There are more than 176,000 small businesses in Georgia. About 1.7 million people work for small businesses in Georgia, accounting for 43.1% of Georgia workforce. The average payroll per employee working for a small business in Georgia is $47,100. Workers’ compensation insurance and commercial auto insurance are required by laws in Georgia. Even not legally required in Georgia, general liability insurance is probably the most important business insurance policy that small businesses should have. We will discuss why it is the case and recommend the 5 best general liability insurance companies in Georgia for your consideration.
- The 5 best general liability insurance companies in Georgia
- What is general liability insurance? And what does it cover?
- What doesn’t general liability insurance cover?
- Why small businesses in Georgia should get general liability insurance
- What affects how much I’ll pay for general liability insurance in Georgia?
- How much does general liability insurance cost in Georgia?
- How to find cheap general liability insurance in Georgia?
The 5 best general liability insurance companies in Georgia
We research more than 20 companies offering general liability insurance in Georgia and here are our recommendation for the top 5.
- Simply Business: Best for finding low-cost coverage from top-tier carriers
- NEXT: Best for a fast and affordable quotes
- CoverWallet: Best for comparing online quotes
- Progressive Commercial: Best if you also need commercial auto insurance
- Hiscox: Best for a fast and easy quote online
Simply Business: Best for finding low-cost coverage from top-tier carriers
Simply Business is a digital brokerage firm specializing in serving small businesses. What sets them apart is that they partner with several reputable carriers that have solid financial strength ratings and tend to offer low-cost coverage. That makes it easy for you to find the cheapest general liability insurance quotes with them.
After submitting your information, Simply Business will provide several quotes from partners that they work with. Many of their carrier partners may not be well-known but offer great affordable quotes that you wouldn’t be able to access otherwise.
Getting and comparing several quotes online are fast and simple. Within 10 minutes you will find the cheapest one for you.
Simply Business also has a great customer satisfaction rating on trustpilot.
NEXT: Best for fast and affordable quotes
Next is changing how businesses purchase general liability insurance and other coverage.
Their operation is focused on delivering the ultimate online insurance experience. Because of this, you’re able to purchase a policy, file a claim or get a certificate of insurance any place, any time, 365 days a year. Even though Next is an online insurer, you can get expert help over the phone when you need it. The firm is also known for being able to make most claims decisions within 48 hours.
Even though Next is a relatively new and innovative company, you can rest assured knowing it has an excellent rating from A.M. Best, an insurance company rating agency. All the company’s policies are backed by MunichRe, an established insurance company and reinsurer. More than 10,000 business owners have turned to Next for their insurance needs. The firm has earned a solid 4.7 customer rating.
One caveat about Next: It offers insurance coverage for a limited number of industries.
CoverWallet: Best for comparing online quotes
CoverWallet is a digital broker. They are not an insurer. They work with several leading small business insurance companies. They are able to provide you with the quotes of their partner companies. If you want to compare several quotes online in one place after providing your information once, they are a great option. Within minutes, you are able to provide several quotes to choose the best and the cheapest one for your business.
After buying a policy through CoverWallet, you are able to use their digital dashboard to manage all of your business insurance policies in one place. The dashboard offers great features that make it easy and convenient for you to manage all of your business insurance policies in one place. Some of the most useful features are downloading the certificate of insurance, filing a claim, or renew a policy.
Progressive Commercial: Best if you also need commercial auto insurance
Progressive is a very well-known name in the personal auto insurance. They are also one of the best providers of commercial auto insurance as well. With their rich experience in the auto insurance field, if you need commercial auto insurance, you should definitely consider Progressive Commercial. They offer competitive prices on commercial auto insurance.
Progressive Commercial also offers other business insurance policies, including general liability insurance, professional liability insurance, workers compensation insurance, etc. If you get both general liability insurance and commercial auto insurance from Progressive, you will get 15% discount on the bundled policy.
Hiscox: Best for a fast and easy online quote
Hiscox is started in 1901 in London, the UK. It is very experienced in selling business insurance policies and handling claims, especially to small businesses.
