Is a minimum premium refundable if I cancel?

Often not in full. Many policies, especially in the surplus lines market, are minimum earned, which means the carrier keeps a stated share or the whole minimum even if you cancel early. Ask before you bind.

Why did an online quote show a much lower price?

Online quotes often assume a narrower class, lower limits or fewer coverages, and some apply exclusions that matter to your work. Compare the class, the limits and the exclusions before the price; a quote below the market minimum for your trade usually excludes something.

Does a stand-alone policy cost more than a package?

Usually, because each stand-alone line carries its own minimum. Stand-alone sexual abuse and molestation coverage is the clearest example: it typically runs $3,000 to $5,000 a year on its own, where the same coverage inside a package can cost far less.

Will the minimum go down after a year?

It can. New businesses often face higher floors or only surplus lines options in the first year, and a year in business with no claims opens more carriers, some with lower minimums.

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Why is my insurance quote so high when my business is so small?

Usually because of a minimum premium. Each carrier sets "the least amount of premium to be charged for providing a particular insurance coverage," and below a certain size your business pays that floor rather than a price worked out from your sales or payroll. Minimums are highest for classes the carrier writes reluctantly. On our calls in 2026 they ranged from a $4,500 minimum quoted to an owner used to paying $360, to $20,000 and $25,000 minimums on hard-to-place accounts. A different carrier, or a different class description that is still accurate, often has a lower floor.

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/ Who handles this

Brian Victores

Commercial Insurance Advisor

Licensed in nearly every state, working contractors and small commercial, writing general liability, workers comp and commercial auto. Runs on the principle that the best insurance experience is a boring one: straight answers, fast quotes, no surprises.

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The detail

The minimum premium is "the least amount of premium to be charged for providing a particular insurance coverage," and it may be applied per location, per coverage or per policy.
International Risk Management Institute, "minimum premium"
On our calls between August and October 2026, owners met minimum premiums of $4,500 against a prior policy at $360 a year, $20,000 on a package for a hard-to-place class, and $25,000 on first-year general liability for a rigging startup with $200,000 of revenue.
Boring Insurance call records, calls graded Aug 20 to Oct 4, 2026 (clients and carriers unnamed)
In the same period one sole owner earning under $20,000 a year resisted a workers comp quote that set her payroll at a $50,000 carrier minimum, which is how an owner’s own payroll is often rated when the owner is included on the policy.
Boring Insurance call records, calls graded Aug 20 to Oct 4, 2026 (clients and carriers unnamed)

What this means for you

Ask whether the quote is at minimum. If it is, your sales or payroll are not driving the price and reducing them will not lower it. The lever is a carrier with a lower floor for your class.
Describe the business accurately and specifically. Minimums follow the class. A business described in the broadest risky terms can land on a high-minimum class when a narrower, still accurate class code carries a lower floor. Never describe the work as something it is not; that voids claims.
Package lines where you can. A business owners policy or a package often carries one minimum across general liability and property, where separate policies each carry their own.
Check the owner payroll rules on workers comp. Officers and owners are rated on a payroll set by the state’s rules or the carrier when they are included. In many states an owner can exclude themselves, and a policy with no payroll on it costs the minimum and nothing more.

Go deeper on any of these

Need this handled?

Reading about it and having it handled are different jobs, and the second one is ours. We place the accounts other brokers decline — claims history, a cancellation, an unusual operation, a business nobody wants to underwrite twice — and we will tell you when the policy you already have is the right one. Tell us the situation and a licensed human replies the same business day.