Workers' compensation

How it works

It pays the employee

Covered job injuries get medical care and wage replacement under your state's rules, whoever was at fault.

For example A cashier slips in your stockroom and misses three weeks. Comp pays the doctor and part of those weeks' pay.

Premium follows payroll

Each kind of job has a class code with its own rate. Premium is your payroll for each code, divided by 100, times that code's rate.

For example A roofer's payroll and the office manager's payroll are rated very differently, even inside the same company.

Your claims history counts

Once a business is big enough, an experience modification raises or lowers the premium based on its own claims compared with similar businesses.

For example Two quiet years with no claims can bring next year's price down.

Owners can often opt out

Rules differ by state, but owners and officers can often leave themselves off the policy, which lowers the cost.

For example A Virginia LLC manager files Form 16A to reject coverage for themselves.

There's a market of last resort

If no regular insurance company will write you, each of our three states has a fallback market.

For example A new business with a risky job class gets turned down twice, then gets coverage through the assigned-risk plan.