Pie Insurance vs The Hartford

Pie Insurance is a small-business commercial insurance group whose producer, Pie Insurance Services, sells and administers policies. Its affiliated carriers write workers’ compensation, while selected other products are offered through outside carrier partners. ^{2,5,3,7,8,9,10}

Pie Group Holdings, Inc. owns the public website and is the regulator-listed parent of Pie Casualty Insurance Company. AM Best identifies the rated carrier group as Pie Insurance Group. ^4,24,22

Pie identifies Pie Insurance Services, Inc. as the licensed producer that sells and administers policies; its legal page publishes state licenses but is not a substitute for a current regulator lookup in the buyer’s state. ^5,25

The Hartford is the brand of The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc., a financial holding company whose subsidiaries underwrite property-and-casualty insurance, employee benefits and other financial products. Independent agents and brokers, and Hartford employees who sell insurance, distribute those products. The brand is not itself the insurer on a policy. ^29,50,46,32

Current direct offering pages support workers’ compensation, business owner’s policy, cyber, general liability and professional liability/E&O. The non-workers’ compensation pages describe typical protection; the issued policy and endorsements determine actual coverage. ^3,7,8,10,9,4

Pie says it stopped accepting commercial-auto submissions on December 1, 2025 and will issue no new or renewal commercial-auto policies on or after January 1, 2026. Existing policyholders retain coverage through their policy term and can still use Pie’s claim channels. ^14,20

Pie’s terms say website coverage descriptions are not part of an insurance contract and do not change a policy or endorsement; eligibility and product availability can vary by geography and applicant. ⁴

Documented Hartford offerings for businesses include a business owner’s policy (general liability, commercial property and business income), stand-alone general liability and commercial property, workers’ compensation, cyber (including BOP data-breach add-ons, CyberChoice First Response and FailSafe Technology E&O), miscellaneous professional liability, employment practices liability, commercial auto and hired/non-owned auto, management-liability packages (Private Choice Premier: directors and officers, EPL, fiduciary, crime, kidnap and ransom), commercial umbrella, employee benefits, and inland marine for midsize and large accounts. Actual forms, limits and availability vary by product, state and underwriting. ^{26,34,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,46,49,48}

The Hartford’s employment-practices page states there is no built-in EPL coverage in California, Minnesota, North Dakota or New York, and that the EPL program described on that page does not apply to EPL coverage written in California. Coverages also vary by state and class. ⁴¹

Pie’s dedicated state page and AM Best describe workers’ compensation in 40 states and Washington, D.C., but Pie’s homepage and January 2026 release say 39 states plus D.C. Confirm the business locations and class codes in the current quote or agent portal. ^{11,12,1,13,22}

The reviewed BOP, cyber, general-liability and professional-liability pages do not publish a product-by-state availability table. Pie’s terms also say products are not available in every US area or situation. ^7,8,10,9,4

The Hartford states that products are not available in all states or for all businesses, and that listing a writing company as authorized to transact insurance does not guarantee that coverage will be offered. Workers’ compensation pages also say that in some states coverage can be bought only from a state-run program, not from a private insurer such as The Hartford. ^27,29,37,34

The Hartford operates a California small-business insurance page that lists BOP, general liability, workers’ compensation, commercial auto, commercial property and professional liability and says California buyers can get a quote online or by phone. Hartford Fire Insurance Company is independently listed by the California Department of Insurance as an authorized property-and-casualty insurer (NAIC 19682). Those facts do not identify which affiliate would issue a particular California policy or whether a given SaaS risk will be accepted. ^28,53,29

A small business can start a workers’ compensation quote on Pie’s website or work through an insurance agent; appointed agencies use a separate partner portal. ^2,1,3

The live direct quote starts with the business ZIP code. Pie’s workers’ compensation page says applicants also need their name, business name, annual payroll and class-code information. ^6,3

Pie advertises an online workers’ compensation quote in about three minutes, while expressly stating that individual quote times vary. This is a company claim and does not establish how long underwriting or binding will take for a particular risk. ^3,1

The Hartford says eligible small-business buyers can get a free quote online in minutes or by phone, and can also buy through independent agents. Its public quote-and-buy portal shows steps from Basics through Payment and Confirmation. It also says buyers can purchase without an agent. Commercial auto for small businesses is not currently offered on that online path and may be quoted through a local agency or Tivly. Management-liability pages direct buyers to find a local agent. ^{27,26,33,32,42,44}

Published workers’ compensation options include annual, semi-annual, quarterly and monthly schedules, plus pay-as-you-go. The monthly schedule requires 16.6% upfront followed by ten monthly payments; pay-as-you-go uses reported payroll and no initial deposit. ^17,18

Pie publishes a 3% credit-card convenience fee for new, single-state workers’ compensation policies, except in Florida, Nebraska, Maryland and Rhode Island. Its page does not describe this fee for multi-state or renewal policies. ¹⁷

Pie says each specific or blanket waiver-of-subrogation request carries a charge set by state rules and disclosed individually; the public FAQ does not give a dollar schedule. ¹⁶

Pie says partner agents receive commissions on new and renewal workers’ compensation policies, and its legal footer says compensation rates can vary among insurers. The reviewed current pages do not publish the standard rate or the amount attached to a buyer’s policy. ^21,5

The Hartford discloses that it pays independent producers base commissions (a percentage of premium or a fixed amount per policy), and may also pay contingent or supplemental commissions, fees for services, delegated-underwriting compensation and other benefits. Employees who sell insurance may receive extra compensation beyond salary. Producers may charge their own customer fees that are not Hartford premium. The reviewed pages do not publish the commission rate or any Hartford-charged service fee that would apply to a particular buyer’s policy. Published “average premiums” are company-reported estimates, not quotes. ^50,32,27,26