The Hartford review: small business insurance

Peer comparison

How The Hartford compares

Side-by-side against the 4 carriers we score most similarly.

Carrier	Our score	Positioning	Starting price	Coverage	AM Best
	8.1	Broad-ladder primary carrier	GL $42/mo	9.0/10	A++
	7.6	Workers comp specialist	—	8.0/10	A-
	7.2	Berkshire-backed contractual umbrella	GL $28/mo	8.0/10	A++
	7.0	Professional services E&O focus	GL $30/mo	7.5/10	A

• 
  8.1

  Positioning

  Broad-ladder primary carrier

  Starting price

  GL $42/mo

  Coverage

  9.0/10

  AM Best

  A++

• 
  7.6

  Positioning

  Workers comp specialist

  Starting price

  —

  Coverage

  8.0/10

  AM Best

  A-

• 
  7.2

  Positioning

  Berkshire-backed contractual umbrella

  Starting price

  GL $28/mo

  Coverage

  8.0/10

  AM Best

  A++

• 
  7.0

  Positioning

  Professional services E&O focus

  Starting price

  GL $30/mo

  Coverage

  7.5/10

  AM Best

  A

If biBerk chose balance-sheet depth and Hiscox chose professional-services depth, The Hartford chose completeness. The carrier's small-business program writes ten commercial lines on its own admitted paper — every line we cover for small business — which makes Hartford the only direct-bind option in our coverage set where a buyer can solve an entire insurance program (GL, BOP, workers' comp, professional liability, commercial auto, cyber, property, umbrella, D&O, and EPLI) under one carrier, one renewal, one certificate source.¹ The paper is Hartford Fire Insurance Company (NAIC 19682), Connecticut-domiciled since 1810 — 215 years of continuous operation — and A.M. Best upgraded the rating to A+ (Superior) from A (Excellent) in July 2025.²³⁴

The trade-off is priced in. Hartford's published pricing averages $68/mo for standalone general liability, $141/mo for a BOP, and $86/mo for workers' comp — all figures the carrier publishes as averages rather than starting-premium floors.⁵ Relative to the direct-carrier floor pricing (NEXT at $19/mo GL,⁶ biBerk at $27.50/mo GL), Hartford costs meaningfully more. The digital UX also shows its age against direct-to-business insurtechs built in the last decade. Review below: where Hartford's completeness pays off, where the pricing drag bites, and how we arrived at a 7.9.

Our quick verdict

The Hartford earns 7.9 out of 10, anchored by the broadest small-business policy ladder of any direct-bind carrier in our coverage set — ten commercial lines on a single carrier including D&O, EPLI, commercial umbrella, and native workers' compensation — backed by Hartford Fire Insurance Company paper recently upgraded to A+ (Superior) and a 215-year continuous operating history. Best for small businesses that want a single-carrier program across the entire ladder without splitting placements across two or three carriers, particularly buyers who value claims-relationship depth over lowest premium. Not the right fit for businesses optimizing for the cheapest direct-bind GL, buyers who need a published per-line starting-price floor, or technology-first buyers who prioritize quote-to-bind speed over program completeness. Hartford publishes pricing as carrier averages rather than floors: roughly $68/mo GL, $141/mo BOP, and $86/mo WC.

• Our rating: 7.9 / 10 (Good)
• Scoring category: A — direct carrier with mature NAIC volume (methodology)
• Best for: small businesses that want a single-carrier program covering the entire policy ladder — including D&O, EPLI, commercial umbrella, and native WC — without splitting placements across two or three carriers
• Not for: businesses optimizing for the cheapest direct-bind premium; buyers who need a carrier with a published starting-price floor on every line; technology-first buyers who prioritize quote-to-bind speed over program completeness
• Published pricing (carrier averages, not floors): GL ~$68/mo, BOP ~$141/mo, WC ~$86/mo⁵
• A.M. Best rating: A+ (Superior), upgraded from A (Excellent) in July 2025 — Hartford Fire Insurance Company (NAIC 19682)²
• NAIC complaint index: 3-year window (2023–2025) shows only 3 confirmed commercial liability complaints on Hartford Fire Insurance Company (NAIC 19682) — below our 20-complaint reliability floor; see Complaint history and claims experience below

