Thimble Insurance describes themselves as a quick-thinking insurance company that serves fast-moving businesses. The company offers a variety of coverage options and claims that businesses can receive coverage in mere minutes. Thimble provides small business insurance general liability coverage, professional liability, errors and omissions insurance, business equipment insurance, business owners policy coverage, commercial property insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, event insurance and drone insurance. Like most insurance providers, pricing is based on the type and amount of coverage you need, as well as the size and location of your business.
Thimble Pros and Cons
Thimble is backed by Markel Insurance Company, an established insurer with a history of working with small businesses, an area of insurance where Thimble is making a name for itself. AdvisorSmith breaks down some of Thimble Commercial Insurance’s pros and cons.
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AdvisorSmith Rating For Thimble
- Overall rating: [4] / 5 stars
- Coverage options: [4] / 5 stars
- Cost: [4] / 5 stars
- Ratings and complaints: [4]/ 5 stars
- Digital experience: [4] / 5 stars
- Customer service: [4] / 5 stars
Thimble Coverage Options
At this time, Thimble offers 10 kinds of insurance coverage. The company allows for insurance bundling which may be very attractive to small business owners who don’t want or need a one-size-fits-all solution. Here are the types of insurance Thimble currently offers:
- Small Business Insurance: Small business insurance should cover your exact business’s needs and properly cover your assets and liabilities.
- General Liability: Protects a business against the financial consequences of third-party bodily injury, property damage, and personal and advertising injury.
- Professional Liability: Thimbles policies provide coverage for actual or alleged negligence, defense of claims that are false or frivolous, and claims for damages.
- Errors and Omissions Insurance: Errors and omissions insurance covers you if your client alleges you made a mistake that lost them money, even if it turns out you’re not guilty.
- Business Equipment Insurance: Protects your business equipment that is both owned and/or rented.
- Business Owners Policy: Thimble combines general liability insurance and commercial property insurance in a bundle coverage plan.
- Commercial Property Insurance: Helps safeguard your building and everything inside, you will be able to purchase both business building insurance and business contents insurance through Thimble.
- Workers’ Compensation Insurance: Helps cover expenses related to situations where an employee of yours could have been hurt or injured at work or find themselves critically ill or injured from circumstances unrelated to work. This kind of insurance plan will cover things like employee accident or injury, employee illness, employee disability, and repetitive stress injury claims.
- Event Insurance: Event insurance through Thimble covers both event liability and liquor liability. Thimble policies do not currently cover event cancellation.
- Drone Insurance: Thimble allows you to insure and fly any drone that meets your policy’s weight limit. You’ll receive immediate proof of insurance and liability limits up to $10 million underwritten by Global Aerospace, Inc.
Thimble Insurance Cost
Reviewers seem to find Thimble an affordable and efficient option. One user from Trustpilot, an external review collection site, sang the provider’s praises noting that, “At the last minute, I found out I needed insurance to host an event at a venue. Thimble made the process quick and painless. For about $20.00, I had 2 million dollars in insurance for 2 hours in NYC.”
This review and others like it value the efficiency and price of Thimble–but when acting so fast on a quote and plan, sometimes in as little as just a few hours, it leaves us to wonder if the cost is really the best rate possible, or is it simply reasonable? Here’s a breakdown:
Generally, the cost of small business insurance is based on a few main factors which includes things like location, occupation, coverage limits, and overall size of your business team. General liability insurance from Thimble starts at $17 per month, so with added coverage you can expect to pay at least that to start. The cost of the commercial property liability policy will also depend on certain factors like your liability limit and the location of your property.
With working compensation insurance rates, Thimble will consider factors like state class codes, risk levels, employee pay rates, and your business’ claims history. These costs will also vary from business to business, so Thimble advises those interested to go through the virtual quote process to get a better idea.
Thimble starts at $36 per month for Professional Liability. Business Equipment Protection starts at $6 per month, and it’s available with General Liability Coverage on any Thimble monthly policy, which can total up to about $23 a month together. For Errors and Omissions (or E&O) coverage policies arranged by Thimble generally start at $36 a month–but each plan will be unique to your unique needs. For Event Insurance you can expect to pay flat fees ranging from $115 to $340 for a one-day event insurance policy that lasts for up to 5 days (in case of rain dates, etc.). The price will also factor in the number of attendees, ranging from 15 to 1,000 people. As for Drone Insurance, Thimble says, “Tell us where you’ll fly, we tell you the price.” Therefore, the fee ranges will be somewhat on par with these other estimates, but can vary.
