Compare workers comp carriers, ranked by fit

How this tool works

Workers comp carrier selection is a five-dimension fit problem. The carrier has to write in your state, accept your business size, focus in your industry, offer the operational features you need, and have a strong enough AM Best rating that your insurance broker is comfortable placing the policy. Our scoring weights each of these transparently.

Geographic write is the first gate. A carrier that writes in "all 50 states" gets 20 points; a carrier that specifically calls out your state gets 25; a carrier that does NOT write in your state loses 30 points. State funds (CA SCIF, CO Pinnacol) are state-only and lose hard for non-state inputs. Pinnacol scores 0 for any non-CO request.

Minimum-premium fit is the second gate. If your estimated annual premium is well above the carrier's minimum (2x+), you are an attractive customer. If your estimated premium is below the minimum, the carrier will likely decline or charge a markup; we deduct 20 points. Liberty Mutual ($500 min) and Hartford ($200 min) are forgiving. Zurich ($5,000 min) and W.R. Berkley ($2,500 min) are not.

Industry focus is the third gate. Carriers like AmTrust and Employers Holdings explicitly specialize in small business; they score higher when your size is micro/small. AmeriSure focuses on manufacturing, construction, and transportation; it scores higher when your industry slug matches. Liberty Mutual covers all major industries as a generalist and gets a steady-state moderate score.

Self-service convenience and AM Best rating are tiebreakers. Online quote (5 points), pay-as-you-go billing (4 points), self-service audit portal (3 points), AM Best A++/A+ (8 points) all add up. The fit-score is the sum; we display the top 5. Click "Get quote" to go directly to the carrier's online quote tool, no email capture by us.