Features
Part of Insurance by Industry: What Actually Decides Your Risk
Which insurance by industry carriers actually understand your trade?
How to tell which insurance carriers understand your trade, from appetite guides to trade programs, and how to check a package quote before signing.
Insurers publish a document that answers this question better than any ranking could, and most buyers have never seen one. It is called an appetite guide. It lists the classes of business a carrier wants, the ones it will consider, and the ones it will not touch. It is written for brokers, not for the public.
The question this page answers is which insurance carriers understand your trade, by industry. The names below are real, and each is tied to trades it publicly writes. Your state, class code and loss history decide which will quote you.
Ask your broker for the current appetite page of every market approached for your trade. That page tells you more about your own class than any shortlist, this one included.
What to take away
- A carrier understands your trade when its appetite guide names your class, its form was built for it, and its underwriters write it every week.
- Trade programs exist for most contracting, hospitality, retail and professional classes, and they can be withdrawn when a sector's results turn.
- The class code and description of operations on the quote drive everything priced after them.
- A package quote is several policies in one document. Check which lines are inside and which form each line uses.
- Prices below are typical market ranges, not quotes. Payroll, revenue, losses and the class code set the real figure.
- Your state insurance department confirms whether a carrier is admitted and publishes complaint data.
Carriers by trade: who names your class
Some carriers are built around specific trades rather than a broad commercial appetite. Each name below is real, and each is tied to classes it writes. The price columns show typical market ranges, not quotes.
Carriers by trade
| Carrier or program | Trades it names | Who it suits | Typical price signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Hartford | Construction, manufacturing, technology, marine, restaurants | Small and mid-sized firms that want one carrier across several lines | Packages typically $1,200 to $8,000 a year; filed rates by class, credits for loss history |
| Travelers | Construction, technology, healthcare, financial institutions, public sector | Firms whose operations match a published practice group | Typically $2,000 to $15,000 a year; schedule rating applied by the underwriter |
| Liberty Mutual | Construction, retail, healthcare, technology, real estate | Trades that want risk control visits built into the policy | Similar ranges; filed rates plus debits and credits for conditions |
| Nationwide | Contractors, agribusiness, restaurants, Main Street retail | Smaller operations that buy through a local agent | BOP premiums typically $900 to $5,000 a year; agency-level programs |
| CNA | Construction, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services; CNA Select Risk for surplus lines | Harder exposures that still want an admitted-style relationship | Typically $2,500 to $20,000 a year; non-admitted pricing on the specialty side |
| Zurich | Middle-market construction, agribusiness, technology, manufacturing | Larger operations with a dedicated risk manager | Individually rated, often $50,000 a year and up, with deductibles |
| Chubb | Construction, life science, technology, private companies, high-value property | Businesses with higher property values or complex liability | Individually rated, typically $10,000 a year and up, higher limits |
| Philadelphia Insurance Companies | Human services, social services nonprofits, clinics, fitness centers | Nonprofits, clinics, gyms, small professional practices | Program rates by niche, typically $1,000 to $12,000 a year |
| Employers Holdings | Workers' comp only, low to medium hazard classes | Main Street operations that want one carrier for comp | Filed comp rates, typically $0.60 to $5 per $100 of payroll |
| Hiscox | Professional liability, small business BOP, cyber | Solo and small firms that want a fast online quote | Professional liability typically $300 to $1,200 a year |
| Great West Casualty Company | Long-haul and regional trucking, commercial auto | For-hire carriers running fleets | Auto liability typically $12,000 to $20,000 a year per tractor-trailer |
| The Doctors Company | Medical professional liability for physicians and practices | Physicians, clinics and small practices | Primary care typically $5,000 to $12,000 a year per physician |
Construction and contracting
Contractors appear in more carrier programs than any other trade. The Hartford writes construction through independent agents, Liberty Mutual sends risk control staff to job sites, and Cincinnati Insurance writes contractors through local agencies. Berkshire Hathaway GUARD writes business owner's policies and workers' comp for small crews.
A contractor with $1 million in revenue typically pays $2,500 to $8,000 a year for liability, property and tools cover. Workers' comp often runs $3 to $15 per $100 of payroll for carpentry classes, and far more for roofing.
Restaurants and hospitality
Society Insurance writes restaurants, bars, breweries and food service, and Nationwide runs a restaurant program through appointed independent agents. The Hartford quotes restaurants in its small business appetite. AmTrust and Berkshire Hathaway GUARD write kitchen and front-of-house comp.
A single-location restaurant typically pays $1,500 to $6,000 a year for a package. Kitchen comp often runs $1.50 to $4.00 per $100 of payroll.
Retail and Main Street
Hiscox sells business owner's policies online to small shops, salons and offices. biBERK, part of Berkshire Hathaway, sells comp and packages direct to Main Street, and NEXT Insurance writes salons, fitness studios and photographers with instant online quotes.
A retail shop with $250,000 in sales typically pays $900 to $3,000 a year for a package.
Professional services and technology
Hiscox, Embroker and Vouch write technology and consulting firms, and Hiscox is built for solo practices. Chubb, CNA and Travelers take larger firms, including accountants, architects and engineers. Coalition and At-Bay focus on cyber for those accounts.
A solo consultant typically pays $300 to $1,200 a year for professional liability, and a 25-person firm $4,000 to $15,000. Cyber cover is usually priced separately.
