Three Esthetician Insurance Review

Pros Explained

• Highest possible grade for financial strength from AM Best: Berkshire Hathaway, the underwriter for Three, has an A++ (Superior) financial strength rating with AM Best, which indicates a superior ability to pay claims to policyholders. 
• High coverage limits up to $10 million: With Three, you can choose coverage limits up to $10 million. This is the highest coverage limit we’ve seen from some of the best esthetician insurance companies. 
• Comprehensive coverage: Three’s comprehensive policy covers business liability, business interruption, cyber, worker’s comp, business auto, and business property and asset coverage. This level of coverage may make you less vulnerable to coverage gaps and often requires the addition of riders or endorsements with other companies.
• Policy is only three pages long: The company is called Three for a reason. Its flagship policy is only three-pages long, which may be much shorter than comparable insurance policies (especially with multiple endorsements). Plus, you can see a sample policy directly on the website. This is a nice feature that speaks to the company’s transparency.

Cons Explained

• Must speak to an advisor to apply or update: You can get an online quote, but you’ll need to speak with an advisor to apply. A phone call is required to add additional insureds as well—some providers let you do this instantly online. 
• Doesn’t offer endorsements: While the Three policy is designed to cover everything businesses need, there might be specific coverages or endorsements you want to add that Three doesn’t offer. 
• Coverage is claims-made: The policy must be active at the time of a claim in order for coverage to apply. This is inferior to occurrence-form coverage, which covers claims as long as the policy was active at the time of the incident. 
• Policy is only three pages long: There are advantages and disadvantages to this. With simplicity and the removal of a “mountain of legalese,” it’s possible that questions of coverage and liability could arise.

Complaint Index

The Three insurance policy is underwritten by Berkshire Hathaway Direct Insurance Company, which has received more complaints than expected with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) over the last three years relative to its market share. The NAIC reports a complaint index for each insurance provider annually based on the number of consumer complaints it receives. An index of 1.00 indicates an average number of complaints for the company’s size, while an index less than 1.00 is preferable. Over the last three years, Berkshire Hathaway Direct has had an average complaint index of 1.22, which indicates somewhat more complaints than expected. 

Third-Party Ratings

Berkshire Hathaway receives high praise from AM Best, an independent credit ratings agency that evaluates insurance companies for financial stability. In fact, Three Insurance was our top pick for financial strength of all the best esthetician insurance companies we reviewed. Berkshire Hathaway holds an A++ (Superior) financial strength rating from AM Best, the highest possible grade available from the agency. AM Best ratings are important because they indicate the likelihood that an insurer will be able to pay claims to policyholders. 

Competition

Policies Available

Three Insurance offers one simple policy that provides a variety of business coverages. 

The Three Insurance Policy

The Three policy is approximately three pages long and easy to understand. It includes the following coverages: 

• Business liability: This covers professional liability, general liability, liquor liability, employment practices liability, and fiduciary liability.
• Business interruption: This helps replace lost business income due to a covered incident and can cover extra expenses. 
• Cyber: This includes data breach and cyber liability insurance, which is essential for businesses that collect customer information online. 
• Workers' compensation: This pays for medical bills and lost wages should an employee become injured on the job. Most states require workers' compensation coverage by law for businesses with a certain number of employees. 
• Business auto: This provides comprehensive coverage with cargo liability for business vehicles and includes hired and non-owned vehicles. 
• Property and assets: This helps pay for damage to your property or equipment due to a covered event, such as a fire or theft. 

Customer Service

Three Insurance maintains extended customer service hours on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. EST. You can call 1-800-507-4495 to speak with a licensed small business advisor. In our interactions with the customer service department, we’ve experienced short wait times and helpful and friendly representatives. You can also start a quote with Three at any time, but you’ll need to speak with an advisor to apply. 

Is Three Esthetician Insurance Right for Me?

If you have a business with employees and you or your employees drive for business purposes, Three could be a good fit. If you have high coverage needs, consider Three as well. Getting one comprehensive policy could save you money and help avoid coverage gaps, but you may be able to reduce costs by looking elsewhere if you only need basic general and professional liability. Also, make sure you’re comfortable with the simplicity of the Three policy before signing up.  

Our Methodology: How We Review Esthetician Insurance Companies

To determine the best insurance companies for estheticians, we collected 20 data points on the top esthetician insurance companies by premium. These data points include:

• Financial strength
• Cost
• Policy types and features
• Exclusions
• Consumer complaints
• Online tools
• Billing options
• Coverage limits

We gave preference to companies with top ratings from AM Best, a low rate of customer complaints, and those that offer coverage based on the date of the occurrence as opposed to when the claim was made. Companies with high aggregate coverage limits, monthly billing, low premiums, online purchase options, and those that offer property coverage got ratings boosts. To rank the companies we researched, we applied the following weights to each customer-focused category:

• Types of coverage and features: 40% 
• Financial stability: 20% 
• Consumer complaints: 25%
• Online purchase: 10%
• Billing options: 5%

We delved further into product and company specifics to determine which companies were best for which types of consumers. Using this research, we determined which companies offer the best esthetician insurance.

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