North Dakota Business Insurance

Find the Best Business Insurance Options in North Dakota

There are over 75,000 small businesses in North Dakota, representing 98.8% of the businesses in the state. Small businesses employ over 196,000 people in North Dakota, making small businesses essential to the state’s economy. 

Business owners in North Dakota face numerous risks, including property damage caused by crime, severe weather, fires, and natural disasters. And a liability claim or a lawsuit can lead to financial devastation that is difficult to overcome for any business. 

A comprehensive business insurance program can help you repair and rebuild damaged property after a disaster. And it can help you stay in business and pay for your defense if you are faced with a lawsuit.

An independent insurance agent can help you compare business insurance quotes in North Dakota.

Best Business Insurance Companies in North Dakota

These business insurance companies are highly rated for their mix of valuable coverage offerings and competitive pricing. 

• Liberty Mutual: Liberty Mutual is headquartered in Boston, MA and has been offering business insurance since 1912. Today the company offers a flexible, multiline range of coverages designed to meet the needs of any business, regardless of size or industry. 
• Nationwide: Nationwide provides business insurance and other popular types of insurance coverage in North Dakota. The company is headquartered in Columbus, OH, and is represented by independent insurance agents in 50 states, including North Dakota. 
• Progressive: Progressive is based in Ohio, but offers business insurance across all 50 states, including North Dakota. North Dakota business owners can look to Progressive for most of their business insurance needs.
• Travelers: Travelers offers highly rated business insurance in North Dakota. The company provides a variety of business insurance options, including inland marine, workers' compensation, and general liability. 
• EMC Insurance Companies: EMC is in the top 60 business insurance companies in the United States. The company specializes in designing well-rounded insurance programs to protect the financial assets of many types of businesses and organizations.

An independent insurance agent in your area can help you learn more about these and other North Dakota business insurance companies. A local agent can help you get competitive quotes for the coverage that fits your North Dakota business insurance needs.

North Dakota Business Insurance Requirements

Business insurance is a package of insurance policies that cover your property and liability risks. Business insurance is not required in North Dakota, but if your business owns any vehicles, you are likely to have to buy commercial vehicle insurance that complies with the state’s car insurance laws.

In addition, North Dakota’s workers’ compensation law requires all employers to cover all employees, including full-time, part-time, seasonal, and occasional workers, with workers’ compensation insurance, with limited exceptions. Workers’ compensation insurance covers employees who are injured on the job. It pays for their injury-related medical care and lost wages if they can’t return to work while recovering.

An independent insurance agent in your area can help you learn more about North Dakota’s business insurance requirements. 

What Business Insurance Covers in North Dakota

When you purchase business insurance in North Dakota, you’ll be purchasing several individual policies or a package of policies designed for your type of business. Business insurance in North Dakota will typically include the following types of policies and coverage: 

• Commercial general liability insurance (CGL): Protects your business from lawsuits related to bodily injury and property damage claims. It pays for medical expenses, legal fees, and financial settlements or judgments. Your CGL policy even covers personal injury claims such as libel and slander.
• Commercial property insurance: This covers damage to a building and its contents if damaged by a weather event, fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils. 
• Business interruption coverage: Protects your earnings and pays certain expenses if your business cannot operate because of damage after a fire, hail, wind, equipment breakdown, or another covered event. If you are forced to close for a while to make repairs or rebuild your business, this coverage pays for rent, employee salaries, lost income, relocation fees, and more.
• Commercial auto insurance: Protects your business-owned cars and trucks from property damage and liability claims. 
• Workers’ compensation insurance: Pays for medical expenses and a portion of an employee's lost wages after a work-related injury. 

Your business insurance in North Dakota may include additional coverage types or policies that cover your unique risks. 

Liability Coverage Options for Small Businesses in North Dakota

Most small businesses would have a hard time recovering if they were faced with a lawsuit. Liability insurance can cover you when you’re accused of causing harm to an individual or another business. There a numerous liability coverage options for small businesses in North Dakota. 

A commercial general liability (CGL) policy offers broad protection from lawsuits. It covers your legal costs, medical expenses and other damages for the injured party, and other expenses related to a liability claim against your business.

CGL policies do not protect you from every type of lawsuit. You're likely to need additional liability policies or endorsements that supplement your CGL policy and eliminate any gaps in your protection. 

An independent insurance agent can help you assess your need for additional liability coverage, such as:

• Employment practices liability insurance: Covers your business against accusations of illegal business practices such as discrimination and wrongful termination.
• Environmental liability insurance: Covers your business if an accident results in your company polluting the land, water, or air.
• Professional liability insurance: Covers individuals in professional positions if errors in judgment or other professional mistakes cause third-party damage.

Talk to a North Dakota independent insurance agent to learn more about liability risks and how to protect your business with liability coverage.

