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Rhode Island business insurance: requirements and costs

Rhode Island requires workers' compensation from the first employee, and prices it from advisory loss costs that NCCI files and the Department of Business Regulation (DBR) approves. DBR approved a 2.5% average decrease for industrial classes effective August 1, 2026.⁠1⁠3 Private insurers write the coverage, with Beacon Mutual as the carrier of last resort.⁠9

Checked against 16 sources Last reviewed How we check figures

Rhode Island at a glance

Workers’ comp required1+ employee; owners and partners exempt; officers covered unless they waive
Where employers buy itPrivate insurers
Rates set byNational Council on Compensation Insurance
Employer comp cost, 2023$0.91 per $100 of covered wages (US $0.98)
Comp rate index, 2024$1.38, ranked 10 of 51 (1 = most expensive)
Employer health premium, 2025$9,388 single, $27,361 family (average total premium)
Auto liability minimum25/50/25 or $75,000 CSL
Payroll insurance programsTemporary Disability Insurance (TDI) and Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI)

Rhode Island's comp market is private: employers buy workers' comp from a licensed insurer, qualify to self-insure, or join an authorized group self-insurance fund.⁠8 An employer that cannot find a carrier can go to The Beacon Mutual Insurance Company, which DLT names as the carrier of last resort.⁠9 NCCI does not set Rhode Island's final rates. It files advisory loss costs, which DBR must find not excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory. Once approved, every insurer writing comp in the state must use them as one component of the rates it charges employers.⁠1 Your premium therefore depends on your class's loss cost, the insurer's own expense and rating factors, and your experience modification.

The August 1, 2026 decision came after NCCI's November 19, 2025 filing. DBR's April 23, 2026 letter approved -2.5% for industrial classes, -12.9% for "F" classes and no change for USL&HW classes.⁠1 NCCI's filing used policy years 2021 to 2023 evaluated at December 31, 2024, called improved experience the primary driver of the decrease, and kept its indemnity and medical loss-ratio trends at -4.0% and -6.5% a year. It also estimated that the January 1, 2026 medical fee schedule changes add 0.3% to overall system costs.⁠2 The overall figure is an average and varies by class code.⁠2 As our calculation of scale: an employer paying $20,000 a year whose class moved exactly with the industrial average, with unchanged payroll and mod, would see loss costs consistent with about $19,500 (20,000 x 0.975). An actual quote also reflects the insurer's filed rates, so treat this only as direction.

Rhode Island's comp cost sits near the national figure by the official measure and well above it by the manual-rate measure. NASI estimates that employers spent $0.91 per $100 of covered wages in 2023, down from $1.07 in 2019, a 15% fall by our calculation, against $0.98 nationally and a 16% national fall.⁠14 Oregon's 2024 ranking, built from rates in effect January 1, 2024, puts Rhode Island 10th most expensive of 51 jurisdictions at $1.38 per $100 of payroll, 127% of the median.⁠15 The two measure different things: NASI counts what employers actually paid, Oregon prices a fixed set of classes at manual rates. Neighbors diverge: Connecticut is 6th in Oregon's ranking ($1.48) and Massachusetts 31st ($0.97).⁠15 On health coverage, AHRQ's 2025 survey found 43.5% of Rhode Island private-sector establishments in firms with fewer than 50 employees offered insurance, against 32.1% nationally. Their average single premium was $9,465, about 5% above the $9,034 national small-firm figure by our calculation.⁠16

Two other rules shape what a Rhode Island business carries. Registered contractors must hold public liability and property damage coverage of at least $500,000 combined single limit throughout registration, plus workers' comp, and must show it at registration and renewal.⁠13 And the 1.1% temporary disability and caregiver tax is paid by employees through withholding, so it is a payroll-administration duty for you but not an employer premium.⁠10⁠11

Workers’ compensation in Rhode Island

Employers with one or more employees must carry comp, with limited exceptions. DLT says individual owners and partners are exempt and most corporate officers are covered.⁠3 The statute applies to any employer that regularly employs employees under a contract of hire.⁠4