Healthcare and human services
Philadelphia Insurance Companies, part of Tokio Marine, built its niche on human services, social services nonprofits, clinics and fitness centers. CNA writes healthcare through CNA HealthPro, and The Doctors Company and MagMutual write medical professional liability.
A primary care physician typically pays $5,000 to $12,000 a year for malpractice cover. Surgical specialties run several times that.
Agribusiness and manufacturing
Nationwide started as a farm insurer and still runs an agribusiness program through independent agents. Zurich and Sentry Insurance write agribusiness and food processing, and Sentry also writes manufacturing. The Hartford and Cincinnati Insurance quote machine shops through to mid-sized plants.
A machine shop with 20 employees typically pays $8,000 to $25,000 a year for property, liability and comp.
Trucking and transportation
Great West Casualty Company writes long-haul trucking and commercial auto, and Canal Insurance writes for-hire carriers. Progressive Commercial quotes small fleets online, and Sentry writes transportation accounts with risk control staff. One tractor-trailer typically costs $12,000 to $20,000 a year to insure.
Workers' comp only
Employers Holdings, AmTrust and ICW Group write comp for small businesses in low to medium hazard classes. Texas Mutual writes Texas accounts only, and Pinnacol Assurance covers Colorado. Filed rates often run $0.30 to $1.00 per $100 of payroll for clerical classes and $15 to $40 for roofing.
Specialist programs are often run by a managing general agent rather than by the carrier whose name sits on the policy. Ask which trades that agency is appointed to write.
That agency holds delegated authority to bind cover, issue documents and sometimes settle claims, so the name on the front of the policy is not always the name taking the risk.
Surplus lines carriers fill what the admitted market declines. They are legitimate and often the only option, with non-standardized wording and generally no state guaranty fund protection. Your state insurance department can explain what that means where you operate.
Reading a trade package quote
A package aimed at your sector arrives as one document and is really several policies. Work through it in this order.
Reading a Trade Package Quote
- Check the classification and description
- List which lines are included
- Identify the form each line uses
- Read each trade endorsement
- Note what the package assumed
- Verify contract requirements are met
- The classification.Which class code the insurer proposes, and what description of operations it is based on. If the description is wrong, everything priced on it is wrong. How classification follows from what you actually do is set out in the industry guide.
- Which lines are included.General liability, property, auto, and sometimes more. Anything you need that is not in the bundle is a separate purchase, and the quote may not say so.
- Which form each line uses.A package can mix a standard industry form on one line with the carrier's own wording on another.
- The trade endorsements.These are where the fit lives. Read each one and ask what it adds and what it removes.
- What the package assumed.Programs are built on a picture of a typical member of the trade. A side line, work in another state or a subcontracting arrangement may sit outside the description and outside the cover.
- Contract requirements.Whether the additional insured, waiver and primary wording your customers demand are available here, and at what cost.
- The price, once you know what it buys.
A generalist form often misses the contract language your agreements demand. Compare what your customers require against these general liability requirements before you accept it.
The habit of reading structure before price, and the four parts of any policy in order of authority, are in the renewal reading guide.
Questions for the broker, once per quote
Questions for the broker
- What is this carrier's current appetite for my class, and where did you see it?
- Is this a generalist market, a trade program, or a surplus lines placement?
- Who underwrites itthe company on the front, or an agency with delegated authority?
- What classification and description of operations is the quote built on?
- Which lines are in the package, and which of my exposures are not addressed by it?
- Which endorsements are trade-specific, and what does each one do?
- How long has this market written my class, and has it withdrawn from sectors before?
- Which other markets did you approach, and which declined?
A licensed broker who has read your exposure list and your contracts is the person who decides which market fits a real business. Write the reasons down. The market that fits this year may not fit after you add a service or a state.
Questions for the Broker
- Carrier's current appetite for my class?
- Generalist, program, or surplus lines?
- Who underwrites it?
- What classification is the quote built on?
- Which lines are in the package?
- Which endorsements are trade-specific?
- How long has this market been in my class?
- Which other markets were approached?
Where the public record helps
Your state insurance department licenses insurers and agents and can confirm whether a carrier is admitted. Many states publish complaint information about how insurers have treated policyholders.
Financial strength is assessed by independent rating agencies such as AM Best. The broker can show you the current rating for any carrier proposed.
Trade associations sometimes endorse a program. Treat that as a lead, not a verdict, and ask what the association receives for the endorsement. The Small Business Administration's business guide is a neutral starting point for what a new operation generally has to arrange, insurance included.
Common questions
Is a specialist program always better than a generalist carrier?
Not always. It usually fits better and it carries the risk of withdrawal. Ask about the program's history and what happens to insureds if it closes.
My trade is unusual. Will anyone write it?
Somewhere, usually, and possibly in the surplus lines market. The description of operations does most of the work in getting an unusual trade read charitably, so spend time on it.
Which carrier actually understands my trade?
The one whose appetite guide names your class code and whose underwriters write it every week. Start with the names above, then have your broker pull the current appetite page for each.
Two quotes for my industry are far apart. Why?
Often a different classification, a different set of lines in the bundle, or a different form on one of them. Line them up on the seven points above and the gap normally explains itself.
Does an association endorsement mean the program is good?
It means the association endorsed it. Read the package the same way you would read any other, and ask the broker what else is available.
