance Study 2020 due to a small sample size.
This company is listed through the Better Business Bureau (BBB) as Cincinnati Financial Corporation. It has an A+ rating with the agency and has been accredited since 1981. The company only has three customer reviews through the site, all of which are for the auto insurance portion of the company. One details billing problems with the business automobile portion.
This was another difficult metric to score, since it’s a small company that wasn’t ranked with J.D. Power. However, the A+ with the BBB is encouraging, so we gave it a 90/100. It’s technically not the company’s fault J.D. Power had a small sample size.
>>MORE: Best General Liability Insurance for Small Businesses
Consumer Complaints Rating for Cincinnati Small Business Insurance Review
Score: 85/100
Through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Cincinnati Insurance Company (NAIC company code 10677) had a 0.38 complaint index code for all insurance types in 2018. The complaint index is set at a base of 1.00, so that’s fewer complaints than expected for that market. For specific types of business insurance, the complaint index breaks down as:
- Commercial auto: 0.44
- Commercial liability: 1.92
- Commercial property: 0.44
- Medical professional liability: 0.00
- Workers’ compensation: 1.39
For the ones where there is an index, those are fairly stable around the 1.00 metric.
The company had eight complaints for liability insurance, five for commercial auto, one for fidelity and surety, and one for workers’ compensation in 2018, according to NAIC.
>>MORE: How Much does General Liability Insurance Cost?
Digital Experience Rating for Cincinnati Small Business Insurance
Score: 70/100
Cincinnati insurance doesn’t have much of a digital experience to speak of. At the side of all the webpages, there is simply a widget that encourages you to search for a local agent using your zip code:
If you select the “Our Agents” link on the widget, it takes you to a site explaining the process and why it works that way. The site states that the company feels doing quotes online takes away the benefits of working with a personal agent. These agents can help you identify specific risks of your business and help customize policies that work for your situation.
Once you use the widget to search for independent agents by your zip code, you get a map and a comprehensive listing of local agents. We entered a Texas zip code, and got the following screen:
This experience was hard to rate for our Cincinnati business insurance review. On one hand, there’s no way to tell how much you’d be paying or what your policy would look like without getting involved with a local agent. The independent digital experience is non-existent.
However, the company does have a point about talking to an agent. Your small business is important and you should make sure you understand the ins and outs of a specifically tailored policy that gives you the correct amount of coverage. And the way the site has an easy-to-use map search widget on every screen is a seamless way to guide you into starting that process. So we gave it an 70/100 for an easy agent search.
Final Thoughts
- If you need a type of business insurance, Cincinnati probably offers it.
- The company has a steady outlook, with an A+ (Superior) financial strength rating from A.M Best and an A+ from the BBB.
- However, due to the company’s size, it is hard to rate customer satisfaction in our Cincinnati business insurance review. The company only has three complaints through the BBB, all relating to auto insurance. However, the company has a 0.38 complaint index code for all types of insurance, with fairly stable complaint indexes specifically for business insurance types.
- Despite not having an online quote process, the digital experience for this company is surprisingly positive. The widget on the side of each page allows you to easily search by zip code to find an independent agent who sells Cincinnati insurance policies close to you. The company does a fantastic job of outlining why it operates under more of a face-to-face structure. Turns out, it’s because the company wants to make sure you have the right type and amount of coverage, since every business situation is so unique.
