Idaho Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

Workers' comp in Idaho: what's different

Idaho runs a competitive market with a state fund in it. You can insure through a private carrier, through the Idaho State Insurance Fund, or, if your business is large enough and the Idaho Industrial Commission (IIC) approves, by self-insuring. The IIC enforces the coverage rules and handles claims. Rates are a separate track: NCCI files rates, not loss costs, with the Idaho Department of Insurance (DOI), which reviews and accepts them.

Who must carry coverage

Idaho's Title 72 reaches all private employment unless Idaho Code 72-212 exempts it. In plain terms, the IIC says an employer with even one full-time, part-time, seasonal, or occasional employee needs a policy, and it has to be in place before the first employee starts work. Part-time workers do not count as "casual" labor.

The statutory exemptions that matter most to small firms:

• Owners. Sole proprietors, working partners, and working LLC members are exempt. So is a corporate officer who owns at least 10% of the voting stock and, if the corporation has a board, also sits on it. Other corporate officers are employees under 72-204.
• Family. In a sole proprietorship (or a single-member LLC taxed as one), relatives who live in the owner's household are exempt. A sole proprietor's relatives who live elsewhere are covered unless they file an election for exemption (Form IC53) with the IIC.
• Other exempt work. Household domestic service, casual employment, outworkers, commission-only real estate salespeople and associate brokers, volunteer ski patrollers, and work governed by federal compensation law.

Exempt people can opt back in. Under 72-213 the employer and its insurer file a written election (Form IC52) with the IIC.

Contractors face shared liability. Under 72-216, if a subcontractor below you has no coverage, you owe its injured worker compensation just as if that worker were yours, and you may then recover from the subcontractor. The IIC decides whether contract workers are really employees case by case, using a right-to-control test.

Out-of-state employers need an Idaho-endorsed policy for anyone who telecommutes from a home in Idaho, whatever their hours. Firms from one of the seven reciprocal states can ask for a six-month extraterritorial certificate for temporary or intermittent Idaho work, approved before the work begins.

Where coverage comes from

Idaho Code 72-301 gives employers two routes: insure with a carrier the DOI has authorized, or self-insure with IIC approval and a deposit or surety bond held by the state treasurer.

The State Insurance Fund was created by 72-901 as an independent body corporate politic whose purpose is insuring employers. The state is not liable for its debts. It is regulated as a mutual insurer under the Idaho insurance code and may not write coverage in other states. The IIC calls it quasi-governmental, not a state agency. Cities, counties, and school districts must insure with the fund unless it turns them down. That same wording shows the fund can refuse a risk. The IIC points employers that private carriers and the fund both decline to the assigned risk pool, covered below.

Who sets rates

NCCI, a licensed rating organization in Idaho, files recommended rates for insurers each year. The DOI reviews the filing. Once it is accepted, a carrier may use NCCI's rates as filed or ask the DOI to approve an adjustment.

For January 1, 2026, the DOI accepted a 2.5% average rate cut, its ninth straight annual decrease. On October 15, 2026, the DOI announced it had accepted a 0.1% average decrease for January 1, 2027, and said rates for individual job types may vary. We had not found the 2027 class rate table on an official site as of October 16, 2026, so the class rates below are the ones for policies that take effect in 2026.

Experience rating

NCCI's Idaho filing includes values for its Experience Rating Plan manual. NCCI's experience rating guide does not list Idaho among the states where the plan does not apply or where a separate bureau computes mods, which points to NCCI as the source of Idaho mods. You qualify for a mod once your premium reaches the state's eligibility point, set in NCCI's plan manual. We did not find that dollar figure on a public official source.

If no insurer will write you

An employer turned down by private carriers and the State Insurance Fund can apply to the assigned risk pool, which NCCI administers (800-622-4123). NCCI's Idaho instructions require two refusals, one from your current carrier if you have one. For 2026 policies, the NCCI filing the DOI accepted set the assigned risk surcharge at 45%, down from 50%. Assigned risk employers whose standard premium, as that plan measures it, reaches $250,000 or more fall under a mandatory Loss Sensitive Rating Plan.

Penalties for going uninsured

Failing to insure is a misdemeanor under 72-319, and officers of a corporation, or managers and members of an LLC, who had authority to buy coverage and did not can be charged personally. They can also be held personally liable for benefits that accrue while the business is uninsured.

