The Hartford business insurance

Overview

The Hartford is ranked No. 6 among U.S. business insurers by 2025 commercial lines direct premiums written, with $14.61 billion, based on NAIC market share data. That is about 3.01% of the national commercial market. It is the country's largest writer of workers' compensation, second in commercial multiple peril (the package and BOP business), fourth in products liability, sixth in ocean marine, seventh in fidelity bonds, and tenth in both commercial auto and surety.

The NAIC group is filed as Hartford Fire & Casualty Group. Inside it sit Hartford Fire Insurance Company and a long list of pooled affiliates whose names show up on policy declarations: Hartford Casualty, Hartford Underwriters, Hartford Accident and Indemnity, Twin City Fire, Trumbull, Sentinel, Property and Casualty Insurance Company of Hartford, Hartford Lloyds and several regional Hartford companies. The group also holds Navigators Insurance Company and Navigators Specialty (the specialty and wholesale arm), Maxum Casualty and Maxum Indemnity (excess and surplus lines), and older legacy companies such as First State and New England Insurance.

The parent is The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc., a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange as HIG and headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. It changed its name from The Hartford Financial Services Group on February 6, 2025. Besides business insurance it runs group benefits and an AARP-endorsed personal auto and home program. It sells mainly through independent agents and brokers, but small businesses can also quote and buy direct. Do not confuse it with HSB (Hartford Steam Boiler), a separate company owned by Munich Re.

History

Hartford Fire Insurance Company was incorporated in Hartford in 1810. The company's own lore includes insuring Abraham Lincoln's Springfield home, bonding construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, which opened in 1937, and running the Junior Fire Marshal safety program since 1947. The stag logo is taken from Sir Edwin Landseer's 1851 painting Monarch of the Glen.

ITT Corporation bought the company in 1970. When ITT split itself into three companies, it distributed the shares of ITT Hartford Group to its stockholders on December 19, 1995, making The Hartford independent again; the holding company became The Hartford Financial Services Group in 1997.

The modern shape of the company came from a string of deals:

• 2016: bought Maxum Specialty Insurance Group, an Alpharetta, Georgia, E&S writer, for $168 million in cash, closing July 29.
• 2017: agreed in October to buy Aetna's U.S. group life and disability business for $1.45 billion, building out the benefits segment.
• 2018: sold its life and annuity business to what is now Talcott Resolution on May 31.
• 2019: closed the $2.1 billion purchase of The Navigators Group on May 23, adding marine, construction, energy, management liability and an assumed reinsurance unit (Navigators Re).
• 2021: the board rejected an unsolicited $23.2 billion takeover proposal from Chubb in March. In September it agreed to pay $787 million into the Boy Scouts of America abuse-claims fund in exchange for a release under its historical policies.
• 2026: agreed on June 3 to sell Hartford Funds, its mutual fund business, to Wellington Management (expected to close in the first quarter of 2027), and on August 4 to buy Equitable's employee benefits business, about $500 million of premium, with closing expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.

On September 30, 2026, the board named President A. Morris "Mo" Tooker, who joined in 2015 as chief underwriting officer after leading General Reinsurance, to succeed Christopher Swift as CEO on March 1, 2027. Swift becomes executive chair and plans to step down from that role in the second half of 2027.

Business insurance products

The Hartford reports business insurance in three units. In 2025 they earned $13.9 billion in premium: Small Business $5.7 billion, Middle & Large Business $4.5 billion and Global Specialty $3.6 billion.

Small business. The core product is the business owner's policy (general liability, property and business income in one form), with employment practices liability available as an add-on. Around it sit monoline general liability, workers' comp, professional liability, commercial property, commercial auto and cyber. The company says a BOP may get a discount of up to 10% when the same business also buys its workers' comp. It reports insuring more than 1.3 million small businesses.

Middle and large business. For companies with more than $10 million in revenue, the menu covers commercial auto, property and large property, general and complex liability, umbrella and excess, workers' comp including national accounts and captive arrangements, builder's risk, environmental, inland marine, multinational programs and program business.

Global Specialty. This is mostly the former Navigators: ocean marine, surety and fidelity bonds, directors and officers, errors and omissions, fiduciary, cyber, financial institutions, credit and political risk, and kidnap and ransom. It also includes wholesale casualty and property through Navigators' wholesale distribution unit and treaty reinsurance through Navigators Re.

