Business Hazard Insurance

Your business may be your biggest and most lucrative investment. That's why business hazard insurance is so important.

Business hazard insurance is a type of coverage that helps protect the structure your business is housed in. This could be a property you own or one you rent. And it offers protection for the equipment and other personal property that is used to run your business.

The Best Hazard Insurance Companies

• Best Overall for Hazard Insurance: The Hartford
• Best for Tailored Coverage: Simply Business
• Most Affordable for Hazard Insurance: Allstate
• Best for Matching You to the Provider That Best Fits Your Needs: Tivly
• Best for Working with a Local Agent: State Farm
• Best for Additional Coverage: Erie
• Best for Highest Limits: Farmers

What Hazard Insurance Covers

Hazard insurance is the portion of your insurance policy that covers your business's actual structure, including the roof, bare walls, floors and ceilings. It protects your business from damage caused by:

• Explosions
• Wind
• Lightning
• Vehicles or aircraft that crash into your home
• Weight of snow, ice and sleet
• Tree branches and other falling objects
• Fires and smoke
• Civil uprisings and riots

Average Cost of Hazard Insurance

The cost of your policy can significantly vary depending on a few factors:

• Location: where you building is located will determine how at risk it is for various types of perils.
• Age of building: older building may not adhere to the most up-to-date standards and may be more risky to insure.
• Your credit and credit-based insurance score.
• Which types of coverage you'll select.

Hazard insurance is an umbrella term for a wide range of coverage, including add-ons or separate coverage for thinks like flood, hurricanes or earthquake. Additional riders for those types of hazards will most likely cost more than a basic hazard insurance policy.  

Business hazard insurance is a type of small business insurance that helps protect your owned or rented building for your business. It also protects the equipment that you use to run your company. You might also refer to this type of coverage as business property insurance.

Often, if you rent your commercial property, hazard insurance is required on your lease with your landlord named as an additional insured party.

If you don't have business hazard insurance, you won’t safeguard yourself from a plethora of hazards, including explosions, tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms, hail or wind damage. That means you’ll have to pay out of pocket to repair damages.

Best Hazard Insurance

You want a reliable and trusted company to be there for you when a circumstance arises that requires you to tap your hazard insurance policy. We picked the best hazard insurance.

1. The Hartford

What happens if you don't have business hazard insurance coverage? If your business has high hazard exposures, you could find yourself devastated by a costly lawsuit, even to the point that your business doesn't survive.

The Hartford helps businesses handle “high hazard” exposures and helps businesses manage risk daily. The Hartford's extensive experience and broad range of coverage options can help protect your business against specific exposures such as:

• Personal property
• Tools and equipment
• Inventory
• Furniture
• Computers
• Valuable documents
• Outdoor landscaping

Get a quote from The Hartford for hazard insurance today and learn more about how The Hartford can help protect your business.

2. Simply Business

Simply Business offers a comprehensive suite of business insurance options that make it easier for you to protect your full investment.

Hazard insurance options can work well for any type of business, irrespective of your industry or the scope of your work. Want to get started? Tell Simply Business a little bit about your business and you'll get affordable quotes from top carriers. Choose the coverage that works best for you, and you can get started right away.

3. Allstate

Allstate consistently ranks high among carriers that offer the nation’s lowest business insurance rates.

Allstate services policies in every state and Washington, D.C. Besides its low rates, Allstate also offers a slew of discounts for multi-policy holders and additional riders to protect against fire and theft. The company offers up to 20% savings for remaining claims-free policies when you switch from other carriers, signing up for a new policy before your existing policy expires and for enrolling to have automatic payments deducted from your bank account.

4. Tivly

Tivly offers 1-stop shopping for a range of business insurance policies using its convenient online website. Fill in the criteria online and get a quote for your business. Tivly is partnered with over 200 providers and will match you with the hazard insurance policy that fits your needs.

Tivly works with providers on our list like Progressive, The Hartford, Liberty Mutual and Gallagher. With the process simplified for you, you can build an insurance portfolio for your business that starts with hazard insurance and extends to every liability you face.

5. State Farm

Sometimes you want a personal touch. State Farm insurance, available in every state in the nation, has more than 19,000 independent contractor agents and 65,000 employees who serve more than 83 million accounts and policies across the nation.

That means no matter where you live, an agent is likely somewhere near you, and you’re welcome to visit an office, sit down and talk face-to-face. That means a lot when you often can’t get a human being on the phone at other companies.

6. Erie Insurance

Erie Insurance has an AM Best rating and stands out for its low premium prices.

Erie allows you to select coverage options tailored to fit your budget and needs. Besides basic business insurance, you can purchase additional coverage to protect you from flooding, water backups, sump pump overflows and earthquakes. Erie also offers around-the-clock customer service, guaranteed replacement cost and 24/7 claims support so someone is available for you right when you need it.

7. Farmers

Rounding out our top 5 carriers is Farmers Insurance. It’s on the list because of its high scores on J.D. Power and AM Best. You can select standard, enhanced and premier policy coverage tiers for Farmers. Standard coverage provides protection for your basic needs and its enhanced policies offer higher coverage levels.

But the premier policies include the high coverage limits. Like other top carriers, Farmers has discounts for customers who are claims-free. If you remain claims-free for 5 consecutive years, you may get $50 toward your deductible annually as long as you have your policy as well as claims forgiveness.

Protect Your Valuable Asset

Protect your business with a solid hazard insurance policy. Unless you understand your policy and what it covers, you can wind up shocked that a disaster you’ve just experienced isn’t covered.

A traumatic, trying ordeal isn’t the time to learn about your policy’s coverage. So before you sign on the dotted line, know every detail on your policy to ensure you have adequate protection.

Compare carriers, features and benefits. Also, make sure you have enough hazard insurance to protect you against disasters when your basic insurance will not.