Coverage Guide

Workers Compensation Insurance

Workers compensation is mandatory in most states for any business with employees. It covers the cost of medical treatment and lost wages when an employee is injured or becomes ill as a result of their work. It also protects the employer from lawsuits arising from workplace injuries. For agents, WC is one of the largest premium lines for contractor and service business accounts — and one of the most detail-intensive to submit.

What workers compensation covers

Medical expenses

All medical treatment costs for employees injured on the job — emergency care, surgery, physical therapy, prescriptions, and ongoing care.

Lost wages

Wage replacement benefits for employees unable to work due to a work-related injury or illness, typically 60–70% of weekly wages depending on the state.

Disability benefits

Temporary and permanent disability benefits for injuries that limit the employee's ability to work, either partially or completely.

Death benefits

Benefits paid to surviving family members if an employee dies as a result of a work-related injury or illness.

Employer's liability

Part B of every WC policy — covers the employer if an employee or their family sues the business directly for a work-related injury, outside the standard WC system.

How WC is priced — class codes and payroll

Workers comp premium is calculated by applying a rate to every $100 of payroll, per class code. Class codes are assigned by NCCI (or a state rating bureau) based on the type of work performed. A roofing contractor has a much higher rate than a clerical office worker — the exposure is fundamentally different.

For accounts with three or more years of loss history, an experience modification factor (EMR) is applied. An EMR below 1.0 reduces premium; above 1.0 increases it. Large or long-tenured accounts with a high EMR are often the hardest to place.

The ACORD 130 requires payroll broken down by class code — which means agents need accurate payroll figures from their clients before a WC application can be submitted. See the full workers comp class code guide for more.

ACORD forms required

ACORD 125Commercial Insurance Application — general business information ACORD 130Workers Compensation Application — payroll, class codes, experience mod

WC audits — what agents need to know

Workers comp policies are subject to annual audits. At the end of the policy year, the carrier audits actual payroll against the estimated payroll used to set premium. If actual payroll was higher, there is an additional premium charge. If lower, the insured gets a refund. Agents who help clients report accurate payroll upfront avoid large audit surprises at renewal. See the workers comp audit guide for a full breakdown.

How AgencyAssist speeds up WC submissions

WC submissions require payroll data that clients often don't have organized. AgencyAssist sends clients a plain-English intake link that walks them through their employee categories and payroll figures. The answers are mapped directly to the ACORD 130 fields — class codes, payroll by category, experience mod information, and multi-state disclosure — and a complete submission package is generated automatically.

Submit WC applications without the back-and-forth

One intake link collects all payroll and class code data. ACORD 130 generated automatically.

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→ ACORD 130 — Workers compensation application guide → Workers comp class codes explained → Workers comp audit guide → What is an experience modification factor?