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Alaska business insurance: requirements and costs

Alaska requires workers' compensation from your first employee, has no state fund and no reciprocity with other states, so even a visiting out-of-state crew needs an Alaska-admitted policy.⁠2 The Division of Insurance approved NCCI's 2026 filing, which proposed an average 3.7% decrease in voluntary loss costs.⁠1 Official cost data still put Alaska above the national figure: NASI estimates $1.41 per $100 of covered wages in 2023 against $0.98 for the US.⁠10

Checked against 12 sources Last reviewed How we check figures

Alaska at a glance

Workers’ comp required1+ employees in Alaska; no reciprocity
Where employers buy itPrivate insurers
Rates set byNational Council on Compensation Insurance
Employer comp cost, 2023$1.41 per $100 of covered wages (US $0.98)
Comp rate index, 2024$1.16, ranked 20 of 51 (1 = most expensive)
Employer health premium, 2025$10,630 single, $30,132 family (average total premium)
Auto liability minimum50/100/25

Alaska is a loss-cost state. NCCI files advisory loss costs, classifications and rating plans, the Division of Insurance holds a public hearing under AS 21.39.043, and the Director's order tells carriers to apply the approved loss costs, rating plans, rules and classifications in strict accord, unless the carrier has an approved deviation.⁠1 The premium you see is that loss cost multiplied by the carrier's own filed multiplier, so two carriers can quote the same class differently. Employers that cannot get a voluntary quote buy from the Alaska Assigned Risk Pool, which NCCI administers.⁠2 Order R25-03 (November 26, 2025) approved the filing that took effect January 1, 2026. That filing proposed an overall 3.7% decrease in voluntary loss costs and a 4.8% decrease in assigned-risk rates.⁠1 NCCI's filing included a +0.4% effect from medical fee schedule changes, and the Division asked NCCI to include pandemic losses or support for excluding them in future filings.⁠1 By our calculation, a $20,000 policy whose carrier multiplier and payroll do not change would fall to about $19,260 under a class that moves exactly at the 3.7% average. Your class and experience modification will move that figure.

Official data show a state that has been getting cheaper but remains costly. NASI's employer cost per $100 of covered wages in Alaska fell from $1.96 in 2019 to $1.41 in 2023, a 28% drop by our calculation, against a 16% fall nationally ($1.17 to $0.98).⁠10 Oregon's 2024 ranking, built from manual rates in effect January 1, 2024, put Alaska 20th most expensive of 51 jurisdictions at an index of $1.16 per $100 of payroll, 106% of the median state (Georgia, $1.09).⁠11 Health coverage is thinner. In AHRQ's 2025 survey, 16.5% of Alaska private-sector establishments with fewer than 50 employees offered insurance, against 32.1% nationally. Where small employers did offer it, the average single premium was $11,082, about 23% above the $9,034 national small-firm figure by our calculation.⁠12

Two statutes shape liability pricing. Under AS 09.17.080 the court allocates fault by percentage and enters judgment against each defendant on the basis of several liability, so a defendant pays its own share.⁠9 Contractors face their own floor: registration requires proof of workers' compensation and public liability and property damage insurance of at least $20,000 property, $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident (unless every project is $2,500 or less), plus a surety bond.⁠7⁠8

Workers’ compensation in Alaska

Every employer with one or more employees in Alaska must carry workers' compensation or be an approved self-insurer. This includes an out-of-state employer whose employees work in Alaska, because Alaska has no reciprocity agreements and requires an insurer admitted in the state.⁠2

Who is exempt

  • Sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members with at least 10% ownership need not insure themselves
  • Executive officers of for-profit corporations with at least 10% ownership are exempt; officers of municipal, religious and nonprofit corporations are not employees unless the corporation elects coverage
  • Part-time baby-sitters, non-commercial cleaning persons, harvest help and similar part-time or transient help
  • Sports officials for amateur events and contract entertainers
  • Commercial fishers as defined in AS 16.05.940
  • Taxicab drivers and real estate licensees under specific contractual arrangements, and transportation network company drivers

Buying coverage and who sets the rates

Buy from a private insurer admitted in Alaska. There is no state fund. If no commercial carrier will write you, the Alaska Assigned Risk Pool, administered by NCCI, is the fallback.⁠2

Latest rate decision (1 Jan 2026): Division of Insurance Regulatory Order R25-03 (Nov. 26, 2025) approved NCCI's 2026 filing, which proposed an overall 3.7% decrease in voluntary loss costs and a 4.8% decrease in assigned-risk rates, effective Jan. 1, 2026. Official notice.

