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Business Insurance

Insurance for the Tennessee businesses that keep the lights on.

Business owner's policy, general liability, workers compensation, commercial auto, cyber, professional liability, commercial property, bonds — every coverage a Tennessee business actually needs, plus specialized programs for contractors, restaurants, trucking, healthcare, and the trades. We work with multiple commercial carriers under one roof and we shop hard.

Multiple commercial carriers comparedRisk reviews that catch exposures before claims doWe've written every kind of TN business

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Carriers we represent

35+ companies, one local team.

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Business Owners Policy General Liability Commercial Auto Workers Compensation Commercial Property Cyber Liability Errors & Omissions (Professional Liability)Directors & Officers (D&O)Employment Practices Liability (EPLI)Commercial Umbrella Builders Risk Inland Marine (Tools & Equipment)Surety & Probate Bonds Liquor Liability Specialized Industries

Business Owners Policy

A business owner's policy bundles general liability, commercial property, and business interruption into one policy at a discount — and it's the right starting point for most small and mid-size Tennessee businesses with a physical location. Retailers, professional offices, restaurants, light contractors, and most service businesses qualify. Holt builds business owner's policies that actually match how your business operates.

General liability (premises + products + completed ops)
Commercial property at the building and contents level
Business interruption / loss of income
Equipment breakdown coverage available
Hired & non-owned auto can be added
Often 10-20% cheaper than buying coverage à la carte

Get a Business quote Talk to a Holt advisor

General Liability

Commercial general liability (CGL) is the foundation of business insurance — protection against third-party bodily injury, property damage, personal/advertising injury, and the products-and-completed-operations exposure that lingers long after the work is done. If you have customers walk into your space, employees on a job site, or products in market, you need general liability coverage.

Premises liability (slip/fall, customer injury)
Products + completed operations coverage
Personal & advertising injury (libel, slander, copyright)
Medical payments to others (no-fault, small limits)
Defense costs covered IN ADDITION to the limit
Limits typically $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate

Get a General quote Talk to a Holt advisor

Commercial Auto

If your business owns vehicles — service vans, work trucks, sales cars, delivery vehicles — you need commercial auto, not personal auto. Personal policies exclude business use and most claims will be denied. Commercial auto covers liability, physical damage, hired/non-owned exposure (when employees use their own car for work), and trailer interchange.

Liability + physical damage on owned vehicles
Hired & non-owned auto (employees driving their cars for work)
Trailer coverage and trailer interchange
Rental reimbursement and roadside
Fleet discounts at 5+ vehicles
DOT filings + truck-specific coverage available

Get a Commercial quote Talk to a Holt advisor

Workers Compensation

Tennessee requires workers comp for any business with 5 or more employees (and even fewer in the construction trades). Beyond the legal requirement, workers comp protects you from the catastrophic medical and disability costs of an on-the-job injury. We work with both standard markets and TN's assigned-risk pool, and we pay attention to your experience mod (the number that drives your premium).

Required by TN at 5+ employees (1+ in construction)
Medical, disability, and survivor benefits
Employer's liability protection (E.L. limits)
Pay-as-you-go options to smooth cash flow
Experience mod analysis + improvement strategies
Specialized class codes for trades, healthcare, hospitality

Get a Workers quote Talk to a Holt advisor

Commercial Property

Whether you own the building or lease it, commercial property insurance protects what you've put into it — buildings, business personal property, inventory, equipment, signs, and improvements & betterments (the buildout you paid for in a leased space). We help you set proper limits, choose between replacement cost and ACV, and add the endorsements that actually matter.

Building coverage on owned property
Business personal property (inventory, equipment, contents)
Improvements & betterments (vital for tenants)
Business income / extra expense for shutdowns
Equipment breakdown (boiler & machinery)
Ordinance or law for building code upgrades

Get a Commercial quote Talk to a Holt advisor

Cyber Liability

Tennessee's data-breach notification law (TCA 47-18-2107) requires notification within 45 days of any breach — and the average notification, forensics, and credit-monitoring response runs $200K+ for a small business. Cyber liability covers first-party costs (notification, forensics, ransomware, business interruption from a cyber event) and third-party liability if customer or employee data is compromised.

