The guide library
Coverage guides
Everything we publish on small-business insurance — coverage explainers, carrier comparisons, cost guides, and the paperwork how-tos that win contracts. Ranges only, always sourced.
- Thimble vs. NEXT: Gig-Friendly Coverage ComparedThimble sells insurance by the hour, day, or month; NEXT sells annual policies with instant certificates. For event vendors, side hustles, and gig trades, the right answer is mostly arithmetic about how often you actually work — here's the honest version of that math.Maya Trent · Aug 2, 2026
- Workers' Comp Requirements by State (All 50, One Table)Most states require workers' comp at the first employee — but not all, and four states make you buy it from a state fund. One table covers every state's general threshold, the monopolistic four, sole-proprietor and officer exemptions, and what enforcement looks like when you skip required coverage.Dan Reyes · Aug 2, 2026
- Professional Liability Insurance, Explained for Service BusinessesProfessional liability covers your advice, not your ladder. Here's what E&O actually pays for, how claims-made policies and retroactive dates really work, what tail coverage is for, and what service businesses typically pay — with every figure sourced.Maya Trent · Aug 2, 2026
- NEXT vs. Hiscox for Small Business CoverageTwo direct writers, two opposite theories of what a small business wants: NEXT's app-first speed and instant certificates against Hiscox's profession-by-profession underwriting depth. Here's who each one actually fits, trade by trade — with every cost figure sourced.Maya Trent · Aug 1, 2026
- Simply Business vs. Hiscox: Marketplace or Direct?This isn't two carriers head-to-head — it's two different machines. Simply Business is a marketplace that shops a panel of insurers from one application; Hiscox is a direct writer underwriting its own paper. We map which machine fits which buyer, and why the smartest move is often running both.Maya Trent · Aug 1, 2026
- What Is General Liability Insurance? What It Covers (and Doesn't)General liability is the policy nearly every commercial contract asks about — and the most misunderstood. Here's what it actually covers, the bad-work myth it doesn't, how to read your declarations page, and what published data says it typically costs.Maya Trent · Aug 1, 2026
- Commercial vs. Personal Auto: When Your Car Becomes a Work VehiclePersonal auto policies quietly exclude business use, and the denial letter arrives after the accident, not before. Here's where the line actually sits, the signals that put you on the commercial side, and what hired & non-owned auto coverage does when employees drive their own cars.Maya Trent · Jul 31, 2026
- NEXT Insurance Review 2026: Fast COIs, Digital-FirstNEXT is the app-first direct writer built around the certificate: quote online, bind, and share a live COI from your phone. We review where its appetite genuinely fits — trades, work trucks, certificate-gated jobs — and where a marketplace pass or a professional-liability specialist beats it.Maya Trent · Jul 31, 2026
- Cyber Liability for Small Business: What It Actually CoversCyber liability splits into first-party coverage (your costs after an incident) and third-party coverage (claims others bring against you). Here's what small-business cyber policies actually pay for, what drives the price, and an honest look at who can reasonably skip one.Maya Trent · Jul 31, 2026
- Best Small Business Insurance of 2026There is no best small-business insurer — there's a best seller for your situation. We rank the 2026 field by buyer: the marketplace for first policies, the specialist for consultants, the app for COI-gated trades, the by-the-job model for gigs — every cost range sourced and dated.Maya Trent · Jul 30, 2026
- General vs. Professional Liability: Which Do You Need?One question sorts these two policies: when something goes wrong, what gets hurt? Bodies and property belong to general liability; money belongs to professional liability. We run the side-by-side, draw the boundary with five real claim scenarios, and name the trades that genuinely need both.Maya Trent · Jul 30, 2026
- What Is a BOP? The Small-Business Bundle, ExplainedA business owner's policy bundles general liability with commercial property and business interruption coverage in one policy. Here's what's inside, who qualifies, what the bundle typically runs, and the worksheet math for deciding whether it beats buying separately.Maya Trent · Jul 30, 2026
- Best Insurance for Cleaning Businesses (2026)Cleaning is a COI business: the contract that pays real money asks for $1M/$2M and an additional-insured line before your crew touches a lobby. Here's the stack that wins those contracts — GL, the ~$11/mo janitorial bond, comp at the first hire — and the sellers ranked by cleaning-buyer situation.Dan Reyes · Jul 29, 2026
- The COI: The One-Page Document That Wins ContractsThe certificate of insurance is the one-page document that decides whether you get on the job site. Here's how to read each section of the standard layout, why 'additional insured' means far more than 'certificate holder,' how fast you can actually get one, and the COI mistakes that cost contracts.Dan Reyes · Jul 29, 2026
- Simply Business Review 2026: The Marketplace, TestedSimply Business is a marketplace, not a carrier: one application, quotes from multiple insurers, policies bought online. We review it as a shopping tool — how the quote flow works, which carriers sit on the panel, where it fits, and where you're better off direct or with a specialist.Maya Trent · Jul 29, 2026
- 1099 vs. W-2: Who Needs Workers' Comp Coverage?The tax form doesn't decide who needs workers' comp — state control tests do, and they routinely reclassify '1099 contractors' as employees after an injury. Here's how the tests actually work, why GCs demand sub certificates, what audits charge you for, and what a ghost policy really buys.Dan Reyes · Jul 28, 2026
- BOP vs. General Liability: When the Bundle WinsA BOP is general liability plus property and business-interruption coverage in one policy; standalone GL is the liability piece alone. The decision is really a property question, so we built the worksheet: the property test, published averages both ways, and when each buy is the honest one.Maya Trent · Jul 28, 2026
- Hiscox Small Business Insurance Review 2026Hiscox writes its own paper and built its US small-business book on professional liability for consultants and micro businesses. We decode the advertised from-prices, flag which lines are actually partner paper, and call who the direct writer fits — and who should run a marketplace pass first.Maya Trent · Jul 28, 2026