Largest Business Insurance Companies in the U.S.
Travelers is the largest business insurance provider for both commercial liability and non-liability insurance. It’s also the second-largest provider of commercial auto insurance. Combined, Travelers wrote $4.4 billion in direct premiums in 2020.
Progressive is the biggest insurer in the commercial auto insurance segment, at $1.4 billion in direct written premiums, double the total of the second-largest insurance company, Travelers.
There are three main segments of the commercial insurance industry: liability, non-liability and auto insurance.
- Business liability insurance protects a business from lawsuits if it is found liable for property damage, or bodily or personal injury that occurs at the place of business or as a result of the businesses operations or products.
- Business auto insurance covers business owners and employees against property damage and bodily injury claims when driving company-owned vehicles.
- Business non-liability insurance encompasses all other types of business insurance, such as commercial property insurance and business income insurance.
Largest commercial liability insurance companies
Travelers is the largest insurer in this category, with $1.45 billion in premiums, representing 9% of the market. It produced over 27% more business than the next-biggest insurer, Liberty Mutual.
The top 10 providers of commercial liability insurance account for 47% of direct premiums written in 2020.
Company | Market share | Direct premiums (in millions) |
|---|---|---|
| Travelers | 9% | $1,450 |
| Liberty Mutual | 7% | $1,049 |
| Tokio Marine | 6% | $996 |
| Nationwide | 5% | $853 |
| Hartford | 4% | $680 |
| CNA | 3% | $546 |
| State Farm | 3% | $518 |
| Auto-Owners | 3% | $515 |
| Hanover | 3% | $499 |
| Cincinnati | 3% | $459 |
Largest commercial non-liability insurance companies
Similarly to the liability category, the top insurers in the non-liability sector make up 46% of the U.S. market. The top insurance company is also Travelers, with an 8% market share and $2.3 billion in premiums in 2020 — $300 million more than its closest competitor, Chubb.
The 10 biggest commercial property insurance companies wrote close to $14 billion in premiums in 2020.
Company | Market share | Direct premiums (in millions) |
|---|---|---|
| Travelers | 8% | $2,311 |
| Chubb | 7% | $2,008 |
| Nationwide | 5% | $1,558 |
| Hartford | 5% | $1,476 |
| Liberty Mutual | 5% | $1,440 |
| State Farm | 4% | $1,181 |
| Farmers | 4% | $1,168 |
| Tokio Marine | 3% | $1,032 |
| Cincinnati | 3% | $863 |
| Allstate | 3% | $805 |
Largest commercial auto insurance companies
Progressive dominates the commercial auto insurance space with a 12% share of the market. At nearly $1.4 billion in premiums, Progressive sells more than twice as much as the second-largest insurer, Travelers.
The 10 biggest commercial auto insurance companies make up 42% of the market, with close to $5 billion in direct premiums written.
Company | Market share | Direct premiums (in millions) |
|---|---|---|
| Progressive | 12% | $1,385 |
| Travelers | 6% | $677 |
| Old Republic | 4% | $493 |
| Auto-Owners | 4% | $414 |
| Zurich | 3% | $409 |
| Liberty Mutual | 3% | $388 |
| Nationwide | 3% | $380 |
| Berkshire Hathaway | 3% | $341 |
| Allstate | 2% | $271 |
| Great American | 2% | $239 |
Business insurance customer service reviews
J.D. Power ranks the level of customer satisfaction of commercial insurance companies based on feedback from small businesses. Their results include a number of top insurance companies in all three commercial insurance categories.
[table align="left right" footnote"Source: J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Small Commercial Insurance Study"] Company|J.D. Power score _ Allstate|848 _ State Farm|846 _ Farmers|839 _ Chubb|838 _ Travelers|831 _ Average|829 _ Nationwide|828 _ Hanover|817 _ Liberty Mutual|811 _ Hartford|803 [/table]Methodology
Market share and direct written premiums were compiled from S&P Global Market Intelligence, a financial data resource for the insurance industry.
J.D. Power is a market research firm that analyzes customer feedback across many industries, including insurance. It conducts annual customer satisfaction surveys across the industry, with a rating out of 1,000 points. The average score among small business insurers in 2021 is 829.