Small business insurance costs depend on the trade, payroll, revenue and location, and the cheapest published figures are floors and company averages, not prices any particular business will pay. Hiscox states that general liability starts at $30 a month, ERGO NEXT (formerly NEXT Insurance) says its starts at $19 a month for some businesses, Insureon reports an average of $45 a month across roughly 100,000 of its own customers, and The Hartford reports an average of about $810 a year, or about $67 a month, across its own customers. None of these is a market rate. What a cheap policy gives up is shown in its exclusions, and in some cases paying more is the cheaper outcome.
How much does small business insurance cost?
This page quotes no market average and does not invent one. What exists is a set of figures that each company publishes about itself, and they measure different things: a starting price, a customer average, a customer median and a range of annual policies. Reading them as a single scale produces a false comparison.
Premiums depend on trade, payroll, revenue and location. Hiscox names business size, industry, location and coverage amount as what moves its price, and The Hartford says costs vary by state and that a specific premium could be higher or lower. ERGO NEXT's own examples show the effect of trade, running from about $20 a month for a personal trainer to about $245 a month for a restaurant.
The honest answer for any one business is therefore a range that only matching quotes can narrow. The sections below set out every published figure with its owner, the exclusions in full, and the situations where the cheaper-looking option costs more in the end.
Every published figure, with its owner
The providers are listed alphabetically, and the order is not a ranking. Prices are as of October 13, 2026, were read at each provider's own pages, and move over time. Every figure belongs to the company that published it and describes its own customers or products, not the market.
Chubb. Chubb publishes no small-business premium that could be found at the time of writing, and it quotes per business. Nothing here implies a figure exists. A business that wants Chubb in the comparison has to request a quote for the same cover as the others.
Hiscox. Hiscox states that general liability starts at $30 a month. Its page lists business size, industry, location and coverage amount as what moves it. Treat $30 as a floor, never as a typical price.
Insureon. Insureon is a broker, not a carrier, so a policy bought through it is issued by an insurer it places the business with. It reports an average general liability premium of $45 a month, with 22% of its customers under $30 and 41% between $30 and $60, and annual policies from $265 to $3,030. Those figures are the median of policies sold to roughly 100,000 of its own small business customers, and they describe Insureon's book of business, not the market.
NEXT Insurance. The company now brands itself ERGO NEXT. It says general liability starts at $19 a month for some businesses, and it reports that 45% of its customers pay $45 a month or less. Its trade examples run from about $20 a month for a personal trainer to about $245 a month for a restaurant. The page itself says an exact price needs a quote, so the examples show a spread and not a price.
The Hartford. The Hartford publishes an average of about $810 a year, or about $67 a month, for general liability. That is the carrier's own average across its customers. Its page says costs vary by state and that a specific premium could be higher or lower.
Thimble. Thimble publishes no premium on its site and quotes per business. Its distinguishing feature is short-term and by-the-job cover, so it should be compared on that and not on price.
| Provider | Type of seller | What it publishes | What the figure describes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chubb | Carrier | No premium published | Quotes per business |
| Hiscox | Carrier | General liability from $30 a month | A starting floor |
| Insureon | Broker | Average $45 a month; annual policies $265 to $3,030 | Median of policies sold to its own customers |
| NEXT Insurance | Carrier | From $19 a month for some businesses; trade examples about $20 to about $245 a month | Its own customers and examples |
| The Hartford | Carrier | About $810 a year, roughly $67 a month | Its own customers' average |
| Thimble | Carrier | No premium published | Quotes per business |
Why can the published figures not be compared directly?
A starting price is the bottom of a range. An average sits somewhere inside a range, pulled by whatever mix of businesses the company insures. A median is the middle policy a company sold. Setting $19, $30, $45 and $67 in a row therefore says little about which company is cheaper for a given business.
The customer mix matters too. A company whose customers are mostly low-risk trades will show a lower average than one with many high-risk trades, even if their prices for the same trade are identical. That is why an average cannot be read as a price for any particular business.
One concession is worth making plainly. If the only question is which published starting figure is lowest, ERGO NEXT's $19 for some businesses is below Hiscox's $30. That is a point about published floors, and it says nothing about which company will quote lowest for a given business.
What does general liability actually cover?
The Insurance Information Institute describes three parts. Bodily injury and property damage cover protects against liability for harm to others arising out of non-professional negligent acts. A visitor hurt on a business's premises, or a client's property damaged during a job, are the ordinary examples.
Personal and advertising injury covers libel, slander, false arrest, infringing on another's copyright and malicious prosecution. These are not physical harms, which is why many buyers are surprised to find them inside the policy. Medical payments cover can be triggered without legal action, so a small injury can be paid without a lawsuit.
The words "non-professional" draw the line between the ordinary risks of operating a business and the risks of the work a business sells. The advice, design, analysis or specialist service provided for a fee is the part general liability is not built to cover.
What does the cheapest policy give up? The exclusions in full
The exclusions are the reader's real exposure, and a low premium does nothing to shrink them. The Institute names them.
| Exclusion | What the Institute says | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Workers' compensation | Excluded, can be bought as a separate policy | A business with staff needs it separately |
| Employment practices liability | Excluded, can be bought as a separate policy | Claims about how staff are treated are not covered |
| Pollution liability | Excluded, can be bought as an endorsement | Matters to trades that handle chemicals or treatments |
| Liquor liability | May be excluded | Without extra cover, liquor-related claims are not protected |
| Professional liability | May be excluded | Errors in advice or specialist work are not covered |
The Institute states the liquor consequence plainly: without the extra cover, a standard commercial general liability policy does not protect a business against liquor-related claims. The same logic applies to every excluded item. If the business faces that risk and does not buy the separate cover, the general liability policy will not respond.
