Travelers Small Business Insurance Review

Pros

• Local insurance agents
• Free quotes
• Available in 42 states + DC

Cons

• No online quotes
• Mixed user reviews

What Is Travelers Business Insurance?

Travelers is an insurance company offering commercial insurance to small companies of all types. Overall, we think Travelers offers the right protection at the right price. In fact, our industry research shows that Travelers is one of the best small business insurance companies around.

This Travelers commercial insurance review digs into the company’s pricing, features for small businesses, claims process, and more to help you decide if Travelers has the right insurance for your small business.

Travelers Business Insurance Pricing

Like almost every insurance company, Travelers provides personalized price quotes for coverage and does not publish its rates.

Because of that, our score for pricing is based on its relative cost based on other providers that offer the same services and coverage options. Travelers earns a 4.3 on affordability based on its relative cost and wide array of coverage options.

When it comes to getting a personalized quote for business insurance, Travelers considers your business industry, location, size, and other factors. These factors can affect not only the price but also what kinds of insurance your business needs.

How To Get A Travelers Insurance Quote

If you want a business insurance quote from Travelers, you’ll need to connect with an independent agent offering Travelers coverage in your area.

From the Travelers website, simply enter your ZIP Code to see a list of local options. You can also search by agency name. Some agents on your list may offer online price quotes for business insurance. Others display a phone number.

As you can see in the image below, I was able to narrow my search options by searching only for agents within a select distance from me who work with companies my size. Because each listing includes the type of commercial insurance they offer, I was able to prioritize the results and start making calls.

Screenshot of Travelers webpage, captured 10/24/2023

Note: The agents and their offices in your list may not display the Travelers name, but each will include a list of the types of business coverage available. You may need to call for a quote; some agents allow you to fill out an online form (see below) to start the process.

Screenshot of Travelers webpage, captured 10/24/2023

When I requested a price quote using this form, I submitted only my business name, address, phone number, and the type of coverage I was looking for.

Your experience requesting a price quote obviously will vary, depending on what agency you connect with.

I can report that I received an email within 15 minutes from the agency I contacted. Notably, the email did not contain any useful information regarding my pricing or options; it merely suggested setting up a phone call to discuss.

In other words, requesting a quote online doesn’t work as advertised, and you might as well save a step and pick up the phone right away. This is why we’ve scored Travelers with only a 2/5 for simplicity with obtaining a quote — especially since our initial email didn’t provide the most/best information possible about costs.

Travelers Business Insurance Features

Travelers pairs customers with a local insurance agent for account management. Beyond contacting your agent, you’ll be able to do a fair bit of Travelers business insurance interactions online, however.

For example, you’ll be able to log in to pay for your business insurance, monitor your account, and sign up for automatic payments. You can also monitor the progress of any claims online.

Travelers has a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices. The apps seem to have good ratings from users.

Here are some features worth highlighting:

Travelers Business Insurance Coverage Options

If your business needs a particular kind of insurance coverage, it’s a fair bet that you can find what you need with Travelers Business Insurance.

Here’s a rundown of the types of coverage available from Travelers:

Business Owner’s Policy

Travelers’ business owner’s policy (BOP) protects your commercial property and offers general liability from risks in one bundled policy. That’s less coverage than you might find with a typical BOP, and it’s worth noting that Travelers aims its BOP at small businesses. If you want more types of coverage, you can always add additional policies.

Although Travelers does not publish its rates, and your quote for BOP coverage through Travelers will be tailored to your unique business needs, BOP coverage typically comes at a discount versus purchasing separate policies. The discount is normally around 10% industrywide. Check with a Travelers agent to ensure their BOP pricing delivers a similar discount for you.

Individual Business Policies

Travelers offers a full spectrum of insurance products to cover your business. You can purchase coverage for the following:

• Business owner’s policy
• General liability
• Commercial property
• Commercial auto
• Cyber
• Professional liability
• Employment practices liability
• Worker’s compensation
• Commercial umbrella
• Management and professional liability
• Business income and extra expense
• Inland marine

Specialty Coverage

In addition to the common types of business insurance policies listed above, you can also find specialty commercial coverage like the following:

• Boiler & machinery
• Global insurance
• Ocean marine
• Environmental liability
• Excess casualty
• Surety bonds

Industry Coverage

Travelers offers insurance specifically aimed at businesses in the following industries:

• Architects, engineers, and surveyors
• Construction
• Financial services
• Healthcare
• Manufacturing
• Personal care services
• Pet care services
• Professional services
• Real estate
• Retail
• Service businesses
• Transportation
• Technology services

Best Suited For …

Travelers does not explicitly exclude any type or size of business. The online interest contact form lists three business sizes, according to number of employees: 1-50, 50-500, and 501+. As long as your business falls within those ranges, it’s worth looking into Travelers commercial insurance.

It’s worth noting that Travelers seems to specialize in smaller businesses and advertises its suitability for small businesses looking to grow.

For example, the educational materials on the Travelers business insurance website include easy-to-understand information that can help a small business owner or a new business owner understand insurance basics and what kinds of coverage the business will need.

Travelers extends business insurance to companies doing business overseas. This could make Travelers a good option for your international company.

Travelers Business Insurance Claims

Insurance companies don’t always reveal a lot of information about their claims processes. However, Travelers provides a fair amount of information that indicates how its claims process works.

How To File A Claim With Travelers Insurance

You can start your claims process by visiting the Travelers business insurance claims center. There, you’ll find information on how to file a claim and whether you should file a claim. If you decide to file a claim, you can start the claims process online, via email, or with a phone call 24/7, with a team of thousands of dedicated claims professionals and a National Claim Center to respond to catastrophes.