What The Hartford is

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG) is a 215-year-old publicly-traded insurance holding company headquartered in Hartford, CT.⁴⁷ The primary small-business underwriter is Hartford Fire Insurance Company, NAIC 19682, Connecticut-domiciled, founded 1810 — the oldest subsidiary in the group and the anchor of the Hartford Fire and Casualty Group of companies.³⁸

Structurally, a small-business Hartford BOP is written across the Hartford Fire and Casualty Group — which includes Hartford Fire (NAIC 19682), Hartford Casualty Insurance Company, Hartford Underwriters Insurance Company (NAIC 30104), Twin City Fire Insurance Company, and Property & Casualty Insurance Company of Hartford.⁷ The named entity on your specific policy document can vary by line and state, but every entity is a wholly-owned Hartford Financial Services Group subsidiary, all backed by the group's consolidated balance sheet. This is the same multi-entity direct-carrier structure biBerk uses — not a paper panel in the Coalition MGA sense.

On credit quality, Hartford is A+ (Superior) from A.M. Best with a stable outlook, upgraded from A (Excellent) in July 2025.² That upgrade reflects the group's disciplined underwriting performance and reserve adequacy — a meaningful affirmation from the primary rating authority. As a publicly-traded parent (NYSE: HIG), Hartford also publishes extensive financial data through SEC filings and the investor-relations portal, which gives buyers more transparency on underlying financial health than private direct-carriers offer.⁸

What distinguishes Hartford in our direct-carrier set is the product ladder. Among the four direct-to-business carriers we cover (NEXT, Hiscox, biBerk, Hartford), Hartford is the only one that writes all ten small-business commercial lines — the point where our editorial frame lands on "completeness" as the core value proposition.¹

Policies The Hartford offers

Hartford's small-business program covers ten commercial lines, the broadest direct-carrier ladder in our coverage set:¹

• General liability — standalone GL; carrier-published average is $68/mo.⁵
• Business owner's policy (BOP) — bundled GL + property; average $141/mo.⁵
• Workers' compensation — native WC on Hartford paper; average $86/mo.⁵
• Professional liability — E&O for consultants, agencies, and professional services.¹
• Commercial auto — fleet and single-vehicle commercial auto.¹
• Cyber liability — standalone cyber; pricing not publicly published.¹
• Commercial property — standalone property for businesses with owned equipment or rented space.¹
• Commercial umbrella (excess liability) — excess layer above primary GL, auto, and employers' liability. Alongside biBerk, Hartford is one of only two direct-to-business carriers in our coverage set that writes umbrella.⁹
• Directors and officers — D&O for small businesses with boards, outside capital, or governance exposure. Alongside Hiscox, one of only two direct-to-business carriers in our coverage set that writes D&O as a standard SMB product.¹⁰
• Employment practices liability — EPLI for businesses with employees. Like D&O, Hiscox is the other direct-carrier writer of EPLI in our coverage set.¹¹

There is no line on the standard small-business product list that Hartford doesn't write. For the specific buyer profile where program completeness matters more than the cheapest per-line premium — a growing professional-services firm with a board, a contractor with employees and a fleet, a mid-sized service business needing an umbrella for commercial-lease compliance — Hartford is structurally the most complete option in our coverage.

What The Hartford actually costs

This is where Hartford's pricing story diverges sharply from biBerk and NEXT.

The carrier publishes a business-insurance cost page with averages, not starting-price floors:⁵

• General liability: average $68/mo (roughly $810/yr)
• BOP: average $141/mo (roughly $1,692/yr)
• Workers' compensation: average $86/mo (roughly $1,032/yr)
• Commercial auto, cyber, umbrella, D&O, EPLI, PL, property: starting prices and averages not publicly published

Two structural things to understand about these numbers. First, they are averages across Hartford's book, not the lowest advertised premium a qualifying low-risk business would pay. Direct-carrier competitors publish "from $X/mo" floors, which represent the cheapest class the carrier will quote; Hartford publishes averages, which by definition sit above the floor. A direct apples-to-apples comparison against NEXT's $19/mo GL starting price⁶ or biBerk's $27.50/mo GL starting price is not available from Hartford's public data.

