Independent Contractor Insurance: Best Companies, What Coverage You Need
Business insurance can help protect 1099 contract workers from liability and other risks.
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Independent contractor insurance protects 1099 workers from certain lawsuits or property damage. Many businesses require contractors to buy insurance before working with them.
In general, most 1099 contractors need one or both of these policies:
- General liability insurance. Get this if you sell products or services to the general public. This coverage can protect your business if it’s sued for causing injury or property damage.
- Professional liability insurance. Get this if you provide services directly to clients for a fee. This coverage can protect your business if it’s accused of faulty or incomplete work.
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Best insurance companies for independent contractors
NerdWallet’s editorial team chooses the best business insurance companies based on:
- How many complaints policyholders make to state insurance regulators.
- How financially strong insurance companies are, according to credit rating agencies.
- How easy it is to get a quote and buy a policy online.
Here are some of our top companies that serve independent contractors. We recommend getting multiple quotes to find the best coverage at the best price.
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Ergo Next
Ergo Next lets you upload some basic information about your business, get a quote and buy insurance online within a few minutes. If you purchase a policy with Ergo Next, you’ll get an electronic certificate of insurance that you can share through email or text with anyone who asks to see it. Read NerdWallet’s review.
Chubb
Chubb is a great choice for a business owner's policy. This century-old insurance company makes it easy to buy a policy online (as long as your annual revenue is under $2 million). If you need both liability and property coverage, get a quote from Chubb. Read NerdWallet's review.
The Hartford
You can get a quote online from The Hartford, but you may not be able to complete your purchase. That can be a good thing, though — it gives you the chance to talk to an insurance professional. They can explain what your policy covers and whether you need any additional types of coverage. Read NerdWallet's review.
Thimble
Thimble is an insurance agent. Since it doesn't underwrite insurance policies, we don't give it a star rating.
Thimble sells general liability insurance policies by the month, year or for a single job or event. If you need coverage to comply with the requirements of a contract but don’t want to pay a premium on an ongoing basis, Thimble might be a good option. Read NerdWallet’s review.
What is independent contractor insurance?
There’s no single insurance policy called “independent contractor insurance.” Instead, independent contractors probably need one or several kinds of liability coverage.
As a 1099 worker, you are legally separate from the business hiring you. If someone files a lawsuit related to your work, the business wants you held responsible — not them. Insurance protects you in those cases. Many businesses won’t hire a contractor without seeing proof they have insurance.
Sometimes businesses ask 1099 contractors to add them as an additional insured. That means, if you’re both named in a lawsuit, your policy will pay out first.
Save up to 30% on business insurance
NerdWallet Small Business helps you get real-time quotes from 30+ insurers, and instant access to your Certificate of Insurance (COI) through our partner, Coverdash.
What coverage do independent contractors need?
As a 1099 contractor, you can be held liable for harming another person or their property just as any small-business owner can be. You probably need general liability insurance, professional liability insurance or both.
General liability insurance
General liability insurance protects you if a third party accuses you of causing harm to them or their property. It can also protect you against claims of libel, slander and reputational harm.
For example: Say you clean homes and a customer claims you damaged their furniture. General liability insurance could help cover your legal costs.
In some cases, the company that hires you as a contractor may be able to add you to its general liability insurance policy. In others, the company may require you to carry your own policy. They can ask to see a certificate of insurance before hiring you.
Professional liability insurance
If you provide services to customers for a fee, you should have professional liability insurance. This coverage is also known as errors and omissions insurance. It protects you from claims like:
- Mistakes or oversights in performing your service.
- Breach of contract.
- Professional negligence.
- Failure to deliver a service on time.
For example, say you’re a real estate agent. You make a mistake in a client’s contract and, to save the deal, they lower their selling price. They could sue you for the money they could have earned but didn’t. Whether or not a court finds you liable, professional liability insurance can help pay for your legal defense.