Who is exempt

  • Individual owners and partners
  • Corporate officers are included unless they file a DWC-11 waiver (Notice of Claim of Common Law Rights) with DLT; a waiving officer is not covered by the comp system
  • Independent contractors, for whom the hiring entity files a DWC 11-IC form
  • Domestic servants
  • Farmers, nursery operators and farm laborers, unless the employer has 25 or more farm employees for 13 consecutive weeks (a limited health-and-disability alternative applies above that size)

Buying coverage and who sets the rates

Employers buy from a licensed insurer, self-insure, or join an authorized group self-insurance fund. The Beacon Mutual Insurance Company is the carrier of last resort for employers that cannot obtain coverage elsewhere.⁠8⁠9

Latest rate decision (1 Aug 2026): DBR approved NCCI's advisory loss costs filing (letter of April 23, 2026): -2.5% overall for industrial classes, -12.9% for "F" classes, no change for USL&HW classes, effective Aug. 1, 2026. Official notice.

An employer may furnish proof of financial ability to pay plus security, indemnity or a bond satisfactory to the DLT director, self-insure for a sum certain with excess insurance above it, or join an authorized group self-insurance fund.⁠8

Penalties for going without

Knowingly failing to secure comp is a felony with up to two years in prison, plus a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each day of noncompliance. LLC managers and managing members and partners can be personally liable.⁠7 DLT also cites a $10,000 fine on conviction and says the business may be closed by the DLT director.⁠3 For unintentional or clerical lapses under one year, with no injured employees and no prior findings, the administrative penalty is one to three times the estimated annual premium.⁠7 Failing to notify your insurer of an injury carries a $250 penalty, and so does failing to post the required poster.⁠3

What Rhode Island employers pay

Employer workers’ compensation costs per $100 of covered wages, 2019–2023
YearRhode IslandUnited States
2019$1.07$1.17
2020$0.99$1.08
2021$0.89$1.01
2022$0.91$1.00
2023$0.91$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 Rhode Island’s index for rates in effect on 1 January 2024 at $1.38 per $100 of payroll, 27% above the national median of $1.09 (rank 10 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.

Disability and paid leave insurance

Rhode Island runs a payroll-funded program that employers must register for, fund or insure on top of workers’ compensation.

Rhode Island disability and paid leave programs, 2026
Program2026 contributionEmployer’s part
Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) and Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI)1.1% of wages up to $100,000 per employee in 2026 (maximum $1,100, our calculation)Employees pay through payroll deduction; there is no employer-paid share. You withhold and remit the tax.⁠10⁠11

TDI covers non-work illness or injury and TCI covers family caregiving or bonding leave. Both are financed by payroll deductions.⁠11

Employer health insurance in Rhode Island

Average annual premium per enrolled employee at private-sector employers, 2025
MeasureRhode IslandFirms under 50United States
Single coverage, total premium$9,388$9,465$9,025
Family coverage, total premium$27,361$23,044$26,281
Employee share, single$2,046–$1,817
Employers offering coverage54.8%43.5%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 Rhode Island

Every vehicle registered in Rhode Island, including business vehicles, must carry at least 25/50/25 or $75,000 CSL in liability limits (bodily injury per person / per accident / property damage, in thousands of dollars). Official source.

An owner's liability policy under chapter 31-47 carries limits of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury and $25,000 for property damage, or $75,000 combined single limit.⁠12 The statute section opened has no separate commercial-vehicle minimums.

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 Rhode Island rules that affect insurance costs

Contractor registration insurance

Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-65-7, a registered contractor must keep public liability and property damage insurance of at least $500,000 combined single limit and workers' comp as required by chapter 29 of title 28. Evidence is due at registration and renewal, and a lapse invalidates the registration and may bring a fine, suspension or revocation.⁠13

Independent contractor filings

A business that hires an independent contractor should file DWC 11-IC for each hiring entity; DLT says an independent contractor is not eligible for comp benefits.⁠3

Officer waivers

A corporate officer who files a DWC-11 waiver is outside the comp system and, DLT warns, is not covered by their health insurer for work-injury bills, so a waiver shifts work-injury cost to the individual.⁠3

Rhode Island compared with its neighbors

Workers’ comp and health insurance costs, Rhode Island and neighboring states
Rhode Island$0.91$1.38$9,388
Massachusetts$0.65$0.97$10,436
Connecticut$0.92$1.48$9,987

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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