Second, even adjusted for that averages-vs-floor difference, Hartford's pricing runs above the Insureon-benchmarked market median. Insureon's small-business GL cost benchmark across its marketplace is approximately $42/mo median;¹² Hartford's $68 average is meaningfully above that. Insureon's BOP cost benchmark is approximately $57/mo median;¹³ Hartford's $141 average is well above. Insureon's WC benchmark sits around $45/mo across classes;¹⁴ Hartford's $86 average is nearly double.

Our interpretation is premium pricing for premium coverage, not a penalty for being dramatically below market. Hartford's underwriting discipline, 215-year operating history, broad ladder, and stronger claims infrastructure all support higher premiums than insurtech direct competitors. But the premium is real: buyers choosing Hartford over NEXT or biBerk on a like-for-like quote will typically pay more — often materially more. That premium is why our Pricing score lands at 6.5.

What drives a real Hartford quote:

• Industry class code. Hartford writes across most small-business classes rather than optimizing for a specific segment.¹
• State. Workers' comp rates vary by a factor of three or more across states;¹⁵ Hartford writes native WC, so this affects the quote directly.
• Revenue and employee count. Hartford's business-size focus is "all" — the carrier writes micro through mid-sized small business without the appetite narrowing we see at micro-focused direct carriers.
• Line package. Hartford's completeness advantage compounds at multi-line placements — a buyer placing five or six lines with Hartford captures cross-line discounts and single-source efficiency that don't exist when splitting across two or three carriers.

See full cost analysis: Our general liability insurance cost guide (The Hartford starts at $68/mo), business owners policy (bop) cost guide (The Hartford starts at $141/mo), and workers' compensation insurance cost guide (The Hartford starts at $86/mo) break down typical pricing across industries and states.

Coverage breadth: where The Hartford is strong and where it's thin

Where Hartford is strong. The ten-line product ladder is the broadest in our direct-carrier coverage, period.¹ Every line a standard small business could need — GL, BOP, WC, PL, commercial auto, cyber, property, umbrella, D&O, EPLI — is written on Hartford paper. For a buyer whose primary goal is solving the insurance program in one placement, Hartford is the only direct-bind option in our coverage that can do it without pairing with a second carrier. That's the core structural advantage, and it drives our Coverage Breadth score of 9.0 — the highest we've assigned across the 10-carrier set.

Native workers' comp and commercial auto sit alongside GL, BOP, and PL, which means any business with employees and/or vehicles — trades, field services, home-service contractors — can place the full liability and WC program on Hartford paper.¹⁴¹⁶ That's the line where Hiscox falls short (no native WC, no auto) and where NEXT lacks umbrella, D&O, and EPLI.

D&O and EPLI on direct-bind paper is genuinely rare.¹⁰¹¹ Only Hiscox and Hartford write both as standard small-business products in our direct-carrier coverage. For a growing professional-services firm with a board, outside capital, or employment-practices exposure, that matters.

Where Hartford is thin — relatively speaking. With the ten-line ladder, the gaps are not about which lines are missing (nothing is) but about quality and transparency at the line level.

First, cyber pricing is not publicly published.¹ Hartford writes standalone cyber — more capable than NEXT's add-on or biBerk's add-on — but the buyer has to complete a quote form to see a number. For cyber-primary buyers (tech, e-commerce), Coalition or Hiscox publishes more accessible cyber product information.

Second, the pricing is all averages, not floors. Unlike NEXT, biBerk (on GL), and Hiscox — all of which publish "from $X/mo" starting floors — Hartford publishes book averages.⁵ That's less useful for pre-quote comparison and reduces the transparency of Hartford's pricing page relative to direct-to-business peers.

