Workers Compensation Insurance

No, and neither can any other private agency. Ohio runs a monopolistic state fund, so Ohio workers compensation must be purchased directly from the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC), not from a private insurer. Dragon can still place your Ohio general liability, commercial auto, and commercial property coverage, and we will walk you through the BWC application for the workers comp piece. North Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming work the same way.

Pennsylvania workers comp costs range from under $0.10 to more than $15.00 per $100 of payroll, depending on job classification, according to the Pennsylvania Compensation Rating Bureau (PCRB). Typical rates: clerical/office (Code 8810) $0.09-$0.50, retail/light commercial $1.00-$3.00, restaurant (full service) $1.50-$3.50, landscaping $2.49-$3.47, trucking (long-haul) $5.00-$7.00, and roofing $10.00-$15.00+. Your final premium also depends on your specific class codes, experience modification factor, and chosen carrier. For a full walkthrough of how these numbers add up, see our workers compensation insurance guide.

Turnaround varies by payroll details, classification codes, and carrier requirements. We will confirm timing after review.

The two levers that move workers comp premium the most are your experience modification rate (EMR) and accurate class code assignment. A documented safety program, a return-to-work policy that gets injured employees back on light duty quickly, and correcting any misclassified job duties can measurably lower your rate at the next renewal. Many carriers also offer a premium credit for a formal safety committee or completed safety training.

A class code is a 4-digit number assigned by NCCI (or a state bureau like PCRB in Pennsylvania) to a specific type of work, and it is the single biggest driver of your base rate. Every job duty at your business gets mapped to a code; a business with both office staff and field crews will typically carry more than one class code, each rated separately per $100 of payroll.

General contractors typically must carry their own workers comp and also verify that subcontractors carry theirs, since an uninsured subcontractor's injured worker can become the general contractor's liability under most state laws. Request a certificate of insurance from every subcontractor before they start work, and confirm the certificate is still active before final payment, since coverage can lapse mid-project.

Seasonal and part-time employees are covered the same as full-time employees in every state Dragon serves; there is no seasonal exemption. Report seasonal payroll accurately during your policy period rather than waiting for the annual audit, since a large undisclosed seasonal payroll spike is one of the most common reasons for an unexpected audit bill.

Pennsylvania workers comp covers four categories of benefits for injured employees: medical benefits (100% of necessary and reasonable treatment with no deductible or co-pay), wage loss benefits (66.67% of the worker's average weekly wage, subject to the state maximum), specific loss benefits (scheduled lump-sum payments for permanent loss of body parts under PA's statutory loss schedule, such as a hand, eye, or foot), and death benefits (51% of the decedent's average weekly wage to a surviving spouse plus 8% per dependent child). Claims must be reported to the employer within 21 days of the injury to preserve full back-pay eligibility.

Misclassification is one of the most common findings in a workers comp premium audit. If a higher-risk duty, like roof work or machine operation, is reported under a lower-risk clerical code, the carrier can bill you retroactively for the difference once the audit catches it, sometimes going back the full policy term. Reporting job duties accurately from the start, and updating your carrier the moment a role changes, is the simplest way to avoid a surprise bill at renewal.

No, but they come bundled in the same policy. Workers compensation pays the statutory medical and wage-loss benefits an injured employee is entitled to under state law, regardless of fault. Employer's liability, sometimes called Coverage B, is the second part of the same policy and responds when an employee or a family member sues your business outside the workers comp system, for example over gross negligence or a loss-of-consortium claim. Businesses with meaningful operational risk, like construction or trucking, often carry higher employer's liability limits than the state minimum.

It can, but only if the coverage is active and properly documented. If a subcontractor lets their policy lapse and one of their workers is injured on your job site, that injured worker's claim can become your business's liability under most state laws, even though you never employed them directly. Collect a certificate of insurance before work starts and re-verify it before releasing final payment, since a certificate collected months earlier may no longer reflect an active policy.

Not automatically. A policy is written around a specific list of states, usually your primary state plus a broader list of other states where you might occasionally send employees. If you take on a job or hire employees in a state that is not listed on your policy, a claim there may not be handled the way you expect, even if the same carrier operates in that state. Tell Dragon before you take on work or add employees in a new state so we can update your policy or place additional coverage ahead of time, not after a claim.