Understanding Monopolistic States for Workers Compensation for Architects/Engineers
There are four states in the United States that prohibit the sale of workers compensation by private insurers. This means these states have a state run workers compensation policy.
The states that have state run workers compensation policies are North Dakota, Ohio, Washington and Wyoming. This means if you have employees working in these states that you must purchase a policy from that state. Here are the links to each states workers compensation information:
North Dakota:
https://www.workforcesafety.com/employers
Ohio
https://info.bwc.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/bwc
Washington
https://lni.wa.gov/insurance/insurance-requirements/do-i-need-a-workers-comp-account/
Wyoming
http://wyomingworkforce.org/businesses/workerscomp/
Many times the project may be a short term project, your firm will need to contact the state fund to find out if the state workers compensation policy will be required.
If you have a policy with a private insurer and have employees located in monopolistic state you may be able purchase a stop gap coverage. This coverage will protect your firm on the employers’ liability piece of the policy. However, your firm will still need to purchase the state policy for employee related injuries. In some cases the stop gap can only be purchased if the state fund does not offer the employers liability coverage. The premium for the stop gap coverage will depend on the salaries related to the employees in the specific state.
If you have employees domiciled in states other than the monopolistic states you can add those locations to the policy. It is important, especially with employees all over the country to list all of those locations on the policy.
Workers Compensation coverage for monopolistic states are available through each state fund for North Dakota, Ohio, Washington and Wyoming. Contact the state fund on the links above to find out the premium and details of the policies. If you have questions please call or email your Professional Underwriter agent.