Third, industry specialization is less pronounced than at specialty-focused carriers. Hartford writes across most classes, but doesn't publish industry-specific claims data, risk guides, or underwriting commentary at the depth Hiscox does for professional services or NEXT does for trades. That's a style difference, not a gap — Hartford's "all-classes" generalist positioning is the flip side of Hiscox and NEXT's class optimization.¹⁷

Industry-specific strengths. Hartford's contractor and service-business coverage is particularly well-developed given the 215-year legacy book.¹⁷ Suitable for general contractors, electricians, plumbers, HVAC businesses, landscapers, cleaners, restaurants, real estate agents, fitness and wellness, and consultants — which is most of the coverage set, reflecting Hartford's generalist positioning.

Complaint history and claims experience

Scoring category note. The Hartford is a Category A carrier under our methodology — direct carrier with mature NAIC volume (methodology). NAIC's Consumer Information Source publishes a 3-year commercial liability complaint index for Hartford Fire Insurance Company (NAIC 19682), and we retrieved it. Over the 3-year window (2023–2025), Hartford Fire recorded only 3 confirmed commercial liability complaints on a multi-billion-dollar CL book — below the 20-complaint volume floor our methodology requires before the ratio drives the score. A single complaint against a small complaint-count denominator can swing the CIS ratio dramatically at these volumes, and reading a ratio built on 3 complaints as a finding would be overclaiming what the data supports. We retain a 7.0 neutral baseline on Complaint History and disclose the sub-threshold status directly — this is a reliability call about the data, not a finding about the carrier's complaint handling.¹⁸

Claims process. Hartford operates one of the deepest claims organizations in U.S. property-casualty insurance, underwriting small business claims for over two centuries.⁴ The claims operation handles digital first-notice-of-loss submission, in-person field adjustment for property and complex claims, a mobile app for policy management and basic claims intake, and phone-based adjuster access that is deeper than most direct-to-business insurtechs offer. For buyers who value claims-relationship depth — and for claims that involve complex coverage interpretation, large losses, or litigation — the operational backbone is a meaningful advantage.

Regulatory actions. We checked public state DOI enforcement records for material market-conduct or solvency actions against Hartford Fire Insurance Company. No recent enforcement action is on file as of our research date.

Net. The 7.0 Complaint History score is a Category A baseline, held because The Hartford's 3-year commercial liability complaint count (3) is below our 20-complaint reliability floor and the CIS ratio cannot be read as signal at that volume. Our Claims Experience score of 8.0 reflects the 215-year operational history, NYSE-parent transparency, and the July 2025 A.M. Best upgrade affirming underwriting and reserve discipline — these are direct operational signals about claims handling, separate from CIS ratio reliability. For a buyer weighing The Hartford: the broad product ladder and established claims infrastructure are genuine strengths that we are able to score on primary evidence; the CIS index is not scorable at this volume, and we decline to read it as one.

The honest take

What works well.

1. The broadest direct-bind product ladder in our coverage set.¹ Ten commercial lines — every line a small business needs, including D&O, EPLI, umbrella, native WC, and commercial auto — on one carrier's paper. The operational benefit of a single-carrier program (one renewal, one certificate source, cross-line discounting) is the core reason we land at 7.9 despite the pricing drag.
2. A+ (Superior) rating upgraded in July 2025.² A current rating affirmation from the primary authority is a meaningful signal — particularly for a carrier that already carried A (Excellent) for decades.
3. 215-year continuous operating history with NYSE-listed publicly-traded parent.⁴⁸ SEC filings, audited financials, investor-relations transparency — data the buyer doesn't get from private direct-carrier peers.
4. Claims operational depth. One of the deepest claims organizations in U.S. P&C insurance, with phone and field-adjuster access that direct-to-business insurtechs typically don't match.
5. Broad industry and business-size appetite. business_size_focus is "all" — micro through small-to-mid, across most standard commercial classes, without the appetite narrowing we see at micro-specialist direct carriers.

What doesn't work.

