Hiscox Insurance Review 2026: E&O Coverage for Professionals
Hiscox offers comprehensive coverage for white-collar professionals, including E&O and cyber insurance. You can buy online.
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Updated · 2 min read
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Why trust NerdWallet
Hiscox is a long-standing business insurance company that sells basic coverage, like general liability insurance and a business owner’s policy. You can buy Hiscox policies online from the insurer’s website, from independent insurance agents and from Geico.
Hiscox’s small-business insurance policies are mainly designed for professional services businesses, such as accountants and consultants. The company also offers packages for beauty, fitness and health businesses.
If you need liability insurance and want to work with a trusted brand, it’s worth it to spend a few minutes getting a quote from Hiscox online. For other types of coverage — like commercial auto insurance and workers’ comp insurance — Hiscox will refer you to partner websites to get quotes from other providers.
For that reason, if you want to buy all of your insurance policies from the same company, Hiscox may not be the best fit.
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Hiscox pros and cons
Pros
Can get a quote and purchase policies online.
Discounts of up to 5% available when you buy two or more Hiscox products, plus a 14-day money-back refund policy.
Professional liability policies cover work done anywhere in the world.
Cons
Far more complaints than expected filed with state regulators about both liability and property coverage.
No coverage available in Alaska; business owner's policies are unavailable in several states.
What Hiscox does well
Well-regarded for professional liability insurance
There’s a lot to like about Hiscox’s professional liability coverage (also called errors and omissions insurance). Policies cover work done globally, as long as the claim is filed in Canada, the U.S. or its territories. You can also add additional insured endorsements or waivers of subrogation to policies when you buy them, which you might need to comply with client contracts.
Comprehensive cyber insurance policies
Hiscox sells a dedicated cyber security insurance policy that it proactively recommends while you’re getting a quote. The company’s policy covers the cost of investigating a data breach and helping customers afterward; making ransom payments if necessary; and recovering lost or corrupted files. You can upgrade your coverage to cover claims related to content you publish online.
Most insurers offer a data breach endorsement on a business owner’s policy. Many now sell some kind of dedicated cyber liability policy. But Hiscox is the only insurer we’ve reviewed to sell a dedicated cyber policy online.
Where Hiscox falls short
Large numbers of customer complaints
Customers filed far more complaints about Hiscox with their state regulators between 2022 and 2024 than we’d expect given the company’s market share. The contents of specific claims aren’t public. But according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the most common topics are claims delays, unsatisfactory settlements and denials.
Insurance policies are complicated by nature, and many exclude specific scenarios or types of damage. Companies that sell insurance online try to make it as easy as possible to buy coverage. But that might mean shoppers don’t have time to dig in and understand each of those exclusions. If you buy coverage from Hiscox, take advantage of the opportunity to talk to an agent before you buy coverage to get details about what it covers.
Limited policies for sale online
On the surface, Hiscox looks like it sells lots of policies. But if you shop online, you only have four options: General liability, a BOP, professional liability or cyber insurance. That should cover your bases if you’re a consultant or freelancer operating in a white-collar industry.
But if you have significant property or equipment, travel to client sites or see lots of foot traffic, you’re better off with a company that offers commercial auto insurance, tools and equipment insurance and umbrella coverage. Try The Hartford to work with an agent, Chubb to shop online or Progressive for commercial auto insurance.
No coverage in Alaska
Hiscox doesn’t insure companies based in Alaska. Instead, look for an agent that sells Travelers policies — that should lead you to an agency in your region who can help.
How we evaluated Hiscox
NerdWallet’s business insurance star ratings include these factors:
- Financial strength (33%). This tells us how likely an insurance company is to be able to pay out claims if there’s a major disaster or financial crisis. AM Best, the leading credit rating agency for insurers, says Hiscox earns an excellent rating.
- Customer complaints (33%). The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) collects data about how many complaints were filed by an insurer’s customers. Between 2022 and 2024, Hiscox received far more complaints about general liability and commercial property insurance than we’d expect given its market share. The company earned our lowest possible score in this category.
- Purchase process (17%): Hiscox sells the several common types of business insurance online, and shoppers have the option to buy from agents if they prefer. That offers a “best-of-both-worlds” experience.
- Customer support (17%): Hiscox has customer support available after hours, which is rare among business insurance companies. You can generate a copy of your certificate of insurance online and add a blanket additional ensured endorsement to policies, potentially free of charge.
I take a few additional steps when writing business insurance reviews. These don’t currently inform our star ratings, but they still offer value:
- Aggregating customer reviews and complaints. I used an AI tool to summarize what policyholders say about Hiscox on websites like Reddit, the Better Business Bureau and Trustpilot. We don’t factor this feedback into star ratings because it’s usually anonymous and we can’t verify it. But we still think it has value in understanding the potential ups and downs of a particular insurer. You’ll see themes from that analysis in the next section.
- Trying the online quote process. We don’t include this in star ratings because most insurance companies still don’t offer online quotes, so we can’t gather the data from every brand. But if an insurer offers online quotes, I get one. I use the same location, industry and business size information every time. The quote process can reveal how customizable policies are, whether they charge hidden fees and more.