The Institute also says other risks may be excluded, so the table is not necessarily complete for any particular policy. This page does not state which exclusions any provider's policy contains, or what it costs to add them.
When is paying more the cheaper outcome?
The cost of insurance is the premium plus whatever the policy leaves the business to carry itself. Several situations make the higher quote the lower real cost, and each follows from the sources.
A business with employees. The U.S. Small Business Administration says the federal government requires every business with employees to carry workers' compensation, unemployment and disability insurance. General liability satisfies none of those three, so a cheap general liability policy does not remove the need to pay for them, and a quote that appears to include more of what is needed may cost less in total.
A business that sells advice or specialist work. Professional liability may be excluded from general liability, and a business owners policy does not cover it either. A business whose product is its judgment can hold the cheapest policy and still have its central risk uncovered. A slightly dearer quote that addresses professional liability can be the better value.
A business that serves alcohol. Without the extra liquor cover, a standard policy does not protect against liquor-related claims. A restaurant or bar that buys the lowest-priced policy may be uninsured for one of its largest risks.
A business that handles chemicals or treatments. Pollution liability is excluded and can be bought as an endorsement. If the work involves such materials, the endorsement is part of the real price.
A business with staff. Employment practices liability is excluded and can be bought separately, so claims about how staff are treated may fall on the business unless that cover is added.
In each case, the lower premium is not a saving unless the risk it leaves out is one the business does not face. This page cannot say by how much any of these additions would raise a bill.
Does a business owners policy cost less or cover more?
A business owners policy, or BOP, bundles property insurance for buildings and contents the company owns, business interruption insurance for lost income after a fire or other catastrophe, and liability protection. The Institute says it is aimed at small and mid-sized businesses that generally face the same kind and degree of risk.
This page does not state that a BOP is cheaper than separate covers, and it states no BOP price. The test is to ask for a bundle quote and for separate quotes covering the same property, income and liability, and compare totals.
The limits are stated plainly: "BOPs do NOT cover professional liability, auto insurance, worker's compensation or health and disability insurance." A bundle is convenient, but it is not a complete program, and anything added on top counts toward the real cost.
Is a broker different from a carrier?
Yes, and it changes what the reader is buying. A carrier is the insurer that writes the policy and takes on the risk. A broker arranges cover with insurers, so the contract and the claims relationship may sit with an insurer the broker places the business with.
Insureon is the broker in this list. A broker can return several quotes through one conversation, which helps a cost-conscious buyer compare, but it is worth asking for any policy bought this way which insurer issues it and who handles a claim. A broker does not change the exclusions, because those belong to the policy and not to the seller.
What does the law require?
The SBA states that the federal government requires every business with employees to carry workers' compensation, unemployment and disability insurance. It adds that some states also require additional insurance and that laws requiring insurance vary by state. A cheap general liability policy satisfies none of those three.
This page does not state a requirement for any particular state. The place to confirm one is that state's own insurance department. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners publishes a small business insurance shopping tool, the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner has a guide to how business insurance works, and the Texas Department of Insurance has a page on general liability insurance. A business in another state should look for its own department's equivalent.
Does an LLC make cheap cover safe?
No. The SBA says limited liability protects personal assets in most instances, but that the protection has limits. The entity and the policy do different jobs, and one does not stand in for the other, so forming an LLC is not a reason to buy the thinnest policy available.
If someone runs a single-member LLC, the entity separates the business from the owner in most instances, while a policy pays for covered claims the business faces. ZenBusiness is the entity half of that pairing. It sells no insurance of any kind and is not part of the comparison above, so choosing a policy is a separate decision.
How can a cost-conscious business keep the price down without the gaps?
Start with a plain description of the business: the tasks, the equipment and materials, who is on site, whether staff are employed, whether alcohol is served, whether advice is sold, the revenue, the payroll and the location. Give the same description to every provider, so each quote is built on the same facts.
Ask each for the same coverage amount, the limit and the deductible in writing, because this page does not state typical figures for either. A higher deductible generally lowers a premium and a lower limit generally does too, so a quote that looks cheap may simply carry less protection. Matching those two figures across quotes is what makes a comparison honest.
Then put the five exclusions to each provider as questions: is workers' compensation, employment practices, pollution, liquor or professional liability excluded, and can each be added or bought separately, and at what price? Ask who issues the policy and who handles claims, especially through a broker.
Check the state insurance department for anything legally required, and compare totals last, once coverage types, limits, deductibles and exclusions match. A lower premium that leaves a required cover unfilled, or an exclusion that matters to the work, is not a saving.
Sources
- Insurance Information Institute, "Commercial general liability insurance"
- U.S. Small Business Administration, "Get business insurance"
- Insurance Information Institute, "What does a business owners policy (BOP) cover"
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners, "Small business insurance shopping tool"
- Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner, "Learn how business insurance works"
- Texas Department of Insurance, "General liability insurance"
This is general information rather than legal, tax or accounting advice, and requirements vary and change.