Does Indiana require workers’ compensation insurance?
Yes. Indiana requires workers' compensation from the first employee: Indiana Code 22-3-6-1 counts every person working for another under a contract of hire, written or implied, and IC 22-3-5-1 makes every covered employer insure or self-insure. Farm, household, and casual workers are outside the Act. Sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members are not covered unless they elect in, and an independent contractor without coverage files for a certificate of exemption.
Updated . Written by Andre Beukers, principal at Redoubt, a commercial insurance agency in Salt Lake City, not a government office.
How many employees before Indiana requires workers' comp?
Indiana has no head-count floor. An employee under IC 22-3-6-1 is every person, minors included, working for another under a contract of hire or apprenticeship, written or implied, and IC 22-3-5-1 requires every employer under the Act to insure with an authorized carrier or qualify with the Board to self-insure. IC 22-3-2-9 leaves out casual laborers, farm or agricultural employees, and household employees, and IC 22-3-2-2 leaves out railroad train crews.
Source: Indiana Code 22-3-6-1, checked .
Which owners, officers, and family members are exempt in Indiana?
Owners are outside the Act unless they opt in. A sole proprietor, a partner, or an LLC member or manager who works in the business may elect coverage by serving written notice on the carrier and the Worker's Compensation Board (IC 22-3-6-1(b)(4), (5), and (9)). Corporate executive officers start out as employees, but an officer may elect out the same way, and the exclusion counts only once both the carrier and the Board have the notice. Workers who meet the IRS independent contractor guidelines are not employees.
Indiana's definitions have no general family-member exclusion, so a relative on the payroll is an employee unless a farm or household exemption applies. Owners who want coverage notify their carrier and file the Board's online Coverage Election Notice.
Source: Indiana Code 22-3-6-1(b), checked .
What happens to a Indiana employer with no workers' comp?
Failing to insure is a Class A misdemeanor under IC 22-3-4-13(d), and the Board can ask a court to stop the violation. If a worker is hurt while the employer is uninsured, the Board may award up to double the normal compensation plus medical expenses and attorney fees (IC 22-3-4-13(f)), and the court can order proof of insurance every six months for up to three years. An employer that ignores the Board's request for proof of coverage also faces a $100-a-day civil penalty and can be named on the Board's website (IC 22-3-5-2.5).
Source: Indiana Code 22-3-4-13, checked .
Who enforces workers' comp in Indiana?
The Worker's Compensation Board of Indiana administers the Act. It resolves disputed claims, receives the coverage filings carriers make for each policy (IC 22-3-5-2), keeps the database of independent contractor exemption certificates, and can demand current proof of coverage from any employer. Its website has a public tool to confirm an employer's coverage.
Source: Worker's Compensation Board of Indiana, checked .
Where do Indiana employers buy coverage?
Indiana is a private market. Under IC 22-3-5-1 an employer insures with a carrier authorized to write workers' compensation in Indiana, or proves to the Worker's Compensation Board that it can pay claims directly as a self-insurer. An employer that three voluntary carriers have declined can apply to the Indiana Workers Compensation Insurance Plan, the assigned risk plan the ICRB administers, which designates a servicing carrier to write the policy.
Source: ICRB, Assigned Risk, checked .
Who sets the class codes and rates in Indiana?
Indiana is not an NCCI state. The Indiana Compensation Rating Bureau (ICRB), a statutory rating organization under Indiana Code 27-7-2 made up of every insurer licensed to write workers' compensation in Indiana, collects carrier data to set advisory rates, submits them to the Indiana Department of Insurance, and runs the state's classification, inspection, experience rating, and assigned risk programs.
Under IC 27-7-2-20, every carrier follows the ICRB's manual rules, classification system, and experience rating plan, so your class code and mod come from the ICRB, not the carrier.
Source: Indiana Compensation Rating Bureau, About, checked .
Is there an exemption or waiver form in Indiana?
Owners file nothing to stay out; they are excluded by default. The filing Indiana has is the independent contractor certificate of exemption, the Worker's Compensation Clearance Certificate, under IC 22-3-2-14.5: the contractor files a statement and annual supporting documents with the Department of Revenue, gets clearance, and the certificate is filed with the Board. The Board lists the fee as $20 ($15 to the Board, $5 to Revenue), and the certificate takes effect seven business days after the Board file-stamps it. A sole proprietor or partner in the construction trades who does not elect coverage must have one.
Under IC 22-3-2-14.5(h), a business hiring an uncovered contractor must get a copy of the stamped certificate, and its own carrier must accept it like a certificate of insurance. Separately, IC 22-3-2-14 makes anyone who hires a contractor for work over $1,000 without collecting the contractor's Board certificate of compliance liable for that contractor's injured workers.
Source: Worker's Compensation Board of Indiana, Compliance (IC 22-3-2-14.5), checked .
Sorting out Indiana workers' comp for your business
Tell Redoubt what the business does, who works in it, and what the Indiana requirement in front of you says. We will say whether a policy, a waiver, or an exclusion fits.
This is general insurance information, not legal advice or a coverage determination. Statutes, agency instructions, policy forms, and the facts of the business control.
Workers’ comp requirements in every state
Each state page gives the employee threshold, the owner and officer exemptions, the penalty for going without, the rating bureau, the market, the enforcing agency, and the exemption filing, each with its statute or agency source.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
The hub, and the Indiana pages that go deeper
Indiana workers’ comp FAQ
Do I need workers' comp in Indiana with one employee?+
Yes. Indiana Code 22-3-6-1 has no minimum head count, so one part-time employee is enough. The exceptions are narrow: farm or agricultural employees, household employees, and casual labor that is outside the usual course of your business (IC 22-3-2-9).
Does an Indiana LLC owner need workers' comp?+
Not for themselves. An LLC member or manager is not an employee unless they elect coverage by written notice to the carrier and the Board (IC 22-3-6-1(b)(9)). Any employees the LLC hires must be covered from day one. An LLC working as an independent contractor with no employees can get a certificate of exemption instead.
What is an Indiana workers' comp clearance certificate?+
It is the certificate of exemption an independent contractor without coverage obtains under IC 22-3-2-14.5, after clearance from the Department of Revenue, and files with the Worker's Compensation Board. Hiring businesses must collect a stamped copy, and their carrier must accept it like a certificate of insurance.
Can an Indiana general contractor be liable for a sub's injured worker?+
Yes. Under IC 22-3-2-14, anyone who hires a contractor for work worth more than $1,000 without collecting the contractor's certificate of compliance from the Board is liable to the same extent as the contractor. Collect the certificate, or the stamped exemption certificate for an uncovered sub, before work starts.