Their online quote is very fast and easy. Within a few minutes, you will get an online quote for a general liability insurance policy. Based on your business type, they also suggest other relevant business insurance policies for your consideration.
What is general liability insurance? And what does it cover?
General liability insurance is probably the most common business insurance policies. If you can only get one business insurance policy that is not legally required, you may consider general liability insurance. It covers:
- Third party injury
- Third party property damage
- Product liability
- Advertising injury
Whatever business you’re in, if you deal with customers at a physical location, whether it is your business’s premise or your client’s, it’s a good idea to have general liability insurance. Customers can trip over something and sue you for medical expenses. If you visit clients at their homes and you accidentally damage something, general liability insurance covers that, too. It also covers you if you are sued for slander or libel.
For example, you would think that if you do something like social media consultant, there is very little risk. But one of your customers doesn’t see a small wrinkle the rug, trips and falls and breaks an ankle. General liability insurance will cover her medical bills, and your legal costs when she sues you.
What doesn’t general liability insurance cover?
Although general liability insurance is an essential policy, it doesn’t cover everything that can go wrong. It doesn’t cover:
- Injuries to your employees (that’s workers compensation)
- Damage to your own property (you’ll need commercial property insurance)
- Data breaches and cyber crime (you’ll need cyber security insurance)
- Damages caused to your customers when they use or consume your product (you’ll need product liability insurance)
- Your clients sue you because they are not happy with your service (you’ll need professional liability insurance for that)
- Bodily and property damages caused by auto accidents while you are driving for work (you’ll need commercial auto insurance for that)
- Illegal acts
- Damage that you do on purpose
The first six are covered by different types of policies. Anything illegal and destructive is not covered at all.
Why small businesses in Georgia should get general liability insurance
According to businessnewsdaily, slip-and-fall accidents and premises liability are the two in the the top 3 most common lawsuits against small businesses (after breach of contract). And according to a survey conducted by smallbizdaily, 36%-53% small businesses had to deal with a lawsuit every year. So, getting sued due to your customers slipping and falling in your business location is a lot more common than you would think. Similar frequencies of these accidents are expected to happen in Georgia as well.
Getting sued is expensive. Lawyers charge $100 an hour and up. From a study by National Center of State Courts The median combined costs of lawsuits for both parties in a premise liability lawsuit such as slip and falls is $54,000.
Then, too, you’ll have to deal with the emotional toll if someone sues you, not to mention that one lawsuit can bankrupt a small business.
Also, for some industries like general contracting or construction, clients prefer you having insurance. More often than not, clients would request you to show insurance proof before signing the contracts for the project.
What affects how much I’ll pay for general liability insurance in Georgia?
Many factors affect how much you’ll pay for insurance, such as:
- Where you work
- What industry you’re in
- How long you’ve been in business
- Revenue
- Number of employees (the more employees you have, the more likely it is that one of them will damage something)
- Claims history
How much does general liability insurance cost in Georgia?
It depends on what sort of business you’re in, what you do, how much risk is involved, etc. Small businesses can expect to pay between $250 and $5,500 a year for a good general liability insurance policy in Georgia.
The cost of general liability insurance for a small business in Georgia varies by providers. So you should expect to have different quotes by different insurance companies. Make sure to shop around with at least 3 companies or a digital broker like CoverWallet to compare several quotes to find the cheapest one for you.
How to find cheap general liability insurance in Georgia?
General liability insurance is essential for small businesses. It is possible to find cheap general liability insurance for your business in Georgia. Below are some tips that you can consider:
- Always make sure to shop around for the cheapest price. Getting quotes from several companies or comparing several quotes with a digital broker like CoverWallet.
- Sometimes insurance companies will let you take a risk assessment to earn a discount
- Bundling several policies together will also earn a discount
- Before renewing your policy, make sure to shop around again to ensure that your current policy has the cheapest price already.
Last Thoughts
General liability insurance is a necessity if you own a small business in the peach state. Carefully consider how much coverage you need and then get quotes from at least three companies or a digital broker to compare several quotes before choosing a policy. Consider customer reviews as well. You want a company with low prices that you can rely on.
