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Idaho business insurance: requirements and costs

Idaho workers' comp rates have been cut nine years running. The latest NCCI filing, which the Department of Insurance accepted, lowered rates 2.5% on average from January 1, 2026.⁠1 Even so, NASI found Idaho employers spent $1.34 per $100 of covered wages on comp in 2023, more than a third above the $0.98 national figure.⁠14 Coverage is required before the first employee starts, whether that worker is full-time, part-time, seasonal or occasional.⁠3 Idaho has no state disability or paid family leave program for employers to fund.

Checked against 16 sources Last reviewed How we check figures

Idaho at a glance

Workers’ comp required1+ employees, incl. part-time and seasonal
Where employers buy itPrivate insurers and a competitive state fund (Idaho State Insurance Fund)
Rates set byNational Council on Compensation Insurance
Employer comp cost, 2023$1.34 per $100 of covered wages (US $0.98)
Comp rate index, 2024$1.10, ranked 25 of 51 (1 = most expensive)
Employer health premium, 2025$8,770 single, $25,957 family (average total premium)
Auto liability minimum25/50/15

Idaho employers buy workers' comp from private insurers or the State Insurance Fund. The Industrial Commission says more than 300 insurers are authorized to write it.⁠3 The State Insurance Fund was created by statute as an independent body corporate politic, and the Commission describes it as quasi-governmental, not a state agency.⁠8⁠3 Cities, counties and school districts must insure with the fund unless it refuses the risk.⁠5 Private employers can pick any authorized carrier. If no insurer will write them, they apply to the assigned risk pool, which NCCI administers.⁠3 Pricing also runs through NCCI. It files full rates for Idaho, not just loss costs, and the Department of Insurance reviews them. Once a filing is accepted, each insurer either uses the NCCI rates as filed or asks the Department to approve a deviation from them.⁠1

The January 1, 2026 filing cut rates 2.5% on average. NCCI broke the change into trend (-3.2%), experience (-0.8%), benefit changes (+0.5%) and all other factors (+1.0%).⁠2 The industry groups moved by different amounts. Contracting fell 6.3%, manufacturing 4.0%, office and clerical 3.4% and goods and services 1.0%, while the miscellaneous group rose 1.2%.⁠2 The Department said Idaho rates have now fallen in 10 of the past 11 years, and it pointed to lower projected claim costs and fewer claims.⁠1 NCCI's filing history shows cuts of 7.0% in 2022, 11.5% in 2023, 12.6% in 2024 and 6.7% in 2025 before this one.⁠2 Our calculation compounds those five changes into an average rate level about 35% lower than at the end of 2021. A class that held its rate would see none of that.

The two official cost measures disagree. NASI's figure counts what employers actually spent, including premiums plus self-insured employers' benefits and administrative costs, per $100 of covered wages. On that basis Idaho was $1.34 in 2023, down from $1.61 in 2022 and $1.59 in 2019, but still about 36% above the national $0.98 by our calculation.⁠14 Oregon's 2024 ranking applies each state's manual rates to the same 50 classes, weighted by Oregon payroll. On that basis Idaho came 25th of 51 at $1.10 per $100, 101% of the median state.⁠15 Our reading: because the ranking holds the mix of work fixed, the gap suggests Idaho's spending reflects how much of its payroll is in higher-rated work, more than how its rates are set. The ranking also uses rates in effect January 1, 2024, before the 2025 and 2026 cuts.⁠15 Among neighbors, Wyoming ($1.41), Washington ($1.35) and Montana ($1.34) ranked higher, while Oregon ($0.89), Nevada ($0.73) and Utah ($0.63) ranked lower.⁠15

Fewer Idaho employers offer health coverage. AHRQ's 2025 survey found 41.9% of private establishments in Idaho offered health insurance, compared with 49.2% nationally, and 30.0% of firms under 50 employees did.⁠16 Those that offered it paid less: an average single premium of $8,770 and a family premium of $25,957, against $9,025 and $26,281 nationally. Employees paid an average of $1,686 toward single coverage.⁠16

Idaho caps the liability exposure that general liability and auto policies price. Noneconomic damages in personal-injury and wrongful-death cases are capped at $250,000, adjusted every July 1 by the change in the Industrial Commission's average annual wage. The cap does not apply to willful or reckless misconduct or to acts the trier of fact finds would be a felony.⁠12 Dram shop claims are allowed only when the seller knew or should have known the drinker was underage or obviously intoxicated, and the claimant must give notice by certified mail within 180 days.⁠13 For budgeting comp, start from your class rather than the state average. On a $10,000 premium, the 2.5% average cut is worth $250, but a contracting risk averaged more than twice that and a miscellaneous-group risk averaged an increase.⁠2 That example is our calculation, before your experience modification and the deviation your insurer files.