E&S. Maxum and Navigators write excess and surplus lines business through wholesale brokers. The Hartford's second-quarter 2026 results cited double-digit growth in its E&S binding business inside Small Business.

Who it insures

The small business appetite is wide. The company's industry pages run from artisan contractors, HVAC, plumbing, roofing and other contractors to Restaurant insurance, bakeries, food trucks and bars, retail stores, salons, fitness studios, pet services, medical and dental offices, technology firms, consultants and other professional services. Middle-market appetite guides cover construction, manufacturing, technology, life sciences, healthcare, energy, real estate, financial services, wholesale and distribution, education, media, and private equity portfolio companies.

The sweet spot is the main-street account with a BOP and a modest payroll, and the middle-market account that wants workers' comp, auto, liability and property from one carrier with risk engineering behind it. Risks that fall outside the admitted small business appetite can sometimes be placed with Maxum or Navigators' E&S companies through a wholesale broker instead.

How to buy

Most of the premium comes through independent agents and brokers; middle-market and specialty accounts go through an agent or broker. Small businesses have a second door. They can get a price online on the company's business insurance page or call the sales line at 855-440-1078 (weekdays, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET). The Hartford also sells small business coverage through affiliate and embedded partnership programs. Navigators wholesale and Maxum are reached through wholesale brokers, not retail agents.

Online, policyholders can log in to pay bills, view policy documents and start or track claims; business bills can also be paid without logging in. The mobile app handles policy details, billing and claims.

Claims

Business claims for workers' comp, general liability, commercial property and commercial auto can be reported online, which the company says takes about 10 minutes, or by phone at 800-327-3636, answered 24/7. The same number handles Multinational Choice claims. Flood claims go to a dedicated line, 800-787-5677, and auto glass claims to 800-892-8484.

On workers' comp, injured workers fill approved prescriptions through Express Scripts with no out-of-pocket cost. For storms there is a catastrophe claims operation, and a Special Investigations Unit handles suspected fraud. Middle-market accounts also get risk engineering, loss control and injury prevention services, which matter when an experience modification rate is driving the comp premium.

Financial strength and ratings

AM Best affirmed the A+ (Superior) financial strength rating of Hartford Fire Insurance Company and its pooled affiliates on July 22, 2026, with a long-term issuer credit rating of "aa" and a stable outlook. Navigators Insurance Company, Maxum Indemnity and Maxum Casualty carry the same ratings. S&P raised its rating on Hartford's core insurers to AA- in August 2025, and Moody's raised its rating on the main P&C companies to Aa3 in October 2025. As of October 2026 the company's investor relations site lists Hartford Fire at A+ (AM Best), Aa3 (Moody's) and AA- (S&P), all with stable outlooks.

The results behind those ratings are solid. For full-year 2025 the company reported net income of $3.8 billion. In the second quarter of 2026, Business Insurance wrote $4.0 billion of premium, up 5%, at a 91.4 combined ratio. Small Business ran an 85.9 combined ratio, but Middle & Large Business ran 101.9 after unfavorable prior-year reserve development and heavier property losses. The company also raised general liability and commercial auto reserves that quarter, a reminder that liability lawsuits are pressuring even well-run casualty writers.

Strengths and weaknesses

The Hartford is one of the few carriers that can write a five-employee shop online in the morning and a multistate middle-market workers' comp program in the afternoon, with AA-range ratings behind both. The trade-offs are those of any large standard carrier. Small business pricing and appetite are driven by a rules-based system with less room for underwriter discretion. The middle-market book has been more volatile than the small business book lately. And big corporate changes are underway: a new CEO in 2027, the Hartford Funds sale and the Equitable benefits deal.

• Strengths: Largest U.S. workers' comp writer, with 24/7 claim reporting, a pharmacy network and risk engineering built to scale. Top-tier ratings, A+ from AM Best and AA- from S&P, reaffirmed or upgraded in 2025–2026. Online quoting and phone sales for small businesses alongside a deep independent-agent network. Specialty and E&S capacity through Navigators and Maxum under the same roof.
• Weaknesses: Highly hazardous or unusual small risks often fall outside the admitted small business appetite. Middle & Large Business ran a 101.9 combined ratio in the second quarter of 2026, which can mean tighter terms on property-heavy or loss-heavy accounts. Coverage bought direct online comes without an agent's review of exclusions and limits. The company added to general liability and commercial auto reserves in the second quarter of 2026, so expect continued rate pressure in those lines.

How to contact The Hartford