CNA Review

About CNA

CNA is one of the largest commercial property-and-casualty insurers in the United States, founded in 1897, and a long-standing market for contractor and construction risks. Its financial strength is top-tier — AM Best upgraded it to A+ (Superior) in December 2025, with matching A+ ratings from S&P and Fitch — which is exactly what matters when a contractor faces a large liability, workers'-comp, or property claim. CNA's business owner's policy covers 600+ classes, and the carrier writes the full commercial stack (BOP, general liability, workers' comp, commercial auto, umbrella, professional liability, property) that trades operations need.

For a contractor, CNA's appeal is breadth, depth, and stability: as a major carrier with deep commercial underwriting, it can handle small contractors through larger, more complex construction operations, and its appetite spans many trade classes. It is distributed through independent agents and brokers, so an agent matches your specific exposures to CNA's programs and advocates at renewal and on claims.

The trade-offs are the big-carrier ones. CNA is agent-distributed, so there is no instant self-serve online quote — you work through a broker. And like all large carriers, its consumer-facing review scores are mixed (BBB around 3.7, very low on Yelp, higher on some analyst sites), reflecting the claims-process scrutiny that dominates big-insurer reviews rather than its excellent financial ratings. Pricing is exposure-driven and quoted, not headline-cheap.

For an established trades or construction business that wants a financially powerful, broad-appetite commercial carrier with the depth to scale — accessed through an agent — CNA is a strong, mainstream option. Small shops that just want a fast online policy are better served by a direct carrier (biBERK) or digital broker (Huckleberry, Simply Business); CNA's value shows for operations with real commercial exposures.