Commercial auto insurance
If you drive for work, you may need one of these kinds of commercial auto insurance:
| Commercial auto insurance | Hired and non-owned auto insurance | |
|---|---|---|
| Which vehicles are covered? | Vehicles owned by your business. | Vehicles you rent for your business, or vehicles you own that you sometimes use for your business. |
| What damages are covered? | Costs related to crashes, including property damage and medical expenses. | Legal costs, medical expenses and damage to the other party’s vehicle, but not yours. |
| Who should have it? | Contractors who have a vehicle mainly used for business, like a contractor who has a truck to move their equipment. | Contractors who use their personal car occasionally for their business. |
| How do you get it? | Online from any company that sells car insurance, like Progressive, Geico or Allstate. | As an add-on to a business owner’s policy or as its own policy. |
Other coverage types you might need
Depending on what kind of work you do, you may need additional types of business insurance. For instance, a musician who uses their own instruments and sound equipment may need commercial property insurance that will pay out if their inventory is stolen, damaged or destroyed.
| Type of insurance | Who needs it |
|---|---|
| Commercial property insurance covers property that is damaged in accidents, weather events or other hazards. | Independent contractors who rely heavily on particular materials or pieces of equipment to do their work, such as musicians, photographers or videographers. Also, if you rent office or retail space, your lease may require it. |
| Business interruption insurance covers the income you would have earned while your business was unable to operate due to an accident or disaster. | Independent contractors whose work would be significantly set back by a disaster, like a pipe bursting and causing water damage to equipment that your business relies on. |
| Cyber liability insurance covers damage resulting from data breaches or software hacks, including the costs of notifying customers and setting up credit monitoring. | Independent contractors, such as accountants, who handle sensitive information. |
If you need both general liability and property insurance, get a business owner's policy. BOPs usually include general liability insurance, commercial property insurance and business interruption insurance.
How to get independent contractor insurance
Follow these steps to shop for 1099 contractor insurance.
- Figure out what coverage you need. Your insurance coverage should protect you from the risks your business faces based on what kinds of lawsuits, accidents or disasters might happen. If the company that hired you has specific requirements, review them.
- Get quotes. Get business insurance quotes from multiple companies to compare costs and coverage before choosing a policy. You can usually get a quote in just a few minutes online.
- Buy your policies. After you choose a policy, make sure you know how to make payments and file claims if necessary.
- Add the person or business that hired you as an additional insured, if necessary. Most commonly, you’ll add your client or your landlord. This extends your coverage to them. If you’re sued on the job and the injured party also names your client or landlord in the lawsuit, they won’t have to file an insurance claim of their own.
It’s possible for the person or business that hired you to add you as an additional insured, too. But since that could increase the cost of their coverage, they may insist you buy your own coverage instead.
How to get your certificate of insurance
Digital-first insurance companies generally let you pull up your certificate of insurance in an online dashboard. Other insurers make you request a certificate via email or an online portal. They should be able to send you a copy within a few hours.
A certificate of insurance is proof that you have an insurance policy. Once you get a copy, it’s yours to share with anyone who asks for it. You shouldn’t have to pay for your COI.
How to add an additional insured
The person who hired you might ask you to add them to your policy as an additional insured. You can usually do this the same way you get your COI — either online or by calling your agent.
An additional insured endorsement extends your coverage to another party. Say you rent office space. You add your landlord to your general liability policy as an additional insured. Someone falls and hurts themselves on the stairs up to your office, and sues both you and your landlord. This general liability policy could pay out to cover both you and your landlord’s fees.
The cost of adding an additional insured varies. It’s free with some companies, like Ergo Next. Other insurers, like Biberk, may charge a small fee.
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Methodology
Business insurance ratings methodology
NerdWallet’s business insurance ratings reward companies that offer small-business owners reliability and ease of use. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including financial strength, customer complaint data, shopping experience and customer service. Learn more about how we rate small-business insurance companies.
These ratings are a guide, but insurance policy details and prices can vary widely from business to business and provider to provider. We encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes.
NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.
Insurer complaints methodology
NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2022-2024.
To assess how insurers compare to one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period.
Our star ratings consider ratios for both general liability insurance and commercial property insurance. When an insurer sells policies that are underwritten by several different insurance companies, we consider the NAIC complaint ratios of all the underwriters.
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