To get an accurate business insurance quote, have these ready: a plain description of what your business does, where it operates, your revenue and payroll for the last year and your estimate for the next, how many people work for you, how long you’ve been in business, your claims history, the value of the equipment and stock you’d insure, and the insurance section of your lease and any client contracts. If you already have a policy, keep its declarations page nearby, because it’s the fastest way to compare what you have with what you’re being offered.
Most of this lives in your bookkeeping software, your payroll reports and a filing cabinet. The figures matter because many policies are priced on them and then checked against them later, so a quote built on guesses is a quote that changes.
Key takeaways
- The description of what your business does sets your classification, which sets your starting rate, so it’s the most important answer on the application.
- Revenue and payroll are the key numbers for most small businesses, because liability and workers’ comp are usually priced on them and audited afterward.
- Read the insurance section of your lease and client contracts before you quote, since they often name the limits and endorsements you need.
- A loss run from your current insurer is the cleanest proof of your claims history, and it can take time to arrive, so request it early.
- You don’t need to share what you paid for your last policy, and you don’t need perfect numbers, only careful ones.
The answer that sets your price: what you do
Of everything on an application, the description of your work does the most damage when it’s wrong. The California Department of Insurance’s commercial insurance guide says the way a business is classified “is the first step to determine premium,” and every rate on your quote is chosen from that classification before your size is even counted.
So describe the business you actually run, side services included. A café that caters weddings, a retailer that does repairs in the back, a handyman who has started taking small electrical jobs and a salon that added a new chemical treatment all need to say so. Owners sometimes leave these out to keep the description simple or the price lower, and that’s a mistake, because the risk of a claim from undisclosed work doesn’t go away just because it isn’t on the form. If the insurer later decides that work was never disclosed, a claim from it can be disputed or even denied, depending on the policy’s terms and your state’s law.
Bring these basics too:
- Legal name and structure. The name on your registration, and whether you’re a sole proprietor, partnership, LLC or corporation. The business named on the policy is the named insured.
- Years in business. For a new business, your own years in the trade.
- Start date. The day coverage needs to begin, such as a lease signing or a first job.
- Locations. Your address, any other premises, job sites or storage units, whether you own or rent, and the square footage.
- Protection. Alarms, sprinklers, kitchen fire suppression, deadbolts, cameras, fencing and lighting.
Revenue, payroll and the people who work for you
Here’s how these numbers get used. Many policies charge a rate against a measure of your size, called the exposure, and California’s guide says general liability can be rated on square footage, payroll or gross sales depending on the class, while workers’ comp is priced on payroll for each kind of work. A wrong number here moves the price directly, and it also sets up the premium audit that compares your estimate with what really happened once the year is over.
| What to have | Why it’s asked | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue for the last 12 months and an estimate for the next 12 | Liability and business income are often priced on sales | Your accounting software or tax return |
| Payroll by kind of work, such as kitchen, front of house, office or field | Workers’ comp is priced per $100 of payroll in each classification | Your payroll reports |
| Number of employees, full-time and part-time | Shows the size of your team and who needs workers’ comp | Your payroll reports |
| What you paid subcontractors, and whether they carry their own insurance | Uninsured subcontractors can end up counted on your own policy | Your 1099s and the certificates you collected |
| Owners and officers who work in the business | Including or excluding owners on workers’ comp changes the payroll | Your business records |
Use your best honest estimate for the coming year, not last year’s figure if you already know you’re hiring. A low guess makes the first bill smaller and the audit bill larger.
Claims history: four years is a good rule
Maine’s Bureau of Insurance gives a useful default here: when employers shop for workers’ comp, it tells them to have loss runs covering the past four years, alongside a list of current classifications and payrolls, a description of operations and the most recent premium audit summary. Other states and insurers ask for different periods, but that list is a sensible starting point for any policy, since it covers your record, your size and your work in four documents.
A loss run is the report your insurer keeps of your claims, and Maine describes it as similar to a bank statement for your account. It shows what happened, when, what was paid and what’s still open. Ask for one from each current and past insurer, and do it before you need it, because they don’t always arrive the same day and some insurers send them to your agent instead of to you, so check where they’re going. What loss runs are covers the request itself.
If you’ve never had a policy, you won’t have a loss run, and that’s fine, since the application will simply ask you to describe any claims or incidents in your own words and an underwriter will price the business mainly on its class, location and size.
