Business Insurance Ratings Criteria
Business insurance is not just nice to have; it’s a vital small business product that helps protect against damage and liability. Because having the right insurance coverage can make or break a small business in times of crisis, we take our reviews and ratings very seriously, following a precise methodology. Here are just some of the reasons readers can trust the Merchant Maverick rating system:
- Merchant Maverick has been reviewing business insurance providers since 2020.
- Over the years, we’ve evaluated 20+ major business insurance providers.
- Each review involves 10-15 hours of initial research, followed by 5-10 hours of research for each review update.
- We update our business insurance reviews at least every 12 months, though most reviews are updated twice a year, and a few of the providers most popular with our readers receive quarterly updates.
While we research and compare many different systems, the reviews displayed on the site have been handpicked based on metrics like overall popularity, availability, and quality. The goal is to provide the most actionable and accurate information to our readers, so while we love to recommend great products, we don’t shy away from pointing out the areas where popular providers fall short.
Our expert writers engage in independent research and testing for each business insurance company, evaluating cost, services, range of available policies, ease of filing, and more. When determining the star rating for a vendor, we score the following areas:
- Pricing
- Features
- Customer Support
- User Reviews
Each section’s score is weighted differently, with the highest weights on pricing, features, and customer service. The scores for each section are displayed openly in the review and then combined to create a holistic rating for the product out of 5 stars.
Read on for a more minute explanation of how we determine the individual section ratings.
Pricing
45% of the total score
The Pricing score is broken into three sections:
- Affordability (70% of the total section rating)
- Transparency (30% of the total section rating)
Our expert reviewer looks at many things when determining the Pricing score for business insurance providers, including the relative cost of the policies offered compared to industry average. We also look at the number of available coverage options, the transparency of coverage pricing, and whether the provider offers business owners the ability to create custom quotes for business insurance.
Features
30% of the total score
The Features score is broken down into several sections.
- Types Of Insurance Offered (70% of the total section rating)
- Additional Services (30% of the total section rating)
The number and type of insurance policies offered weigh heavily in the overall rating for this section. Generally, we’re looking to see a wide variety of policies, including standards like workers comp, commercial auto, commercial property, and business liability–and sometimes even less common policies, like cyber liability. Our expert reviewer also evaluates extra features, such as online claim filing, risk engineering, and banking tools.
Customer Service
20% of the total score
The Customer Service score is broken down into two sections.
- Ease Of Claim Filing (50% of the total section rating)
- Customer Support (50% of the total section rating)
When scoring customer service, we pay the most attention to how easy (or difficult) it is to file claims. Insurance providers that score highest in this section offer multiple options for claim filing and intuitive directions. We also look at the number of customer support options available (phone, email, in-person, etc.) and the quality of personal support received.
User Reviews
5% of the total score
The Customer Reviews score is comprised of two sections.
- User Feedback (30% of the total section rating)
- Review Site Aggregate (70% of the total section rating)
We scour the internet for user feedback on all the products we review, looking for positive and negative feedback. Merchant Maverick is not a user review platform, so for part of this total rating we rely on aggregate user scores from review sites such as TrustPilot, the Better Business Bureau, and more.