Save up to 30% on business insurance
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What small-business owners think about Hiscox
I read through online forums like Reddit, review sites like the Better Business Bureau and Google and Apple’s app stores to understand how users feel about Hiscox. I used an AI tool to help analyze overall sentiment. Here’s what stood out.
👍 Trusted brand for E&O insurance
Hiscox policyholders often recommend the company to other white-collar professionals, including freelancers and consultants. The most common complaint about the coverage is its cost (more on that below) — I see fewer complaints about Hiscox denying claims or making stingy payouts than I see from other insurers.
👍 Policies cover international work
Hiscox policies cover work done all over the world, as long as the claim is filed in the U.S. and its territories or Canada. That’s essential for businesses with international clients. Policies from other companies might offer international coverage, but few advertise it the way Hiscox does.
👎 Price hikes
Lots of Redditors have complained about Hiscox increasing their premiums several times over, including several in the last year. That’s frustrating — but it’s probably not unique to Hiscox.
Business insurance rates are rising nationwide. Every insurance company recalculates premiums every year. These changes are based on its own internal measures of your business’s risks, along with risks across the rest of its portfolio. That can affect your premiums even if you haven’t filed claims and aren’t located in a disaster-prone area. To keep your costs down, you might need to shop around every year.
👎 Policy cancellations — sometimes in error
Similarly, Hiscox sometimes cancels insurance policies with little warning. Sometimes, policyholders say, the company says it’s because the insured business expanded into a new and uncovered industry or filed too many claims. Others say when they asked Hiscox for more information, the company told them the cancellation was a mistake.
Like rate increases, insurance companies reserve the right to drop customers as their internal analyses change. It’s frustrating, but it happens. Accidental cancellations shouldn’t, though.
What policies does Hiscox sell?
Hiscox offers the following coverage options for small-business owners:
- General liability.
- Professional liability.
- Business owner's policy.
- Cyber insurance.
Beyond those core business insurance products, Hiscox can help you purchase other types of insurance online through partnerships with other providers.
Commercial auto insurance, directors and officers insurance, umbrella and employment practices liability insurance are available via Hiscox’s partnership with insurance marketplace CyberPolicy. Workers’ comp insurance requests go to The Hartford. And for short-term liability insurance, Hiscox partners with the startup Thimble.
If you need D&O insurance, employment practices liability insurance or workers’ comp, consider working with an insurance agent instead. Those are relatively specialized kinds of insurance, and talking to an agent directly will help ensure you get the coverage you need.
How to get insurance from Hiscox
While writing this review, I went through the Hiscox quote process. As I do with each insurance company, I told Hiscox I was a business consultant working from home and earning $10,000 in annual revenue.
When I told Hiscox I needed help, it asked whether my business:
- Performs a service or gives advice.
- Has any equipment, including laptops and tools.
- Stores client data, like credit card numbers.
- Owns a building.
- Primarily operates from home, a client’s premises or other space the business doesn’t own.
- Has one or more employees, including the owner.
It recommended a BOP, professional liability insurance and workers’ comp insurance. I disagree with that — Illinois, where I live, doesn’t require sole proprietors to have workers’ comp, and I don’t think my hypothetical consultancy needs property insurance. If you haven’t spent three years writing about business insurance, you could end up with coverage you don’t need here.
I selected professional liability insurance only. The system then asked:
- My name, phone number and email address.
- When I started my business.
- My address.
- Whether my business has risk management procedures in place, like client sign-offs on completed work or contracts with indemnification clauses.
- What percentage of my gross revenue comes from my largest customer.
- If I provide specific types of advice, like legal, medical, actuarial or safety advice.
That generated my quote.
As usual, Hiscox offers the option to adjust your limits and deductible. The blanket additional insured endorsement was checked automatically. When I ticked the box to add $50,000 of contingent bodily injury and property damage coverage, it added a little over two dollars to my monthly premium.
Throughout the process, shoppers can call a phone number to speak to a licensed agent. I called it. Getting through the phone tree and connected to an agent took about one minute.
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Methodology
Business insurance ratings methodology
NerdWallet’s business insurance ratings reward companies that offer small-business owners reliability and ease of use. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including financial strength, customer complaint data, shopping experience and customer service. Learn more about how we rate small-business insurance companies.
Our editorial team regularly reviews and updates our data to ensure consistency and accuracy. We also update our scoring on an ongoing basis to reflect changing industry norms and business owner needs. For instance, in 2026, we began evaluating how easy insurers make it to add an additional insured.
These ratings are a guide, but insurance policy details and prices can vary widely from business to business and provider to provider. We encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes.
NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.
Insurer complaints methodology
NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. We use the most recent three years of data, which is currently 2022-2024.
To assess how insurers compare to one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period.
Our star ratings consider ratios for both general liability insurance and commercial property insurance. When an insurer sells policies that are underwritten by several different insurance companies, we consider the NAIC complaint ratios of all the underwriters.