What you’d insure
For property, tools and equipment, and garagekeepers, the price follows the value of what’s covered. The NAIC suggests having your business property value assessed before you buy and periodically afterward, and keeping copies of receipts for equipment, furniture and other valuables. Bring:
- Equipment and furniture at your location, valued at what it would cost to replace today. Replacement cost vs. actual cash value explains why that figure matters.
- Stock and supplies, at a typical level and at your seasonal peak.
- Improvements you’ve paid for in a rented space, such as a build-out, counters or a kitchen hood, because many leases make them yours to insure, and they’re easy to leave off when you think of the building as the landlord’s.
- Tools that travel, with a list of the larger items and their values.
- Customer cars in your care, for an auto shop: how many at once, roughly what they’re worth and where they sit overnight.
- Data you keep, for cyber: what kind of customer or client data you store, roughly how much, and whether you use multi-factor sign-in and backups.
Why does a quote need your lease?
Because your landlord and your clients have usually already decided part of your coverage for you. Leases, client agreements and general contractor subcontracts often name the limits you have to carry, the endorsements you need and who has to be listed on your certificate, and a quote that misses any of them will be rejected the first time you send proof. Read it first, with our guides to insurance requirements in a commercial lease and insurance requirements in client contracts open beside it. Find the insurance section in each one and note:
- The limits, such as $1 million per claim and $2 million per year for general liability, a pairing many leases ask for
- Who must be named as an additional insured
- Any waiver of subrogation or primary and noncontributory wording
- Other policies required, such as workers’ comp or professional liability
- Where the certificate of insurance (COI) should go
What you can leave out
Two things owners think they need and don’t. The first is what they paid last time. California’s guide says plainly that it isn’t necessary to share the premiums you’ve paid for current or prior insurance, though you should be forthcoming about everything else that affects your business, so bring the policy and its declarations page and keep the bill to yourself if you like.
The second is precision. You don’t need payroll to the dollar or a professional appraisal of every chair. You need figures close enough that the audit only nudges them, because underwriting works from what you tell it and, on policies priced on payroll or sales, the audit corrects what you got wrong, so a careful estimate today is worth more than an exact number you’ll have next spring.
Extra details by business type
Each kind of business has a few questions of its own.
| Business | Details to have ready |
|---|---|
| Café or restaurant | Kitchen equipment values, cooking setup and fire suppression, seating, delivery or catering, kitchen and front-of-house payroll |
| Contractor | Your trades, payroll for each, subcontractor costs and their certificates, tool values, the limits your general contractors ask for |
| Office or agency | Your services, largest client contracts, revenue, the data you hold and your security practices |
| Salon | Treatments you offer, number of stations, whether stylists are employees or booth renters, equipment values |
| Auto shop | Number and value of customer cars held, overnight storage, test-drive practices, lifts and diagnostic equipment |
| Retail shop | Stock value at peak, alarms and locks, cash handling, any repairs or services you offer |
With those details in hand, you can get a quote from Corgi online in about five minutes, and if a question on the application doesn’t fit your business, underwriters answer your questions, not a broker, while how to get business insurance walks through the steps after that. Once you buy, your certificate of insurance is available the same day, and you can download it or send it to your landlord or client from your account.
See what general liability costs for your business
About five minutes, all online. Your certificate is ready the day you buy.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get a quote without exact revenue and payroll figures?
Yes. Use your best estimate for the next 12 months, based on last year’s numbers and any hiring or growth you already expect. Policies priced on estimates are adjusted after the policy period, so an honest estimate now avoids a large bill or a long wait for a refund later.
Do I need a loss run to get a quote?
It helps, and some insurers ask for one before they’ll offer a price, especially for workers’ comp or a business with past claims. Request it early from each current and past insurer, since it can take time to arrive.
What if my business is brand new?
You can still get a quote. Use projected revenue and payroll for the first year and describe your own experience in the trade. With no claims record of its own, the business is priced mainly on its classification, location and size.
Should I include my independent contractors?
List what you pay them and whether they carry their own workers’ comp and liability insurance. Maine’s Bureau of Insurance warns that without proof of a contractor’s coverage, an insurer might treat the contractor’s employees as yours and count their payroll in your premium, and similar rules apply in other states. Do independent contractors need workers’ comp? explains the tests.
