How to get the best workers' comp rates as an IT contractor

When you're working as a technology consultant or contractor, one of the most pressing issues is often that of money: do you have enough coming in to cover what needs to go out? Specifically, do you have enough revenue to cover essential business expenses like workers' compensation insurance? This question becomes especially important when you receive a contract from a client that requires you to carry workers’ comp insurance with specific limits.

Luckily, there are ways you can keep your workers’ compensation insurance rates reasonable. Here are four steps you can take to ensure that your expenses are as low as they can be.

When you apply for workers’ compensation coverage with TechInsurance, you begin by selecting your industry and specific line of work in our dropdown menu. When you do that, make sure you’re choosing the profession that best matches what you do. And if you don’t see an option that describes what you do, make sure to tell your agent. Workers’ comp costs are based in large part on the industry. If you accidentally note that you’re in a higher risk industry on your application, the rates you’ll be quoted will be much higher than they should be.

If you have employees, chances are they don’t all do the same thing. And depending on how different their tasks are, they may be exposed to different levels of risk throughout the day. For example, someone who’s installing cables has a higher risk of injury than someone whose work can be completed from a desk. Make sure to work with your agent to verify that every one of your employees is properly classified so that you’re not paying more than you need to for coverage.

This step is not possible if you live in Ohio, North Dakota, Wyoming, or Washington, because those states only offer workers’ comp through a state-run fund. But if you live anywhere else, you can easily compare multiple quotes by applying through TechInsurance. We’re an agent and we work with multiple insurance carriers. When you submit an application, we’ll send you quotes from our partner carriers that have plans available for you. Then you can compare prices and choose the one that best suits your budget.

Carrying workers’ compensation insurance is mandatory in most of the country, but many states allow business owners to exclude themselves from coverage. If you do this, you pay premiums for one fewer person and can save a small but significant amount of money over the course of a year. Of course, know that if you choose to exclude yourself from coverage, you won’t have access to benefits if you are hurt on the job.

Getting low workers’ compensation rates may require a little legwork on your part, but it’s worth it in the long term for the savings you can enjoy.