To help you decide if you need to file a claim, Travelers offers these questions, saying that if you answer Yes to one or more, you probably should file a claim:

• Was anyone injured?
• Did you damage someone else’s property or vehicle?
• Are the damages above your deductible?

Travelers urges businesses to start the claims process as soon as possible after an incident, although you likely have six months to file a claim with a property policy.

When you file a claim, you may be asked for the following information:

• Photos of damages
• Your contact information
• Names and contact information for other involved parties
• Your policy information, if available
• The type of loss you are reporting
• The date the incident occurred and a description of what happened
• A description of any injuries

Once you file a claim, you’ll be given a claim number and can track your claim online.

For more information about the Travelers claims process, you can visit the Travelers Claims library online.

Customer Satisfaction With Travelers Business Insurance Claims

Data analytics company J.D. Power rated Travelers business insurance 826 on a 1,000-point scale, reflecting overall customer satisfaction in its 2023 US Small Commercial Insurance Study. In the study, Travelers was ranked ninth out of 14 small business commercial insurers.

That represents a slight dip from the 2022 study, when Travelers rated 847 and was in seventh place. No reason for the rating changes was included in the study.

The J.D. Power rating includes consideration of claims as one of five factors evaluated, along with billing and payment, interaction, policy offerings, and price.

Travelers is rated A++ (Superior) for its financial security by the credit rating agency AM Best. This assessment notes that Travelers has a strong balance sheet, reflecting a strong loss reserve.

That means you can rest assured that, should you need to file a claim on your Travelers business insurance policy, the company has enough cash on hand to pay out your claim.

Customer Service & Support

Travelers encourages new customers to connect with a local insurance agent offering coverage in their area. However, there is a general 800 number you can call if you prefer.

In fact, Travelers lists a number of different phone numbers, covering everything from quotes to claims and general service questions, with hours of operation listed for each phone number. And there is 24/7 claim support on the phone.

In a time when many companies are using chatbots and encouraging customers to use support tickets and email to do business, I found it refreshing to find an insurance company that not just supports but seems to encourage phone communication.

Of course, if you prefer less personal contact, you’ll find good options there, too. Don’t overlook Travelers’ useful online resources, including an online claims center and mobile apps for Android and iOS devices.

Travelers Business Insurance Reviews

Travelers Companies Inc. is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau but maintains an A rating with the BBB. The company has had 294 complaints closed in the past 12 months.

Travelers has a 100% response rate to customer complaints lodged with the BBB. A scan of BBB complaints and Travelers’ responses shows that the complaining customers typically accept the insurance company’s responses, and the complaints can be considered resolved.

Keep in mind that the BBB and other review sites do not separate user reviews according to policy type (business or personal). After a careful read of complaints and reviews, it’s noteworthy that very few online comments were specific to business policies.

Negative Travelers Insurance Reviews & Complaints

On the review site WalletHub, Travelers Insurance has 647 reviews and a composite rating of 2/5 stars.

Again, these Travelers insurance reviews do not separate business and personal customers. WalletHub reviewers rate the company somewhat better, awarding it 4.2/5 stars because of its high scores in the areas of customer service and claims.

The apps are well-rated, with 4.7/5 stars based on 60.6K reviews on the Apple App Store and 3.5/5 stars based on 1.36K reviews on Google Play. The company seems responsive to customer feedback on both app stores.

So, what are Travelers customers complaining about? Here’s a sampling of some patterns we observed:

• Inconsistent service
• Slow claims processing and payout
• Overcharging on policies
• Billing problems
• Denial of claims

Positive Travelers Insurance Reviews & Testimonials

Not surprisingly, people are more quick to share their complaints online than their praise.

Keep in mind that Travelers is highly rated within the insurance industry and is one of the largest insurance companies in the nation. So, it’s important to keep the relative lack of online love for Travelers in perspective. Obviously, the company is doing more than a few things right.

Here are some positive comments we were able to identify:

• Local agents
• Excellent customer support
• Wide range of policies
• Discounts available

The Bottom Line On Travelers Business Insurance

Shopping for insurance can be a complicated process because it’s very difficult to get a cost estimate for the coverage you need without contacting a company for a personalized quote. Part of that quote process involves choosing your levels of coverage and deductibles. These factors help determine your insurance costs.

Travelers is a safe choice when you’re shopping for business insurance. With 170 years in business and ranked on the global Fortune 500 list, Travelers obviously is doing insurance right.

We can identify a few specific areas where Travelers excels. This insurance company has landed a spot on several of our list of the best insurance options for small businesses, in addition to being one of our top picks overall for small business insurance coverage.

If you’re looking specifically for the following types of coverage, Travelers may be a good choice:

• Best Worker’s Comp insurance
• Best Commercial Auto Insurance

Will it be the right choice for your business, though? That depends.

Our suggestion: Put your trust in Travelers commercial insurance’s strong reputation and long history. If you’re looking for the types of business insurance Travelers offers, contact the company for a price quote, compare it to the quotes you receive from one or more other companies, and make your decision.

Business Insurance Review Methodology

We spend hours researching and evaluating each business insurance provider we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate our ratings.

When rating business insurance companies and policies, we use a 26-point rubric that looks at pricing, features, customer service, and user reviews. We weigh each section differently to calculate the total star rating.

• Pricing: 45% of the total star rating
• Features: 30% of the total star rating
• Customer Support: 20% of the total star rating
• User Reviews: 5% of the total star rating

Each section is further broken down into granular, weighted subsections, in which we examine specific attributes like the relative cost of policies compared to industry standard, the transparency of pricing, and how many types of business insurance are offered. We also check to see whether the insurance provider offers multiple ways to file claims and how difficult the filing process is, awarding higher rankings to those that provide excellent customer support and an intuitive process.

Read more about how we rate business insurance companies.

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