Receipts vs payroll
General Liability often rates on gross receipts per $1,000, while Workers’ Comp rates on payroll per $100. Switching exposure type can swing the premium math.
Exposure lens
Business Insurance Cost Estimator Private • Client-side Not a quote
Inputs
Estimated Annual Premium
Estimate
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Range: —
Before tax
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Tax: —
Rating multiplier
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Relative to base
Breakdown
| Item | Value | Multiplier / Cost |
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Model: manual premium = exposure × base rate → apply factors (limits, territory, deductible, class, protection, experience mod, schedule) → apply minimum premium, fees, taxes/assessments. This is for learning/budgeting only.
🏢 5 Fun Facts about Business Insurance Pricing
Minimums bite small firms
Many policies have minimum premiums. A tiny startup with low receipts can still pay a floor rate that eclipses the “raw” exposure-based premium.
Floor effect
Sprinklers are big levers
For property, adding sprinklers and central alarms can cut hazard factors dramatically—often more impact than shaving the insured value or raising the deductible a notch.
Risk controls
Experience mods compound
Workers’ Comp experience modifiers multiply the whole subject premium. A 0.85 mod vs 1.15 can swing cost by 30%+ with no other changes.
History matters
Schedule rating is judgment
Schedule credits/debits adjust for things filings can’t capture (housekeeping, training, maintenance). Two similar firms can diverge based on onsite inspections.
Underwriter art
Business Insurance 101 — How Rating Works (and what this tool shows)
Commercial insurance pricing is usually exposure-based and written for a one-year term. Each line uses a different exposure: General Liability often uses gross receipts per 1,000; Property uses insured limits per 100; Workers’ Compensation uses payroll per 100; Professional/Cyber commonly uses revenue per 1,000 (with qualitative control factors). A carrier’s filed rate or “loss cost × multiplier” is adjusted by rating factors such as territory, industry class, limits (ILFs), deductibles, protection/sprinklers, coinsurance/“agreed amount”, and sometimes experience modifiers and schedule rating.
- Manual premium: exposure × base rate (illustrative in this tool).
- Factors: multipliers for hazard/territory/limits/deductible/controls/etc.
- Subject premium: manual × combined factors (and × experience mod).
- Final premium: max(minimum, subject × (1 + schedule)) + policy fees → then taxes/assessments.
This estimator is transparent on purpose: it doesn’t use proprietary bureau/carrier filings. Treat the result as directional — a starting point for budgeting and “what-if” testing — not a bindable quote.
Business Insurance — How Pricing Works (and what each input means)
This estimator shows a transparent, exposure-based approach that many markets use to price General Liability, Commercial Property, Workers’ Compensation, and Professional/Cyber insurance. Real insurers use filed rates, underwriting rules, and eligibility checks; our model is educational to help you budget and test “what-if” scenarios privately in your browser.