Roofing is the trade most insurers run from. These are the 8 companies that actually want your business, and how to pick between them.
If you run a roofing company, you already know the drill. You call for a quote, the nice person asks what trade you're in, you say roofing, and the line goes quiet. Half the insurance market won't touch roofers. This guide is about the half that will.
Carrier appetite changes by state. Compare all 14 insurance vendors on VendorRack, free to browse.
How this guide works: every company here already earned its spot in the VendorRack directory, which lists 197 researched, reputation-checked vendors across 14 categories. Nobody paid to be ranked in this guide, and nobody can. We only quote pricing a vendor publishes, we name the tradeoffs out loud, and we label Featured vendors when they appear. VendorRack is built alongside the Contractor Coalition, a community of 13,900+ residential contractors.
Insurance companies price risk, and roofing carries the risk they hate most: heights. Falls drive both the workers' comp math and the liability math, so a lot of carriers simply exclude the trade. Plenty of the slick online insurers that quote a handyman in five minutes will decline a roofer at the first question. Hiscox, for example, is a fine company for light trades and says so, but it declines most high-hazard work like roofing.
That's not a reason to get discouraged. It's a reason to stop calling generalists. The companies below either specialize in construction, run programs built for high-hazard trades, or broker specifically for contractors who keep hearing no.
These are listed in the order most roofing companies should work the phones. Your state, claims history, and mix of work will move names up or down.
A mutual carrier out of Wisconsin that treats construction as its home turf. Acuity bundles general liability, workers' comp, commercial auto, and tools coverage, sold through independent agents who quote it alongside other carriers.
Where It Shines
The Catch
Best For
Roofing companies that want one construction-specialist carrier for everything and can work through an independent agent.
A digital insurance brokerage built only for contractors. It quotes GL, workers' comp, bonds, and builders risk from more than 20 contractor-specialist markets, including the ones that actually want hard-to-place trades like roofing.
Where It Shines
The Catch
Best For
Roofers who've been declined elsewhere, or anyone who wants specialist quotes without agent meetings.
America's largest commercial auto insurer. For a roofing company, this is the truck coverage: pickups, dump trailers, box trucks, and the drivers in them, with contractor GL and BOP available too.
Where It Shines
The Catch
Best For
Covering the trucks. Many roofers pair Progressive auto with a construction carrier for GL and comp.
One of the biggest names in small business insurance, with a long-running construction book. GL, workers' comp, and commercial auto from a carrier your bank and your GC have both heard of.
Where It Shines
The Catch
Best For
Established roofing companies that want a household-name carrier behind their certificates.
Berkshire Hathaway's direct-to-business insurer. You buy online, skip the agent, and the savings from cutting out the middle layer show up in the premium. Workers' comp, GL, commercial auto, and umbrella.
Where It Shines
The Catch
Best For
Small roofing operations comfortable buying direct who want comp and GL without agent overhead.
A digital-first workers' comp specialist priced for small businesses. Quotes come back online in minutes, and the whole product is aimed at crews the big carriers treat as an afterthought.
Where It Shines
The Catch
Best For
Small roofing crews that want workers' comp handled fast without a phone tree.
The administrator of the builders risk program insured by Zurich, which is the default builders risk answer in residential construction. It covers the structure and materials while a build or major remodel is in progress.
Where It Shines
The Catch
Best For
Roofers doing new construction or large remodel projects where builders risk is on you or in the contract.
An online surety bond agency covering contractor license, permit, bid, and performance bonds in all 50 states, often issued the same day you apply.
Where It Shines
The Catch
Best For
Knocking out the license or permit bond your state or city requires without slowing the job down.
| Company | Best At | How You Buy | Where It Writes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acuity | The whole stack from one construction carrier | Independent agent | About 32 states |
| ContractorNerd | Hard-to-place roofing risks | Online, contractor-only brokerage | All 50 states |
| Progressive Commercial | Commercial auto | Online or agent | Nationwide |
| The Hartford | Major-carrier GL, comp, and auto | Agent or online quote | Nationwide |
| biBerk | Direct-priced workers' comp and GL | Direct online | Most states |
| Pie Insurance | Small-crew workers' comp | Online in minutes | 30+ states |
| US Assure | Builders risk | Through your agent | Nationwide |
| SuretyBonds.com | License and permit bonds | Online, often same day | All 50 states |
Get at least three quotes, and make sure the list includes one construction-focused carrier (Acuity, The Hartford, or Nationwide through your agent) and one contractor-only shop like ContractorNerd. Generalist quotes tell you nothing about what specialist pricing looks like.
Then read the exclusions before you sign, not after the claim. Three to check on any roofing GL policy:
One more honest note: cheap and roofing insurance rarely belong in the same sentence. The win isn't the lowest premium, it's a carrier that actually pays and knows the trade when the claim comes.
Browse the Insurance category on VendorRack to see all 14 vendors side by side, free.
Quick answers to what roofers ask most about insurance.
No fluff and no sales pitches. Just the tools, software, and services worth your money, tested by contractors like you.
Insurance, software, financing, and more, all vetted for residential contractors and free to browse.
The directory where residential contractors find the tools, software, and services they actually trust.