Workers’ compensation in Idaho

Every employer with one or more full-time, part-time, seasonal or occasional employees must carry workers' comp unless the work is specifically exempt, and the policy must be in place before the first employee is hired.⁠3 Employers cannot deduct any part of the premium from wages.⁠3

Who is exempt

  • Household domestic service, casual employment and outworkers
  • Owners of sole proprietorships, working members of partnerships and LLCs, and corporate officers who own at least 10% of the voting stock and are directors (if the corporation has directors)
  • Family members living in the household of a sole proprietor or a single-member LLC taxed as a sole proprietorship; close family not in the household who file an exemption election with the Commission
  • Employment covered by a federal liability or compensation law
  • Crop-spraying pilots insured under a Commission-approved accident policy filed before they fly
  • Commission-only associate real estate brokers and salespersons, volunteer ski patrollers and secondary-school athletic officials

Buying coverage and who sets the rates

Employers buy from any of the more than 300 authorized private insurers or from the State Insurance Fund, which competes with them. Employers that cannot find coverage apply to the NCCI-administered assigned risk pool.⁠3 Cities, counties and school districts must insure with the State Insurance Fund unless it refuses the risk.⁠5

Latest rate decision (1 Jan 2026): Department of Insurance accepted NCCI's rate filing on Oct. 10, 2025: an average 2.5% voluntary-market rate decrease effective Jan. 1, 2026, the ninth consecutive cut; NCCI's filing overview shows group averages of contracting -6.3%, manufacturing -4.0%, office and clerical -3.4%, goods and services -1.0%, miscellaneous +1.2%). Insurers may adopt the NCCI rates or file a deviation. Official notice.

Allowed with Industrial Commission approval for employers with large payrolls that meet its requirements. The employer must keep cash or U.S. government securities in a custodial account with the state treasurer, or a surety bond in their place if the Commission allows or requires one.⁠3⁠5

Penalties for going without

Failing to secure comp is a misdemeanor. For a corporation or LLC, the officer, member or manager who had authority to buy coverage is individually guilty and personally liable, jointly with the company, for comp owed to injured workers.⁠6 The Commission can sue for a civil penalty of $2 per employee per day or $25 per day, whichever is greater, for up to three years of noncompliance, and it can ask a district court to stop the business from operating while it is uninsured.⁠6 An injured employee of an uninsured employer is awarded the compensation plus 10% and reasonable attorney's fees.⁠7

What Idaho employers pay

Employer workers’ compensation costs per $100 of covered wages, 2019–2023
YearIdahoUnited States
2019$1.59$1.17
2020$1.46$1.08
2021$1.42$1.01
2022$1.61$1.00
2023$1.34$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 Idaho’s index for rates in effect on 1 January 2024 at $1.10 per $100 of payroll, 1% above the national median of $1.09 (rank 25 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 Idaho

Average annual premium per enrolled employee at private-sector employers, 2025
MeasureIdahoFirms under 50United States
Single coverage, total premium$8,770$8,815$9,025
Family coverage, total premium$25,957$22,091$26,281
Employee share, single$1,686–$1,817
Employers offering coverage41.9%30.0%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 Idaho

Every vehicle registered in Idaho, including business vehicles, must carry at least 25/50/15 in liability limits (bodily injury per person / per accident / property damage, in thousands of dollars). Official source.

Owners of vehicles registered and operated in Idaho must keep liability insurance in force continuously. The statute sets only liability minimums ($25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident, $15,000 property damage) and does not require PIP or no-fault coverage. No change for 2025 or 2026.

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 Idaho rules that affect insurance costs

Contractor registration requires $300,000 of liability cover

To register as a contractor in Idaho, you must file a certificate from an insurer authorized in Idaho showing general liability coverage, including products and completed operations, of at least $300,000 single limit. You must also file proof of workers' comp or a statement explaining why you don't need it. The registration fee is capped at $150 a year.⁠9

Indexed cap on noneconomic damages

Personal-injury and wrongful-death judgments for noneconomic damages are capped. The cap started at $250,000 and moves each July 1 with the Industrial Commission's average annual wage. It applies across all defendants and actions for one claimant, but not to willful or reckless conduct or to acts found beyond a reasonable doubt to be a felony.⁠12

Narrow dram shop liability

A business that sells or serves alcohol can be sued over an intoxicated person's injuries to others only if it knew or should have known the buyer was underage or obviously intoxicated. The drinker and passengers in the drinker's car cannot sue under the statute, and the claimant must notify the seller by certified mail within 180 days.⁠13

Idaho compared with its neighbors

Workers’ comp and health insurance costs, Idaho and neighboring states
Idaho$1.34$1.10$8,770
Washington$1.17$1.35$8,712
Oregon$0.97$0.89$9,225
Nevada$0.87$0.73$8,215
Utah$0.58$0.63$8,448
Wyoming$1.57$1.41$8,997
Montana$1.39$1.34$8,899

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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