Property Coverage Options for Small Businesses in North Dakota

Commercial property losses can originate in a variety of ways and cause tremendous financial harm to your business. You need these basic business property coverage options to help you repair or rebuild your physical losses, and even to compensate you for lost income while you recover after a covered property loss. 

Commercial property insurance protects you when your commercial property is damaged by someone else or by some type of unforeseen event like a fire or severe weather. You need business property insurance if you own your building or have tangible business assets (furniture, computers, fixtures, inventory, materials, tools, etc.). It helps you pay for repairs or to replace damaged or destroyed commercial property after a covered loss. 

Business interruption insurance is a separate coverage that is typically included as part of a commercial property policy. It is designed to protect your earnings if your business is unable to operate because of damage after a fire, hail, wind, equipment breakdown, or some other covered event. This means that if you’re forced to close your doors for a period of time in order to make repairs or rebuild, this coverage pays for rent, employee salaries, lost income, relocation fees, and more. 

A local independent insurance agent can help you get quotes for business property insurance in North Dakota.

Other Insurance Options for Small Business Owners in North Dakota

Most businesses in North Dakota are likely to need more than just basic property and liability insurance. Other insurance options for small business owners in North Dakota include:

• Business owners policy (BOP): A package policy that includes commercial liability insurance, commercial property insurance, and business interruption insurance. 
• Workers’ compensation insurance: Typically required for any business that has employees. It pays for lost income and medical expenses for employees that are injured on the job.
• Commercial vehicle insurance: Covers your vehicles and drivers in the event of an accident or other types of vehicle damage. 
• Cyber liability insurance: Provides coverage in the event of a data breach involving your business.
• Employment practices liability insurance: Protects you if an employee sues you for discriminatory employment practices. 
• Flood or hurricane insurance: Your basic commercial property policy does not cover flood or hurricane damage. Talk to your agent about flood and hurricane insurance if you live in an area that is prone to these events.
• Professional liability insurance: Protects you if a client claims you have been negligent in providing professional services.
• Commercial umbrella insurance: Provides excess liability coverage above and beyond the limits of your applicable underlying commercial liability policies. 

This is not an exhaustive list of your business insurance options in North Dakota. An independent insurance agent can make sure that all of your North Dakota business insurance needs are met. 

Average Cost of Business Insurance in North Dakota

Every business is unique and there are many variables that contribute to the cost of business insurance, making it difficult to compute an average cost of business insurance in North Dakota. Several factors, including the following, influence the cost of North Dakota business insurance:

• The size and physical location of your business
• Your number of employees
• Your gross sales and payroll
• The nature of your business (What do you do?)
• The value of your physical assets (buildings, vehicles, machines, equipment, inventory, etc.)
• Your prior claims history
• The types and amounts of coverage that you need

An independent insurance agent can help you understand all of the risks you face and get quotes for affordable business insurance in North Dakota.

How Does Your North Dakota City Measure Up?

Number of businesses in the US: 30,819,176

Burglary rate per 1,000 residents in the US: 3.76

Auto theft rate per 1,000 vehicles in the US: 2.29

City	No. of businesses	Burglaries / 1,000 people	Auto thefts / 1,000 cars
Bismarck	6,996	3.01	2.77
Devils Lake	782	3.57	2.19
Dickinson	3,022	1.84	1.41
Fargo	11,347	6.51	3.07
Grand Forks	4,533	3.79	1.79
Jamestown	1,192	2.96	1.18
Minot	4,620	4.23	3.57
West Fargo	2,849	2.99	1.39
Williston	2,172	2.83	2.87

How Does Your North Dakota City Measure Up?

Bismarck, ND Common Coverage Options

Property: You have invested a lot of capital in your company’s assets like machinery, computers, furniture, inventory, supplies, and more. Business property insurance can help cover the cost of repairing or replacing this property if it is lost or damaged due to a covered event. 

Commercial auto: Many businesses in Bismarck have company-owned vehicles. If yours is among them, you will need to carry a commercial auto insurance policy that meets or exceeds the state’s minimum coverage requirements. Vehicles used for interstate commerce will also need to have coverage that meets federal requirements. 

Coverage against liability risks: If your company finds itself on the wrong end of a liability lawsuit, the costs can add up quickly. Even if the courts ultimately rule in your favor, you can still be on the hook for court costs, legal defense fees, and lost production due to employees needing to take time off work to testify. 

Liquor liability insurance: If your business serves or sells alcohol, North Dakota’s dram laws can leave your company on the hook for damage if you or one of your employees serves an underage patron who then causes injuries or property damage to others while under the influence. Liquor liability insurance can protect your company’s finances in such cases.

Workers’ compensation insurance: With very few exceptions, if your business has at least one full-time or part-time employee, you need to have workers’ compensation insurance. This insurance is designed to cover medical treatment, disability pay, and other expenses that are related to occupational illnesses and on-the-job injuries. Having this coverage can save your business from a liability lawsuit related to these mishaps.