An employer must have been in business in Alaska at least five years, have at least 100 employees and a net worth of at least $10,000,000, show it can meet current and future obligations, run a safety and loss program, provide claims services in Alaska and post any security deposit required.⁠3

Penalties for going without

Failing to insure is punishable on conviction by a $10,000 fine and up to one year in prison, and the persons with authority to insure a corporation, and the person actively in charge, are personally liable with it for compensation owed.⁠4 The board may issue a stop order barring use of employee labor, and violating it brings a $1,000 a day civil penalty and a three-year bar from public contracts with the state or its subdivisions.⁠4 Separately the division may seek a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each employee for each day the employee works while you are uninsured; by our calculation, 3 employees for 10 days is up to $30,000.⁠4 An uninsured employer also loses the usual defenses (employee negligence, co-employee negligence, assumed risk) in an injury suit and is presumed negligent.⁠4 On a public contract, the contractor must keep a policy in force and the contracting agency must obtain proof of it.⁠5

What Alaska employers pay

Employer workers’ compensation costs per $100 of covered wages, 2019–2023
YearAlaskaUnited States
2019$1.96$1.17
2020$1.75$1.08
2021$1.54$1.01
2022$1.47$1.00
2023$1.41$0.98

Employer cost per $100 of covered wages: premiums paid by insured employers plus benefits and administrative costs of self-insured employers, divided by the wages of workers covered by workers’ compensation. The United States figure is NASI’s national total, which includes federal programs. Source: National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), published 11 Aug 2026.

Oregon’s biennial comparison of workers’ comp rates puts Alaska’s index for rates in effect on 1 January 2024 at $1.16 per $100 of payroll, 6% above the national median of $1.09 (rank 20 of 51, where 1 is the most expensive). The index prices the same 50 risk classes, weighted by Oregon payroll, in every state, so it compares rate levels rather than what employers actually pay. Compare every state.

Employer health insurance in Alaska

Average annual premium per enrolled employee at private-sector employers, 2025
MeasureAlaskaFirms under 50United States
Single coverage, total premium$10,630$11,082$9,025
Family coverage, total premium$30,132$39,824$26,281
Employee share, single$1,931–$1,817
Employers offering coverage36.2%16.5%49.2%

Average total annual premium per enrolled employee at private-sector establishments that offer health insurance; the offer rate is the share of establishments offering coverage. Small firms have fewer than 50 employees. Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, 2025 survey year. All states.

Commercial auto in Alaska

Every vehicle registered in Alaska, including business vehicles, must carry at least 50/100/25 in liability limits (bodily injury per person / per accident / property damage, in thousands of dollars). Official source.

AS 28.22.101 requires a motor vehicle liability policy to carry $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for bodily injury and $25,000 for property damage, and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage at the same limits.

Trucks and buses used in interstate commerce must also meet federal minimums of $750,000 to $5 million: see commercial auto minimums and what commercial auto costs.

Other Alaska rules that affect insurance costs

Contractor registration: insurance and bond

Applicants for contractor registration must file proof of Alaska-admitted workers' compensation (or a self-insurance certificate) and public liability and property damage insurance of at least $20,000 for property damage, $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident; the liability requirement does not apply where each project is $2,500 or less.⁠7 The statutory surety bond is $25,000 for a general contractor, $20,000 for a residential-only general contractor with the endorsement and $10,000 for mechanical or specialty contractors.⁠8

Contractors and owners can inherit the comp liability

If a subcontractor fails to secure compensation for its employees, the contractor is liable; if the contractor also fails, the project owner is liable for employees of the contractor and subcontractors.⁠5 Collect certificates before work starts.

Several liability

Alaska judgments are entered against each liable party according to its percentage of fault, not for the whole amount, which affects how general liability claims are shared among defendants.⁠9

Alaska compared with its neighbors

Workers’ comp and health insurance costs, Alaska and neighboring states
Alaska$1.41$1.16$10,630
Washington$1.17$1.35$8,712

Sources

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National figures: NASI (employer comp costs), Oregon DCBS (rate index), AHRQ MEPS-IC (health premiums).

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Other states

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