Workers Compensation Insurance

You have worked for a company for many years.  You have been following their orders, being there when they wanted you to be there, and leaving when they wanted you to leave.   Weekends or evenings?  If they wanted you to work them, you worked them.  Even though you did not want to.  And how about that occasional Holiday, when they made you feel that work was more important than your family?

Finally, you decide to take that step and pursue your dream of owning your own business.  You plan and organize and get all the essentials that you need to run a business smoothly.  Then you realize there is one thing missing….Worker’s Compensation Insurance.

If you have 3 or more employees that will be working for you, and your business is in the state of West Virginia, you are required to have Workers compensation insurance. 

This gives your employees benefits if they have a work-related injury or illness. This coverage can also help cover your injured or sick employees’ medical expenses along with helping replace wages from lost work time. Now, there are some exemptions for having this coverage. 

• Domestic service employers
• Agricultural services with five or fewer full-time employees
• Casual employers who have employees that don’t work regular hours or have guaranteed hours
• Church employers
• Employers engaged in organized professional sports
• Volunteer rescue squads or volunteer police auxiliary units
• Employers with employees who receive benefits under the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act
• Employers that applied for and received an exemption letter from the West Virginia insurance commissioner

Also, if you use Independent contractors, you don’t have to provide workers’ comp for them.

With this being said, you may think that you don’t need to have this insurance.  After all, you only have 3 employees, and they are very careful in their jobs.  Nothing will happen to them, right?  Well, think about this.  An employee may slip on a wet office floor and goes to the emergency room. Or one may go to the doctor to treat carpal tunnel syndrome from years of typing. Or how about the one who develops respiratory issues after working in poorly ventilated conditions. These are all work-related issues and if you don’t have workers compensation you can be sued with the possibility of losing your entire business and, in addition, can be fined $500 or more on the first offense and up to $25,000 for subsequent offenses.  A repeat offender could be subject to imprisonment for up to two years.

Also, if you don’t pay workers’ compensation contributions, there could be a late penalty of 10% of the computed tax, plus interest. This fee will be between $50 and $500. In addition, a stop-work order could be issued, which prevents you from continuing to do business. This could be the demise of your dream of having your own business. All because you didn’t have Workers Compensation Coverage. 

So, what is your next step to obtain Workers Compensation protection for your employees?  I strongly suggest you call us here at Citywide Insurance and speak with one of our several Worker’s Compensation specialists.  We can get your general information from you and provide you with a quote for your specific needs.  You can also do this online at Citywide Workers Compensation Quote.

Please don’t hesitate on this one…your business is too important to us to lose it over not having the proper coverage.  Call us today!