Workers' Compensation Insurance for California Employers.

Before they start working. California requires coverage from day one — no waiting period, no minimum-employee threshold. Working without it is a misdemeanor and exposes you to a stop order. Call us as soon as you've made the hire and we'll have coverage bound the same day in most cases.

The State Fund (officially the State Compensation Insurance Fund) is required by California law to write any employer that can't get coverage elsewhere. It's a guaranteed safety net — and almost always more expensive than what we can find in the private market. We typically get our clients placed with private carriers at significantly lower rates. The State Fund is where we go if the private market won't write you, not the starting point.

Yes, often. Ex-mod calculations are done by the WCIRB (Workers' Comp Insurance Rating Bureau), not your carrier, and they're calculated from data carriers report. Errors aren't rare. The most common ones are claims left open on the books long after they should have been closed, or claim reserves that look inflated. We review every ex-mod calculation on policies we manage and have successfully disputed many. Call us with the ex-mod worksheet and we'll take a look.

Possibly, depending on your business entity. California allows owner exclusions in specific situations — sole proprietors, certain LLC members, corporate officers who own at least 10% of the business. The rules differ by entity type and the exclusion has to be filed correctly with the carrier. An exclusion lowers your premium but also removes your own workers' comp protection if you're injured. We walk through whether it makes sense for your specific situation and file the paperwork if so.

The auditor reconciles your estimated payroll against actual payroll, verifies that class codes match the work being done, and checks for uninsured subcontractors. They'll typically request: payroll registers, federal payroll tax filings (941s), state filings (DE-9), 1099s, certificates of insurance from any subcontractors, and a description of operations. If your actual payroll exceeded the estimate, you owe additional premium. If you can't produce records, the auditor estimates against you — usually unfavorably. We prep you before the audit and review the result before you sign.

Most quotes come back the same business day. For straightforward classifications (office, retail, light service businesses), we can often have an indication within the hour. Higher-risk classifications (roofers, heavy construction, certain manufacturing) may take 24-48 hours because we're shopping more carriers and getting underwriting reviews. We'll tell you upfront what to expect.