Thimble Ratings and Complaints
Thimble has A-ratings from both AM Best and Standard & Poor’s. Clients seem to really appreciate the quickness of quotes and affordable pricing. That being said, there is not much feedback available around the actual claims process.
One review from the website states, “Thimble literally saved my business. I didn’t even know I needed insurance; I was asked for a copy of it at 8:30 AM. By 1:00 PM I was insured. Great company!”
But of course, on-site reviews will be glowing, so we took a look at what Trustpilot had to say too. Based on over 900+ reviews, Thimble is rated 4.7 out of 5 stars, garnering a rating in the “excellent” territory. Here’s a glimpse at one rave:
“hank God I did not need to use the insurance but obtaining it was a breeze!”
Still, not everyone was thrilled, one user had less than stellar things to say:
“Smooth process until it was transferred to Sedgwick. I provided all the information receipts, photos, and videos requested immediately. I have left several phone calls, emails and texts. Called the superior and even gave an extension to the time prior to submitting this review. No questions have been answered and my claim is still sitting (with no reason).”
Thimble Insurance Digital Experience
Thimble’s website is not overwhelming, it is organized in a user-friendly fashion and you can shop for quotes by clicking through specific policies or your business type. You can get a quote, buy a policy and file a claim online, via their app or over the phone and their digital platform makes it pretty easy to do all of these things.
Thimble Insurance Customer Service
In terms of customer service, one reviewer says that their experience was less than ideal:
“Worst customer service and will never recommend to anyone. I needed a very simple COI done, and over the course of 4 days was never able to speak with anyone or even live chat, just automated email after automated email. I was forced to pull out of my job commitment due to their lack of service. DO NOT USE.”
Other reviewers seem to praise specific agents they worked with throughout the process, but not many reviews speak to overall customer service experiences.
Other Services and Features That Thimble Offers
We mentioned it briefly before, but it’s worth repeating. Thimble allows for scalable plans so you can get coverage by the job, month, or year. You can choose how you pay and then upgrade when your business really takes off. This is not considered a typical offering and while it does pose some risk–if you end up needing coverage you don’t actually have coverage for–it is a nice option for those who are just starting out and don’t want to incur unnecessary costs.
What Is The Thimble Claims Process?
Thimble’s website makes the claim process seem fairly simple whether or not you are the policy holder. Anyone can visit their Report a Claim page and Thimble policy members can also access claims from their account. Be prepared to answers a few questions like:
- What is the policy number of the insured?
- What is your relationship to the claim?
- What is your contact information?
You’ll then have to confirm the policy they have on file and share a short summary of what happened. After you submit your claim, Thimble will then provide some information in case you have questions or want to learn more about claim processing.
How to Get Quotes From Thimble
Thimble’s quote process is pretty simple, you can get insurance quotes online from their website, their app or over the phone.
Bottom Line: Is Thimble a Good Company?
Yes-ish, if you need coverage in a jiff you can get it quickly and for a fair price. That being said there is some ambiguity around how the insurance experience is if you actually have to file a claim. And while everyone wants insurance but never wants to have to use it, you want to know that if you do need to use it, the experience will be as seamless as possible.
Alternatives to Thimble
When compared to older names in the insurance biz, like Progressive, Thimble really shines. In terms of ease of getting a quote Thimble thrives on speed and simplicity and Progressive doesn’t lag too far behind. That being said, Progressive really struggles with customer satisfaction while Thimble users seem content overall.
Thimble compares more closely to Embroker in some ways, but falls short in others. Embroker allows you to shop online or work alongside a broker to customize the right coverage. And while Embroker acts fast–they do take the time and attention necessary to confirm you are getting the best possible plan. While you can get some low-cost policies with Thimble quickly, you may find that your actual plan doesn’t cover all that you truly need.
You might also want to compare Thimble to Chubb. While Thimble is a newer, boutique-like company, Chubb is one of the global commercial leaders in insurance. Chubb has an A++ rating from AM Best and an AA rating from Standard & Poor’s, in addition to being rated #1 in J.D. Power’s small commercial insurance customer satisfaction study. So if you thought you couldn’t get any higher than Thimble’s A-rating, think again. Customer satisfaction may be the most important factor when comparing insurance options. So you may want to see what all the Chubb buzz is about for yourself before settling on a Thimble plan.
