How to Buy Workers Compensation Insurance Online

Purchasing workers compensation insurance online is becoming more common. Employers who understand the basics of workers compensation are comfortable with online comparison sites like www.WorkersCompensation.com or www.FreeCompQuotes.com where they can enter their basic information and receive several quotes on their workers’ compensation coverage.

Online quotes are often a fast and easy way for employers to determine the probable cost of their work comp coverage for their next policy year. To obtain a quote, the employer will need the basic information about their company including:

1. The name of the company
2. The Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) or Social Security Number (SS#)
3. The type of entity – corporation, partnership, sole proprietor, etc.
4. The business address – street, city, state and zip code
5. The proposed start date for the work comp coverage
6. The years in business
7. The number of employees
8. The annual payroll
9. The number of prior work comp claims
10. A detailed description of the business operation {See the Helpful Hint below}
11. The employer’s contact information – contact’s name, telephone number, e-mail address and the best time to be contacted

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When a request for a workers compensation quote is made online, the online website copies and duplicates the basic information noted above. The website forwards the information to the workers’ compensation insurers that sell coverage in the state where the employer is domiciled. [Populous states may have hundreds of work comp insurers, but many insurers only write specific types of businesses]. Once a quote is submitted to one underwriter, even if you submit a duplicate request through another online provider, the underwriters will not quote more than once on that particular piece of business, thus it’s not useful to submit dozens of requests to many different sites.

The insurers use the business description to identify the class of business. They use the payroll to calculate the amount of premium to be charged. After evaluating your business risk, they forward to you the proposed premium for the policy year.

When the insurance company submits the quote to you, they keep an electronic record of the quote in case you select them for the placement of your work comp coverage. The information is stored in their computer by the FEIN or SS#. Therefore, if you decide to go to a second website for online quotes, it usually does not do you any good. The second website submits the same information to the same workers’ compensation insurers. Their computers note the duplication of the FEIN or SS#, and send the same proposed premium to the second website or they do not respond at all. [The work comp insurers are too savvy to bid against themselves].

To rate an employer for new coverage, the workers compensation insurers use either the state rating bureau’s employers’ classifications or the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) employers’ classifications (in the 34 states using NCCI). Hence, all work comp insurers in a state are using the same rate tables, the same payroll and the same loss experience to create your quote for workers’ comp coverage. This often results in the employer receiving the same quote from multiple insurers.

There are a few variables that can change the results. {This is the Helpful Hint noted above}. Some insurers will give a discount of 5% to 10% for certain types of employers. When you complete the detailed business operation description section of the online quote request, add in any of the following items that apply to your business:

1. Membership in large trade associations or other group organizations
2. A safety program that has been approved by the trade association or state government
3. A drug-free workplace program
4. A history of zero (or a very low number of work comp claims in the last 5 years)

Additional information you can enter into the detailed business operation description box that can reduce your premium entails taking the time to separate the payroll into several categories. This can reduce your premium as some jobs are considered to have lower risk of injury than others. Enter in the detailed job description window the separate annual payroll for these groups:

1. Clerical
2. Outside salespersons
3. Collectors
4. Messengers and their helpers
5. Drivers and their helpers
6. Chauffeurs and their helpers
7. Drafting employees
8. All other employees combined

Workers compensation insurers can be very choosy in the types of businesses they are willing to write coverage for. Businesses that have a higher than average risk of injuries can have a difficult time getting work comp coverage and often end up with only 1 or 2 insurance carriers providing quotes. If you are an accounting firm with all desk jobs, there will be numerous insurers willing to provide you with a quote for your business. If you are a dynamite manufacturer or asbestos miner, your online request for a quote might not get any replies. In industries where coverage is hard to find, the price quoted is the price it is going to be and it isn’t going to change.

After you have obtained your online quotes, we will be glad to assist you in evaluating the insurers who have provided the quotes. In addition to the price quoted to you, we can assist in your decision by providing information on the insurer’s reputation for claim service, customer service and value added services such as risk management assistance.

If your company has a poor safety record, and a disproportionate number of injures for your annual payroll, you may not receive any online quotes. However, you are still required to have workers’ compensation insurance. The states address this in different ways. Some states will place your coverage in a state operated insurance fund. Other states will place your coverage in an assigned risk pool. If you are having trouble placing your work comp coverage, please feel free to contact us for assistance.

If you are an employer in Ohio, North Dakota, Washington state or Wyoming, you have to purchase your work comp coverage from the state government.

If you have not shopped around for workers compensation insurance in the last few years, an online quote is an excellent way to check the price of your current coverage but you have to be responsive to the agent’s requests for additional information. If you have recently received a large premium increase for up-coming policy year, now is a good time to obtain an online quote.

WORK COMP CALCULATOR: http://www.LowerWC.com/calculator.php