1. Pricing averages materially above Insureon-benchmarked market median. $68/mo GL average vs Insureon's ~$42 median;⁵¹² $141/mo BOP average vs Insureon's ~$57 median;¹³ $86/mo WC average vs Insureon's ~$45.¹⁴ "Premium pricing for premium coverage" is a defensible position, but the premium is real and drives our Pricing score of 6.5.
2. Pricing disclosed as averages, not starting-price floors. Less useful for pre-quote buyer comparison; reduces transparency relative to NEXT, biBerk (on GL), and Hiscox.⁵
3. Cyber pricing not publicly published.¹ The cyber product exists but the buyer can't see a premium without completing a quote form.
4. Digital UX older than direct-to-business insurtechs built in the last decade. Quote-to-bind flow is functional but less polished than NEXT, biBerk, or Hiscox. Feature gap: real-time quote comparison across coverage limits is slower than at digital-native peers.
5. Multi-entity paper structure. Similar to biBerk — policies written across the Hartford Fire and Casualty Group entities.⁷ All under one parent, all A+ rated, but named entity on policy document can vary.

Who should skip The Hartford.

• Buyers optimizing for the cheapest direct-bind premium — NEXT at $19/mo GL and biBerk at $27.50/mo GL will beat Hartford on price for most standard classes.⁶
• Buyers who need a published starting-price floor on every line they're quoting.
• Cyber-primary buyers — Hartford writes standalone cyber but doesn't publish pricing; Coalition and Hiscox are better cyber-first options.
• Buyers who prioritize quote-to-bind speed over program completeness — direct-to-business insurtechs are faster and more digitally polished.

Who The Hartford is best for

Hartford is a strong fit in three specific scenarios:

1. Growing businesses needing a single-carrier program across five or more lines. A professional-services firm with employees and a board (GL + BOP + PL + WC + D&O + EPLI); a contractor with employees and a fleet (GL + BOP + WC + commercial auto + umbrella); a mid-sized service business with commercial-lease compliance (GL + BOP + WC + umbrella). Hartford is the only direct carrier in our coverage set that can solve any of these programs without pairing with a second carrier.¹
2. Businesses that value claims-relationship depth and long-term carrier stability over lowest premium. 215 years of operation,⁴ NYSE-listed parent, recent A.M. Best upgrade.² For buyers who have seen a direct-to-business carrier go through a non-renewal cycle or pricing restructuring and don't want a repeat, Hartford's operational depth is a meaningful differentiator.
3. Contractors, tradespeople, and field-services businesses needing the full liability + WC + auto + umbrella package.¹⁷ Hartford's contractor book is particularly well-developed; the four-line package for trades (GL + WC + auto + umbrella) is available on one carrier.

Business size: All. business_size_focus is "all" — Hartford writes micro through small-to-mid without the appetite narrowing we see at direct-to-business insurtechs optimized for under-$1M-revenue buyers.

Situations where Hartford is a strong match: multi-line placements with five or more coverages; businesses that grow past the appetite limits of micro-focused direct carriers; buyers who have been underserved by pure-digital insurtech claims handling.

Alternatives to consider

If Hartford's pricing or digital UX doesn't fit, three alternatives — each addressing a different Hartford limitation:

1. biBerk — If you want the strongest possible balance-sheet credit (A++ vs Hartford's A+) and don't need D&O or EPLI, biBerk writes eight lines on Berkshire Hathaway paper with published GL starting pricing.¹⁹ The trade-off is pricing opacity on six of biBerk's seven non-GL lines, and no D&O or EPLI in the product ladder.
2. Hiscox — If your business is professional services and you don't need native WC or commercial auto on the same carrier, Hiscox writes the same D&O + EPLI + PL + cyber specialty stack with cheaper published pricing.²⁰ A (Excellent) paper — one notch below Hartford — but the professional-services coverage depth is comparable.
3. Simply Business — If you want Hartford-like coverage breadth but prefer seeing multiple carrier quotes on a comparison basis, Simply Business is a broker-aggregator (Category D) whose panel includes The Hartford itself alongside Travelers, Hiscox, Markel, and others. Broker-placed rather than direct-bind, but gives access to Hartford's lines plus competing quotes.