Breach response (forensics, notification, credit monitoring)
Ransomware and cyber extortion
Business interruption from a cyber event
Third-party liability for compromised data
Social engineering / wire-fraud coverage (sublimit)
Regulatory fines and PCI penalties (where insurable)

Get a Cyber quote Talk to a Holt advisor

Errors & Omissions (Professional Liability)

Anyone who provides professional advice or services for a fee — accountants, consultants, IT firms, real estate agents, designers, financial advisors, insurance agents themselves — needs E&O coverage. It protects you when a client claims your work caused them financial harm, even if they're wrong. Defense costs alone can sink a small firm.

Coverage for actual or alleged errors in your professional services
Defense costs covered (often eroding the limit, sometimes outside)
Coverage for past acts (retroactive date matters)
Add-ons for cyber, EPLI, regulatory defense
Industry-specific forms (real estate, tech E&O, miscellaneous E&O)

Get a Errors quote Talk to a Holt advisor

Directors & Officers (D&O)

D&O protects the personal assets of board members and officers when they're sued for decisions made on behalf of the company. Even private companies and nonprofits get sued — by employees, regulators, vendors, donors, members. Without D&O, your directors are personally exposed for legal defense and judgments.

Side A: protection for directors when company can't indemnify
Side B: reimbursement to the company for indemnification
Side C: entity coverage for securities claims
Coverage for nonprofits, private companies, and public companies
Often paired with EPLI for full management-liability protection

Get a Directors quote Talk to a Holt advisor

Employment Practices Liability (EPLI)

EPLI covers claims by employees for wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, failure to promote, and similar employment-related claims. With every TN business owner facing more employment-law complexity every year, EPLI is no longer optional for any business with employees.

Wrongful termination and constructive discharge
Discrimination (race, gender, age, disability, etc.)
Sexual harassment and hostile work environment
Retaliation and whistleblower claims
Wage & hour claims (often sublimit, sometimes excluded)
Third-party EPLI for harassment claims by customers/vendors

Get a Employment quote Talk to a Holt advisor

Commercial Umbrella

A commercial umbrella sits on top of your general liability, auto, and employer's liability — adding $1M to $25M of additional limit. Many contracts (with municipalities, larger commercial customers, prime contractors) require $5M-$10M of umbrella coverage. And if your business has trucks on the road, employees on customer sites, or any meaningful liability exposure, an umbrella is the cheapest big-dollar protection you can buy.

Limits typically $1M, $2M, $5M, $10M+ available
Drops down to defend if underlying limit exhausted
Often required for contracts and bid work
Covers general liability, commercial auto, employer's liability
Some umbrellas sit excess of professional liability or D&O

Get a Commercial quote Talk to a Holt advisor

Builders Risk

Builders risk (course of construction) covers a building under construction or renovation — the structure, materials on-site, materials in transit, and often soft costs from a covered loss. It's required by most lenders, most general contractors require subs to carry it, and it's the first thing a fire or storm during construction will trigger.

Coverage on the structure during construction
Materials on-site, in transit, in storage
Soft costs (interest, lost rents, additional architect fees)
Coverage for testing, faulty work (limited)
Project-specific or reporting-form policies

Get a Builders quote Talk to a Holt advisor

Inland Marine (Tools & Equipment)

Despite the name, inland marine covers movable property on land — contractor tools and equipment, installation floaters, transportation cargo, computer equipment, exhibitions, and more. Most commercial property policies have very limited coverage on items in transit or off-premises; inland marine fills the gap.

Contractor's equipment (owned, leased, rented)
Tools (small tool floater, often $500–$1K per item sublimits)
Installation floater (your work in progress)
Cargo coverage (motor truck cargo for trucking)
Computer equipment and electronic data

Get a Inland quote Talk to a Holt advisor

Surety & Probate Bonds

Bonds are a guarantee from the surety to the obligee (the entity requiring the bond) that you'll perform what you've promised. Tennessee contractors need license bonds, performance bonds on bid work, and payment bonds on most public projects. Probate bonds, fiduciary bonds, and notary bonds round out the most common needs.

