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Workers Compensation

A key part of running your business is keeping employees safe at work. However, if a worker does suffer an injury, workers compensation coverage provides you and your employees with important protection.

Workers compensation coverage is a state-mandated insurance program that covers lost wages and medical treatment resulting from an employee's work-related injury or illness. It also covers services needed to help an employee recover and return to work. As a business owner, you go to great lengths to provide a safe workplace for your employees. But unfortunately, accidents can still happen — regardless of the extra precautions you take.

Workers' compensation insurance is a state-mandated insurance that provides income, medical benefits and rehabilitative services for workers injured on the job or while performing work-related duties. It ensures that injured workers receive financial compensation for medical care and for a portion of the income they lose while they are unable to work. Workers' compensation insurance also helps protect employers from lawsuits initiated by workers injured on the job.

T.W. Morgan Insurance Services offers customer tailored insurance programs to protect your business and keep your operation in compliance with State Law.

Working with Leading Workers Compensation Providers

T.W. Morgan Insurance Services has been serving businesses in the Northwest since 1991. Working with several of the nation's leading carrier of workers compensation, we have the knowledge and resources necessary to provide:

  • Competitive quotes from the multiple insurance companies we represent.
  • Straightforward advice from our business-savvy agents, so you can confidently select and conveniently purchase the coverage your business needs at a price that makes sense for your balance sheet.
  • Ongoing support from a company you trust to help make sure your coverage is up to date as your business changes.
  • Work with an agency that is headquartered in Portland, who has a vested interest in seeing our client succeed in business, because our business also depends on their success.
  • Client service that is "Above The Rest".

Facts You Should Know About Workers Compensation....

What is Workers' Compensation?

There are two kinds of insurance coverage that are required by law. If you own a vehicle, the law requires that you carry automobile liability insurance to operate the vehicle on a public highway. If you own a business, and if you employ people to work for you in your business, you are required by law to provide Workers' Compensation coverage for them.

If an employer does not provide coverage for his employees, he is said to be in Non-Compliance with the law. A non-complying employer can be fined for failing to provide this coverage. If he continues in non-compliance, he can face further penalties and his business can be shut down. If an employee of a non-complying employer gets injured, the employer may end up paying out of his own pocket all costs of the injured worker's claim.

There are exemptions to this requirement. They are listed in Oregon statute 656.027. Even though there are a few exceptions to waive coverage, if an injury occurs to a non-subject worker, the employer is not excused from paying for medical and rehabilitation costs, or the legal costs, that may ensue from the injury. These costs can often cause a business to losses a large sum of your assets (cash, property, equipment & inventory) or even go into bankruptcy. Is it really worth the risk to loose everything?

WORKERS' COMPENSATION INSURANCE. It covers Bodily Injury to employees in the course of their employment. It covers payment of bodily injury claims in full. It will also pay for time lost from work. If an injury is serious and requires rehabilitation or retraining, it will be provided by this coverage. If the injury is so serious that the employee is disabled, it will pay disability payments. There is no maximum limit of coverage for bodily injury.

An Oregon policy covers employees who work in Oregon. The legislature of each state is responsible for the content of the workers' compensation coverage that is available for that state. No matter what company an Oregon employer gets coverage from, his policy is identical in coverage to every other workers' compensation policy issued in Oregon. The policy features that vary from company to company are the premiums charged, and the customer service and claims service, of each company and if the carrier will allow coverage to employees working in other states, such as Washington, California, Idaho to name a few states that border Oregon.

If Oregon employees work outside the state of Oregon, or if the Oregon employer hires workers to work in another state, you cannot assume that the Oregon policy will cover them, or that the state they work in will recognize the Oregon policy as appropriate coverage for their state.

The second section known as Part B of a Workers Compensation policy is the EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY INSURANCE. This part provides liability protection for the employer if the employee decides to sue the employer for the bodily injury the employee suffered.

The standard limits of liability coverage for Part B are:

BODILY INJURY BY ACCIDENT - $500,000 EACH ACCIDENT
BODILY INJURY BY DISEASE - $500,000 EACH EMPLOYEE
BODILY INJURY BY DISEASE - $500,000 POLICY LIMIT.

With the approval of the insurance company, the limits of liability coverage can be increased for an additional premium to:

BODILY INJURY BY ACCIDENT - $1Million EACH ACCIDENT
BODILY INJURY BY DISEASE - $1Million EACH EMPLOYEE
BODILY INJURY BY DISEASE - $1Million POLICY LIMIT.

WORKERS' COMPENSATION PREMIUMS are based on:

CLASS OF WORK: The types of work done by employees. There are more than 600 different job classifications that employees may be classified under.

ANNUAL PAYROLL: The amount of annual payroll paid under each job classification.

RATE PER $100 OF PAYROLL: Every year, on January 1st, new rates per $100 of payroll are published by NCCI (National Council of Compensation Insurance) for the state of Oregon. Like many other states, Oregon is a member of NCCI and provides the rating data that NCCI uses to calculate Oregon's annual rates.

EXPERIENCE MODIFICATION: This rating factor applies only to employers with more than $2500 of premium per year and with coverage in force for two or more years.

When your policy is issued, the employer ESTIMATES the annual payroll. When the policy year ends, an AUDIT is done to determine the ACTUAL payroll for the policy year. If the audited payroll is higher than the estimated payroll, an additional premium will be due. If the audited payroll is less than the estimated payroll, there will be a refund of overpaid premiums.

In Oregon, the maximum of 3 owners of a business can choose not to be included in this coverage, or they can choose to be covered. Many owners choose to exclude themselves due to the cost of the coverage because of the estimated payroll calculation.

NCCI'S RESIDUAL MARKET: This is sometimes referred to as the ASSIGNED RISK POOL. When the law requires an insurance coverage, and an employer finds that no insurance company wants to offer him coverage, there has to be a source for obtaining this coverage. This is the source the state provides to employers who cannot obtain coverage elsewhere.

Major reasons why a business might end up in the residual market:

    If the employer has been in non-compliance (that is, has had employees but has failed to provide workers' compensation for them);
  • If the business has had a bad claims history;
  • If the business has had a history of failing to pay its premium in a timely manner;
  • If the business has failed to cooperate with the insuring company for inspections and audits.
  • The business is a new venture with no history.
  • The industry or the type of work employees perform is considered as high risk.


This information is general in nature and should not be taken to replace the specific terms of an actual workers' compensation insurance policy. As with all insurance coverage's, refer to the actual policy that covers your interests for a complete and legal explanation of what is covered and what isn't.

Shopping for Workers Compensation requires that you hire a trusted advisor. TW Morgan Insurance Service is your partner to help you navigator the complexity in securing a worker's comp policy. There are no extra fees charged by our agency to be your agent. Call us today to start your insurance program with a knowledgeable insurance agency.

For more information regarding Oregon Workers' Compensation Insurance, go to the Oregon Workers' Compensation Division web page at http://www.cbs.state.or.us/wcd/.

In the State of Washington, workers' compensation insurance can be obtained only through the state. It is not available from insurance agents. For Washington information, go to http://www.lni.wa.gov/. If you are an Oregon company and have employees working in Washington State, we have carriers that will provide the coverage for those employees on your Oregon Policy. Call us for more information at 503-245-3345 or Toll Free 888-821-4717 Today.