Fargo, ND Common Coverage Options

Property: Property crimes like theft and arson can lead to expensive losses if you do not have sufficient business property insurance. In Fargo, where property thefts are reported every year, the rising crime rate can affect your coverage costs. 

Commercial auto: If your business owns a vehicle or a fleet of vehicles, you will need to cover the cars, vans, trucks, or buses with commercial auto insurance. Your rates will be based on several factors, including the number and types of vehicles you are covering, information about the workers who will be operating them, and details about where and how often they will be driven.

Coverage against liability risks: Liability lawsuits can be extremely expensive if your business does not have the right insurance coverage in place. Several commercial liability products are available for you to include in your business insurance policy package. 

Employment practices liability insurance: This is designed to cover your business if a current, former, or prospective employee sues your company due to perceived illegal practices such as discrimination, harassment, breach of contract, or wrongful termination.

Cyber liability insurance: This covers your company’s financial obligations to your customers if criminals install skimmers on your credit card readers or hack into your computer system and steal sensitive customer information such as credit card numbers or personal data.

Grand Forks, ND Common Coverage Options

Property: Severe storms in the Grand Forks area have the potential to damage your expensive business property. Having sufficient commercial property insurance is therefore imperative. 

Commercial auto: Whether you are insuring a company car or a fleet of semi-trucks, commercial auto insurance can cover your company’s increased liability risks as well as expenses related to property damage to your vehicles. 

Coverage against liability risks: It is relevant for most to have the right types of commercial liability insurance covering their business. In addition to the commercial general liability insurance included in standard business insurance policies, you may need to invest in other types of coverage. 

Cyber liability insurance: This is designed to cover the various expenses your company may face if cybercriminals break into your computer system and steal sensitive customer information like personal or financial data. It can cover restitution, credit monitoring services, and other expenses your company may be obligated to pay.

Professional liability insurance: Also commonly referred to as errors & omissions insurance (or E&O), this insurance is designed to cover against lawsuits related to mistakes or errors in judgment made by professionals who work for your company if they lead to financial, personal, or other harm to your clients.

Minot, ND Common Coverage Options

Property: Having the right commercial property insurance can shield your company from losses related to hazards like accidental fires, property crimes, and severe weather events such as tornadoes and hailstorms. Adding a commercial flood insurance policy to your coverage portfolio can further protect your business, particularly if it is located near the Souris River. 

Commercial auto: If your business owns a vehicle or fleet of vehicles, you will need to cover them with commercial auto insurance. Rates for coverage can vary according to the number and types of vehicles you are covering, details about the employees who will be driving them, and the risk of collisions where these employees will be driving.

Coverage against liability risks: Lawsuits can be extremely expensive unless your business has the right types of commercial liability insurance in place. Several different commercial liability products are available for you to choose from when you are building a policy package that will cover all of your company’s various liability exposures. 

Contractor's professional liability insurance: This is specifically designed to cover businesses that do contracting work. It can cover financial losses and damage related to mistakes made by you or your employees as well as by third-party workers hired by the contractor, like architects and engineers. 

Employment practices liability insurance: This can cover your business if you or your employees are accused of engaging in illegal employment practices such as breach of contract, harassment, discrimination, or wrongful termination.

Williston, ND Common Coverage Options

Property: Property crimes and severe weather events are the most common causes of loss and damage to business property. Another risk is accidental structure fires. A fire could break out at your workplace due to a machine malfunction, an employee error, or even a wildfire. Fortunately, when you have commercial property insurance, your company will have the funds necessary to repair the damage and continue to function without experiencing a large financial loss.

Commercial auto: You are required by law to have commercial auto insurance if your business owns a vehicle or a fleet of vehicles. Rates are based on a number of factors, like the types of vehicles you are covering. It costs more to insure a passenger van than a cargo van, since your liability risks are greater when you have passengers. Construction vehicles, semi-trucks, and vehicles used to transport hazardous materials will also need to meet certain liability coverage requirements as mandated by the state.

Coverage against liability risks: Liability lawsuits can be extremely expensive if your company is not covered by the right insurance policies. Several different commercial liability products are available for you to consider, including your business insurance policy package. 

Environmental liability insurance: Companies working in the oil and gas industry have a significant risk of causing environmental pollution. If your Williston company uses or produces toxic substances, it may benefit from the protection offered by environmental liability insurance, which can cover cleanup costs and damage if your company is at fault for the accidental pollution of the land, air, or water.

Cyber liability insurance: As more and more information is being stored in computer systems, cyber liability coverage is becoming more relevant. It is designed to cover your company’s financial obligations if criminals break into your company’s network and access sensitive customer information like personal, medical, and financial data.

Popular Questions About Business Insurance in North Dakota