General Liability Insurance Costs

NEXT offers general liability business insurance that’s tailored to many different types of small businesses. 

It can cost as little as $11 monthly for some businesses or $128 annually, but the exact price you’ll pay depends on your business location and operations. 

Your general liability insurance policy can help cover expenses if you experience a claim involving an injury to someone who is not an employee (known as bodily injury) or damage to property you don’t own.

Continue reading to learn more about small business insurance costs.

How much is commercial liability insurance for NEXT customers?

50% of our customers pay less than $25 to $45 per month on general business liability insurance**.

Monthly General Liability insurance costs 

• Under $25: 14% of customers
• $25 to $45: 36% of customers
• $46 to $75: 24% of customers
• $76 to $100: 11% of customers
• Over $100: 15% of customers

What factors influence the cost of General Business Liability insurance?

Your specific commercial general liability insurance cost is determined by several factors, including:

The type of work you do

If you’re a retail business owner or work in professional services, your business insurance policy could cost less than a construction contractor. That’s because higher risk businesses could be more likely to have a claim involving an injury and property damage.

Contractors work with other people’s property, build structures and use expensive equipment. They face more risks with daily business operations than many other professions.

In general, jobs that include working on other people’s property often have higher insurance costs.

Number of employees

If you own a hair salon and employ seven people, your insurance could cost more than a hairdresser who works alone.

If you have employees, many states require you to purchase workers’ compensation insurance to cover work-related injuries.

The state where you work

A small business owner in New York City might pay more for insurance than a business owner in Wyoming.

This is partly due to different states having different regulations and partly because insurance costs are sometimes higher in densely populated areas that experience more property claims.

Your claims history

Your record of losses and claims has an impact on your insurance costs.

For example, if you run a lawn care business and have previous insurance claims involving property damage, you may see an increase in your premium at renewal time.

How high you set your limits

You can select higher coverage limits if you want more financial protection. Higher limits will almost always increase the amount you pay for insurance, but you could pay less out-of-pocket if there is a claim.

Your work experience

The number of years you’ve operated a business in your industry impacts your insurance rates.

For example, if you’re an electrician with 25 years of experience and no claims, you can probably expect to pay less than an electrician who’s been in business for two years who has experienced an insurance claim.

Note: It’s important to provide the most accurate information about your business when you get a business insurance quote to ensure you get the right coverage and there are no delays in processing claims.

How is a Business Liability insurance premium calculated?

An insurance premium is the amount you pay monthly or annually for your coverage.

An insurance company calculates your premium by considering all of the factors listed above, such as the likelihood that you’ll make a claim and how many employees you have.

NEXT customizes your coverage to fit your exact business needs. After you answer a few questions with our instant quote process online, we’ll share options with pricing for your business.

You can get completely covered in minutes and licensed advisors are ready to help if you need them.

What is the cost of General Liability insurance for your profession?

So what is the average cost of general liability insurance? Here are the median monthly premiums of general liability insurance for different professions:

Monthly median General Liability costs by profession

How do limits impact the cost of General Liability insurance?

General liability policies have a per-claim limit (also known as “per-occurrence limit”) and aggregate limits (the maximum amount of coverage during the policy period, usually one year).

Once you’ve reached that limit, you’re responsible for paying whatever’s left over.

For example, let’s say you have a general liability policy with a $500,000 limit with no deductible. You have a single-occurrence claim for damage to a client’s home that will cost $600,000 to resolve. This means that you would have to pay $100,000 out of pocket.

If you want greater protection from damages and incidents, you’ll need higher coverage limits on your insurance policy, which means you’ll also pay more for that policy.

Many general business liability customers choose a policy with at least $1 million limits.

The right amount of coverage for your business depends on your individual needs and how comfortable you are with your exposure to financial risks.

How can you reduce General Liability insurance costs?

You can take several steps to reduce your general liability business insurance cost:

Keep your risk level low

A safety and training plan can help to limit the likelihood of filing insurance claims and raising your policy costs.

For example, you might:

• Make sure you and your employees are properly trained
• Focus on work that you know how to do
• Don’t do jobs that you aren’t trained to do
• Make sure you have coverage for the work you do
• Keep your business or job site secure
• Keep your business and work area clean so no one trips on cords, furniture, equipment or tools
• Take steps to mitigate property damage and injuries from rain, wind, snow and inclement weather.

Learn from previous claims

Analyze your previous claims and figure out what you could have done to avoid those risks.

For instance, your ladder wasn’t tall enough and it collapsed when you were on the top step. Luckily, you weren’t hurt, but the ladder went through a window. Next time, you could use scaffolding or a taller ladder.

Pick the right limits and deductible

Lower limits will save you money, but you will have higher exposure to financial losses if you don’t get enough coverage. And if you choose a higher deductible, you could pay less for the policy (a deductible is the amount of money you pay before your insurance policy kicks in).

Bundle more than one policy

In addition to the risks general liability insurance covers, many businesses need more than one type of business insurance coverage.

You can save up to 10% if you purchase more than one type of business insurance with NEXT. Insurance packages often include a combination of general liability and:

• Professional liability insurance (a.k.a. omissions insurance)— for professional mistakes.
• Workers’ compensation — for businesses with employees.
• Commercial property insurance — for the physical property you need to do business.
• Commercial auto insurance — for business driving.

For example, if you add workers’ compensation coverage with your general liability policy, you could save 10% right off the bat.

General liability insurance can also be combined with commercial property for what’s known as a business owner’s policy (BOP) for additional savings.

How do I get a quote for General Liability business insurance?

NEXT specializes in small business insurance.

It only takes a few minutes to get fast, tailored and affordable option for your business when you start an instant quote online with NEXT.

We’ll ask basic questions about how you do business, which we’ll use to create a customized insurance quote.

You can adjust the limits and add additional recommended coverages. If you decide to make a purchase, you’ll be covered as soon as you make a payment and have instant access to your certificate of insurance.

Getting insurance through NEXT can be done entirely without talking to an agent. But if you do have questions, our licensed, U.S.-based insurance advisors are ready to help.

Start a free instant quote today.

More about General Liability insurance:

General Liability insurance

General Liability insurance coverage

BOP insurance

General Liability insurance in California

General Liability insurance in Florida

General Liability insurance in Texas

Compare General Liability insurance:

General Liability insurance vs Professional Liability

General Liability insurance vs Business Owner’s Policy

General Liability insurance vs Workers’ Compensation

Liability insurance vs Commercial Property insurance

Compare other business insurance policies