If you have worksites or employees in more than one state, your workers’ compensation coverage may be more complex than you care to admit. Workers’ compensation insurance written in one state may not protect you if employees are hurt or disabled in a different state. Some policies cover multiple states; others restrict coverage to the particular state where the policy was written. Additionally, some states solely permit claims to be covered by policies written within that state.
Work with the Right Agent
Your workers’ compensation agent should have a background in handling multi-state enterprises. Additionally, your agent must be licensed in each of the states in which you do business and should understand the differences of each state’s workers’ compensation rules. For instance, North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, and Wyoming require workers’ compensation purchased through their exclusive state program. Thus, if you are based in one of those states, you’ll need to have a separate policy for any employees you have in another state. Conversely, if you’re based somewhere else but have workers in any of those states, you’ll procure other coverage via their state fund. Also, many states treat uninsured independent contractors or subs identical to employees for workers’ compensation needs, so your agent must understand the importance of those state laws as well.
Give your Agent the Facts
Your agent can help you, but only if you share the facts with them. Here are some things they will need to know:
· The number of employees.
· Which states your employees were hired in and in which states do they work
· Number of independent contractors, subcontractors and what states they work in
· Which state they were hired in.
If any of the above details change during the year, make sure to inform your agent in a timely fashion so that you remain protected in each state you do business.
Know your Rates
Different states may calculate modifiers differently, resulting in differing premium costs in other states. Consequently, your agent needs to understand how each state that you do business in calculates workers’ compensation premiums so they can assure that you will not be overcharged and that you have the correct premium to budget for.
To learn more about multi-state workers’ compensation coverage, contact TWFG – Jimmy Goodwin today.