Contractor license bonds (TN Board for Licensing Contractors)
Bid bonds, performance bonds, payment bonds
Probate, fiduciary, and guardian bonds
Notary bonds (TN $10K standard)
ERISA bonds for retirement plan administrators
Court bonds, license & permit bonds

Get a Surety quote Talk to a Holt advisor

Liquor Liability

Tennessee's dram-shop law makes a server or seller liable when they over-serve a patron who then injures someone. Standard general liability excludes liquor liability if alcohol sales are a material part of your operation, so restaurants, bars, breweries, distilleries, hotels, and event venues need a separate liquor liability policy. Special-event liquor coverage is also available for one-off events.

Bodily injury and property damage caused by an over-served patron
Defense costs (often a separate limit)
Special-event coverage for catering, weddings, festivals
Assault & battery sublimits (vital for nightlife operations)
TGT-specific endorsements where required

Get a Liquor quote Talk to a Holt advisor

Specialized Industries

We write specialized programs for the industries that actually call us — Tennessee contractors and tradesmen (carpentry, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, roofing, abatement), restaurants and hospitality (full-service, fast casual, breweries, distilleries, event venues), healthcare and wellness (medical and dental practices, physical therapy, salons, gyms), real estate and property (realtors, landlords, property managers, HOAs), professional services (architects, attorneys, consultants, accountants), trucking and transportation (local, regional, interstate, hazmat), auto dealers and garages, and manufacturing and industrial. If you operate in Tennessee and need coverage that fits your trade, talk to us.

Contractors & trades (full LOB packages, OCIP/CCIP exposure)
Restaurants, breweries, distilleries, event venues
Healthcare & wellness practices
Real estate, property managers, HOAs
Professional services (architects, attorneys, accountants, consultants)
Trucking and transportation (incl. interstate filings)
Auto dealers, garages, repair shops
Manufacturing and industrial operations

Each industry has its own form library, its own carrier panel, and its own pricing logic. We've placed coverage for hundreds of TN businesses across these verticals — bring us yours and we'll quote it through the markets that actually want to write it.

Get a Specialized quote Talk to a Holt advisor

Frequently asked

Business Insurance questions, answered.

Does Tennessee require my business to carry workers comp?

Tennessee requires workers compensation for any business with 5 or more employees (full or part-time). For the construction trades the threshold drops to 1 employee. Even when not required, carrying it is usually wise — a single workplace injury without coverage can end a small business.

What's the difference between a business owner's policy and general liability?

A business owner's policy bundles general liability, commercial property, and business interruption together at a discount. Standalone general liability gives you only the liability piece. For most small/mid-size TN businesses with a physical location, a business owner's policy is more comprehensive and usually cheaper.

Do I need cyber insurance if I don't take credit cards?

Yes. Cyber exposure isn't just credit-card data — it's any personally identifiable information (employee SSNs, customer addresses, vendor banking info), business email compromise, ransomware on your operations, and the cost to notify affected parties under TN law (45 days). Even small businesses face $50K-$200K incidents.

Can I bundle commercial coverage at a discount?

Often yes — business owner's policies already bundle three coverages, and many carriers offer additional discounts when you add commercial auto, workers compensation, or cyber to the same carrier. We'll show you both bundled and unbundled quotes so you can see where the math actually works out.

Do you write coverage for very small businesses (under 5 employees)?

Absolutely. From a one-person consulting practice to a small retail shop, we write business owner's policies, general liability, professional liability, cyber, and commercial auto for businesses of every size. Many TN small businesses underestimate their liability exposure — we'll walk you through what you actually need.

Business Insurance

Let's talk about your business insurance.

Get a real conversation with a real local advisor. We'll shop carriers, walk through what fits, and stick around when you need to use the policy.

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