Best Business Insurance in Houston

With its nearly 200 years of history, Houston brings business opportunities as diverse as its population. A well-built business insurance package can provide the protection your Houston business needs, safeguarding against weather risks, fire, weather, liability risks, and more. 

Ready to secure business insurance? Start with our guide to business insurance options in Houston.

Best Business Insurance Options in Houston

Because Houston is home to so many types of businesses, business insurance needs vary. As a core coverage, consider general liability insurance or a business owners’ policy (BOP). It combines key liability coverages with protection for your business property. 

We selected the best business insurance options for Houston business owners with a goal of highlighting insurers that offer flexible coverage you can customize. We also considered staying power, choosing insurance providers with top financial strength ratings.

Best Overall for Business Insurance: The Hartford

With a full selection of business insurance types, The Hartford makes a solid choice for Houston business owners. The Hartford’s own customers rate their claims experience at 4.8 out of 5 stars, and Ethisphere has named the company World's Most Ethical Company 11 times. 

Policy selection is a breeze. The Hartford’s platform suggests policy types based on your size and type of business. Helpful explanations define coverage clearly. While you can get a quote in minutes, an experienced agent from The Hartford also reviews your coverage selections, allowing you to make changes or address potential coverage gaps.

Best for Tailored Coverage: Simply Business

You’ve worked very hard to build your business, but it can be difficult to get all the coverage you need. Many business owners simply don’t even know what to do with their insurance coverage.

As you sign up for Simply Business, the platform asks you a few questions, and you’re given several near-instant quotes from top carriers. You can pick the right coverage and get back to your daily routine ASAP.

Best for Small Businesses: Hiscox

If you own a small business, you’ll want to consider Hiscox. This 100-year-old insurer focuses on small business needs and offers a suite of coverage options for most Houston businesses. 

Hiscox recommends coverages for your business, taking the guesswork out of the buying process. For example, for an insurance agency in Houston, Hiscox recommended professional liability coverage and a business owners’ policy that combines general liability insurance with business property coverage. 

For Texas businesses with employees, you might choose to add workers’ comp coverage. Hiscox allows you to customize your coverage so your policies work together to protect your business.

Hiscox also offers easy monthly payment options to help premiums fit your business budget.

Best for Self-Employed: Liberty Mutual

With nationwide coverage and dozens of agents in the Houston market, Liberty Mutual offers wide commercial insurance options for businesses of all sizes. For small businesses and self-employed individuals, Liberty Mutual’s customized coverage ensures coverage without potentially costly gaps. 

Standard policies such as general liability insurance and BOPs are available. But Liberty Mutual’s agent network also offers solutions for workers’ comp coverage if your business has employees or professional liability insurance for specialized professions.

Best for Commercial Auto: Progressive

Progressive offers a full selection of business insurance products, including commercial auto coverage. Commercial auto policies are written directly through Progressive, and it’s easy to select the policy your business needs. 

For example, a contractor business needs different coverage than a heavy trucking business or a pizza delivery business. Progressive lets you customize your coverage based on the type of business you have while taking the mystery out of the process.

For other policy types, Progressive lets you compare rates from up to 4 top insurers so you can choose the best coverage for your Houston business.

Best for Buying Business Insurance Online: biBERK

biBERK is part of the Berkshire Hathaway family of insurance companies, and it places its focus on making business insurance easy to buy. You can get a quote in minutes and bind coverage instantly, but expert guidance is just a click or call away if you have questions. 

biBERK’s online platform is among the easiest and most intuitive. Insured customers rate biBERK 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Whether you have a home-based start up with simpler coverage needs or a growing business with more complex risks, biBERK makes choosing the right coverage easy. Just answer a few questions about your business. biBERK recommends policy types and provides helpful explanations so you know how each policy type can protect your business.

With advertised savings of up to 20%, you owe it to your business to get a quote from biBERK to compare.

Types of Business Insurance

Most Houston businesses won’t need every type of policy, but chances are good that your business needs more than 1 type of coverage. Here are some key coverages to consider.

General liability: Every building starts with a 1st brick, and for many Houston businesses, a general liability policy forms a sturdy foundation for a well-built insurance package. General liability insurance helps protect your business against losses due to several common types of liability such as slip and fall accidents or accidental damage to the property of others. In most cases, your general liability policy also provides or helps pay for your legal defense. 

Product liability: While general liability insurance covers a broad range of risks, product liability insurance provides focused coverage that targets claims due to product defects. If your business manufactures, distributes, or resells products, product liability insurance can help protect your business. Each year thousands of products are recalled for safety concerns and even products that haven’t been recalled may pose a risk to your business.

Commercial property: Business property can range from physical buildings to the contents of buildings, like equipment of inventory, or even property stored elsewhere. Commercial property insurance helps protect the physical assets your business owns against risks such as fire, lightning, and many types of water damage, as well as theft or vandalism.

Workers’ compensation: Texas doesn’t require businesses to purchase workers’ compensation insurance. However, many Houston businesses choose to purchase coverage because workers’ comp insurance helps protect both the business and its employees. By defining a benefit structure, workers’ comp ensures that workers’ expenses are compensated if injured on the job. In many cases, having a workers’ comp policy in place also shields the business against lawsuits due to work injury claims.

Professional liability: As a specialized coverage, professional liability insurance helps protect your business if the actions (or inactions) of your business cause financial harm to others. As an example, insurance agents, consultants, and even doctors carry specialized professional liability policies. Often, you’ll also see this type of coverage referred to as errors and omissions (E&O) coverage, which also provides some insight into the types of risks it addresses. To err is human, but E&O insurance reduces the financial risk to your business due to errors.

Cost of Business Insurance in Houston

Total premiums vary based on a number of factors including which types of coverage you select for your Houston business and the coverage limits you choose. Factors directly related to your business can also affect costs, such as the type of business you have and the risks your business might face. Some types of policies also consider top line revenue or payroll, linking premiums to risk exposure. 

Understanding average premiums can be useful for business planning. In many cases, coverage may be more affordable than you’d expect. For example, Progressive reports an average cost of $53 per month and a median of $46 per month for new customers buying general liability insurance through their Progressive Advantage Business Program. Hiscox reports general liability insurance policies can cost less than $30 per month for some businesses. 

Bundling is a popular option for Houston business owners. This refers to combining multiple types of coverage or purchasing more than 1 policy type from the same insurer. This strategy can offer compelling savings while also addressing potential gaps in coverage. A business owners’ policy is one example of a package policy, but you may also see additional savings from bundling a commercial auto insurance policy with a BOP or other policy types.

Other ways to save include discounts for safety measures, maintaining a claims-free record or even loyalty discounts for staying with the same insurer for a certain amount of time. Some insurers also offer extra discounts for membership in trade groups or professional organizations, so be sure to ask which discounts might be available.

Choose the Best Business Insurance in Houston

Houston business owners are originals — no 2 businesses are exactly alike. Get a few quotes to compare rates, and consider how well each policy fits your unique business and whether you’ll need to customize coverage for certain risks. 

In today’s digital world, insurance shopping often starts as an online experience. Most insurers also offer a team of experienced experts to help you choose coverage or adjust limits so your business is better protected. Start with our recommended providers to find the best business insurance in Houston now.