Different choices for different priorities. Strongest credit with broad ladder — biBerk if you don't need D&O/EPLI. Professional-services specialist — Hiscox. Broad Hartford-level ladder with panel comparison — Simply Business. Broadest direct-bind single-carrier program on admitted paper — stay with Hartford.

How to get a Hartford quote

Hartford sells small-business insurance directly (via the carrier's website), through a nationwide agent network, and through broker-aggregators that include Hartford on their panels.²¹ For direct placement:

1. Start at Hartford's small-business insurance page and select the coverages you need.²¹
2. Answer questions about your business: entity type, state, revenue, years in business, employee count and payroll (for WC), vehicle information (for commercial auto), prior insurance and claims history, specific operations.
3. Review quoted coverages — Hartford surfaces quotes for selected lines and often suggests cross-line bundles.
4. For D&O and EPLI, expect an eligibility screen and potentially an underwriter review step; these lines are less fully self-service than GL or BOP.
5. Add payment and bind; certificate of insurance and policy documents are available from the customer portal.

What Hartford will ask for: entity name, EIN, primary address, revenue estimate, employee count and payroll, vehicle information, prior insurance and claims history, and — for D&O/EPLI — governance structure and employment-practices history.

If you need a human: Hartford has deeper phone-based customer service than most direct-to-business insurtechs, including dedicated small-business lines and access to licensed agents. For complex multi-line placements or D&O/EPLI quotes, using the phone or an agent is often more efficient than the self-service flow.

Alternatives to The Hartford

Different choices for different priorities.

7.2/10

biBERK

Small businesses with contractual commercial umbrella requirements (biBerk is the only direct carrier in our coverage set writing umbrella); trade and service businesses (contractors, cleaners, landscapers, HVAC, electricians, plumbers) placing GL + BOP + WC + commercial auto under one A++ direct carrier, where the buyer has read the 3-year CIS pattern (13.25 weighted, 2024 spike to 28.00, 2025 at 11.58) and formed their own view of the trajectory.

Better if

Small businesses with contractual commercial umbrella requirements (biBerk is the only direct carrier in our coverage set writing umbrella); trade and service businesses (contractors, cleaners, landscapers, HVAC, electricians, plumbers) placing GL + BOP + WC + commercial auto under one A++ direct carrier, where the buyer has read the 3-year CIS pattern (13.25 weighted, 2024 spike to 28.00, 2025 at 11.58) and formed their own view of the trajectory.

Read full review

7.0/10

Hiscox

Professional-services micro-businesses under ~10 employees — consultants, marketing agencies, accountants, IT consultants, photographers, SaaS firms, real estate agents — whose primary exposure is professional liability, cyber, D&O, or EPLI, with commercial liability carried as a secondary line alongside the primary coverage they are actually choosing Hiscox for.

Better if

Professional-services micro-businesses under ~10 employees — consultants, marketing agencies, accountants, IT consultants, photographers, SaaS firms, real estate agents — whose primary exposure is professional liability, cyber, D&O, or EPLI, with commercial liability carried as a secondary line alongside the primary coverage they are actually choosing Hiscox for.

Read full review

8.1/10

Simply Business

Small businesses whose profile could reasonably land on multiple panel carriers — especially buyers with mixed exposure (GL + PL + WC + cyber) where different panel carriers fit different lines — and who value broker-channel claims advocacy plus multi-carrier comparison pricing. Strong fit for micro-businesses in trades, services, professional services, and e-commerce outside Alaska and Hawaii.

Better if

Small businesses whose profile could reasonably land on multiple panel carriers — especially buyers with mixed exposure (GL + PL + WC + cyber) where different panel carriers fit different lines — and who value broker-channel claims advocacy plus multi-carrier comparison pricing. Strong fit for micro-businesses in trades, services, professional services, and e-commerce outside Alaska and Hawaii.

Read full review