An injured worker of an uninsured employer receives full benefits plus an extra 10%, along with costs and attorney's fees (72-210). The IIC can also sue for a penalty of $2 per employee per day or $25 per day, whichever is greater, for up to three consecutive years. If you were already assessed that penalty in the previous three years, another failure adds $500 for the second time and $1,000 for the third or any later one. A district court can order the business to stop operating until it has coverage.

Your ongoing obligations

• Post the notice. Display the IIC's notice that you have coverage, with your insurer's name and address. Not posting it is a misdemeanor (72-312).
• Report injuries within 10 days. Any injury or illness that needs a physician's care or costs a day or more away from work goes to the IIC on its First Report of Injury or Illness form within 10 days. You can mail it or email the PDF to [email protected], and send a copy to your insurer. Willfully failing to report is a misdemeanor (72-602).
• Never charge workers for coverage. Deducting any part of the premium from wages is a misdemeanor (72-318).
• Watch your policy status. Your insurer reports the policy to NCCI, which passes proof of coverage to the IIC. For a policy meant to run longer than 180 days, a cancellation or nonrenewal generally needs 60 days' notice filed with the IIC, or 10 days for reasons such as nonpayment (72-311). Anyone can look up an employer's carrier on the IIC's coverage verification page.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

Premium = (payroll / 100) x rate per $100 x experience mod

The rate below is NCCI's voluntary market rate for code 5551 (roofing) in the Idaho table effective January 1, 2026, which the IIC publishes. It applies to policies that take effect in 2026. Because Idaho filings are rates rather than loss costs, no loss cost multiplier is needed. The payroll and the mod are hypothetical.

• Annual roofing payroll (hypothetical): $250,000
• Code 5551 rate: $11.303 per $100
• Experience mod (hypothetical): 0.95

Step by step

1. Payroll in hundreds: $250,000 / 100 = 2,500
2. Manual premium: 2,500 x $11.303 = $28,257.50
3. Apply the mod: $28,257.50 x 0.95 = $26,844.625, or $26,844.63 rounded to the cent

The 2026 NCCI filing the DOI accepted also lists a $100 expense constant, which would bring this example to $26,944.63. A carrier may use an approved adjustment to NCCI's rate, so your quote can differ. A policy starting on or after January 1, 2027 will use the newly accepted table. The 0.1% decrease is a statewide average, so the change for code 5551 may differ.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Idaho Industrial Commission, Employer Information
• Idaho Industrial Commission, Employers FAQs
• Idaho Industrial Commission, Employer Compliance Department
• Idaho Industrial Commission, Facts for Employers (brochure)
• Idaho Industrial Commission, Extraterritorial Coverage and Reciprocity
• Idaho Industrial Commission, Verify an Employer's Coverage
• Idaho Industrial Commission, How to Report Proof of Coverage in Idaho
• Idaho Industrial Commission, First Report of Injury or Illness form and instructions: https://iic.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/ic_1_froi.pdf ; https://iic.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/ic_1_froi_instructions.pdf
• Idaho Industrial Commission, IC52 Election of Coverage
• Idaho Industrial Commission, Idaho Workers Compensation Rates Effective Jan 1, 2026
• Idaho Industrial Commission, NCCI Idaho Voluntary Rate Filing January 1, 2026 (Part 2 excerpt)
• Idaho Department of Insurance, news release, rates to drop in 2026 (Oct 10, 2025)
• Idaho Department of Insurance, news release, rates to drop in 2027 (Oct 15, 2026)
• Idaho Code 72-203, 72-204, 72-212, 72-213, 72-216 (coverage, exemptions, contractors)
• Idaho Code 72-210 (failure to insure)
• Idaho Code 72-301 (security for compensation)
• Idaho Code 72-311, 72-312, 72-318, 72-319, 72-322 (cancellation, posting, deductions, penalties, assigned risk)
• Idaho Code 72-602 (employer injury reports)
• Idaho Code 72-901 and 72-928 (State Insurance Fund; public corporations)
• NCCI, Summary of the Proposed Idaho Rate Filing Effective January 1, 2026
• NCCI, WCIP State Instructions for Idaho
• NCCI, ABCs of Experience Rating
• NCCI, AIS 2026 State of the Line presentation (code 5551 label)

Sources accessed 2026-10-16.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm details with the Idaho Industrial Commission.

Reviewer: Sam Newland, CFP, Founder of Benefitra. Last updated October 17, 2026. How the calculator works. Editorial policy.