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Utah business insurance: requirements and costs

Utah has no state fund and no headcount threshold: an employer that regularly employs one or more workers must secure workers' comp, and a lapse can cost the greater of $1,000 or three times the premium owed.⁠1⁠3 Employers buy from private insurers, and the Insurance Commissioner contracts with one carrier to take applicants the voluntary market declines.⁠6 By NASI's estimate Utah employers spent $0.58 per $100 of covered wages in 2023, well below the $0.98 national figure.⁠10

Checked against 12 sources Last reviewed How we check figures

Utah at a glance

Workers’ comp required1+ employee; domestic and small farm exceptions
Where employers buy itPrivate insurers
Rates set byRate service organization designated by the Utah Insurance Commissioner
Employer comp cost, 2023$0.58 per $100 of covered wages (US $0.98)
Comp rate index, 2024$0.63, ranked 48 of 51 (1 = most expensive)
Employer health premium, 2025$8,448 single, $25,122 family (average total premium)
Auto liability minimum30/65/25 or $90,000 CSL

Utah's comp system is private. The Workers Compensation Fund once had to write every application, but that duty ran only until a date the commissioner set, no later than December 31, 2020. From January 1, 2021 the commissioner must contract with a carrier to write the residual market, for a term of at least 10 years.⁠6 The statute also tells the commissioner to designate one rate service organization for the state.⁠7 The Insurance Department's comp page offers a list of filed loss cost multipliers (for $5.00); we could not confirm on an official page which organization the commissioner has designated.⁠8 The statute's reference to advisory loss costs points to a loss-cost system: a rating organization publishes advisory loss costs, and each insurer multiplies them by its own filed multiplier. We did not find an official order stating Utah's most recent loss-cost change, so this page gives none.

The cost data put Utah near the bottom. NASI's estimate of employer cost fell from $0.72 per $100 of covered wages in 2019 to $0.58 in 2023, a 19% drop by our calculation against 16% nationally ($1.17 to $0.98).⁠10 Oregon's 2024 ranking, based on rates in effect January 1, 2024, put Utah 48th of 51 jurisdictions at an index of $0.63 per $100 of payroll, 57% of the median state (Georgia, $1.09).⁠11 Health coverage is the weak spot for small employers. In AHRQ's 2025 survey, 18.7% of Utah private-sector establishments in firms with fewer than 50 employees offered insurance, against 32.1% nationally. Where they did, the average single premium was $7,702, about 15% under the $9,034 small-firm national figure by our calculation, and the employee share averaged $1,328 against $1,924.⁠12

Two rules shape what a Utah employer pays. First, the penalty: for the weeks of noncompliance, up to 156, the Labor Commission can assess the greater of $1,000 or three times the premium you would have paid. That premium is not your actual bill: the statute computes it at the highest-rated class code on a payroll basis of 150% of the state average weekly wage, times the most workers you employed, times the weeks uncovered (up to 156), using the rate filing of the residual-market carrier. Illustration only: if that computation came to $6,000 for the period, the penalty would be $18,000 (our calculation, $6,000 times three). The commission may waive the penalty for a first violation under 180 days with no reported injuries, or, for a first violation, reduce it to the premium amount if you submit payroll records.⁠3 The full penalty returns if the Uninsured Employers' Fund pays benefits for an injury.⁠3 Second, auto: policies issued or renewed from January 1, 2025 must carry at least 30/65/25, or $90,000 combined, up from 25/65/15 or $80,000.⁠4 Utah also requires personal injury protection of at least $3,000 per person for medical costs.⁠5 Self-insured private rental fleets keep the old limits.⁠4

Workers’ compensation in Utah

Any person or business that regularly employs one or more workers must secure comp; there is no minimum headcount and no separate construction rule.⁠1 A domestic employer is exempt unless it employs at least one person 40 or more hours a week.⁠1

Who is exempt

  • Sole proprietors and partners are not covered unless they elect coverage by written notice to their insurer⁠2
  • A corporation may elect not to cover its directors or officers by written notice naming them to its insurer; if the notice goes to the Labor Commission instead (no insurer, or only officers as employees), the limit is five people. Officers of a motor carrier who drive for it cannot opt out⁠2
  • Domestic employers that do not employ one or more employees at least 40 hours a week⁠1
  • Agricultural employers: not an employer as to immediate family; for other workers, exempt if prior-year payroll was under $8,000, or $8,000 to under $50,000 with $300,000 liability and $5,000 health care benefit coverage; $50,000 or more makes them an employer⁠1
  • Owner-operators leased to a motor carrier who drive their own vehicle can be excluded, but must show occupational accident insurance of at least $1,000,000 aggregate and sign a comp waiver⁠2

Buying coverage and who sets the rates

Employers buy from private insurers. Applicants the voluntary market declines go to the residual-market carrier that the Insurance Commissioner contracts with under Utah Code 31A-22-1001.⁠6 There is no state fund.⁠6

Penalties for going without

The greater of $1,000 or three times the premium the employer would have paid, with the premium computed on a statutory payroll basis (150% of the state average weekly wage times the highest headcount times weeks of noncompliance, up to 156 weeks) at the highest-rated class code. The Labor Commission may waive it for a first violation under 180 days with no injuries reported, or, for a first violation, reduce it to the premium amount if payroll records are submitted. The full penalty applies if the Uninsured Employers' Fund pays benefits for an injury.⁠3

What Utah employers pay

Employer workers’ compensation costs per $100 of covered wages, 2019–2023
YearUtahUnited States
2019$0.72$1.17
2020$0.63$1.08
2021$0.63$1.01
2022$0.66$1.00
2023$0.58$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 Utah’s index for rates in effect on 1 January 2024 at $0.63 per $100 of payroll, 43% below the national median of $1.09 (rank 48 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 Utah

Average annual premium per enrolled employee at private-sector employers, 2025
MeasureUtahFirms under 50United States
Single coverage, total premium$8,448$7,702$9,025
Family coverage, total premium$25,122$21,266$26,281
Employee share, single$1,591–$1,817
Employers offering coverage35.4%18.7%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 Utah

Every vehicle registered in Utah, including business vehicles, must carry at least 30/65/25 or $90,000 CSL in liability limits (bodily injury per person / per accident / property damage, in thousands of dollars). Official source.

Applies to policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025; the earlier minimums were 25/65/15 or $80,000 combined. Self-insured private rental fleets keep the older limits. Personal injury protection of at least $3,000 per person is also required. Commercial-vehicle and trucking minimums were not checked.

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 Utah rules that affect insurance costs

Agricultural payroll thresholds

A farm is outside comp for non-family workers only while prior-year payroll for them stays under $8,000, or under $50,000 if it also carries $300,000 of liability and $5,000 of health care benefit coverage.⁠1

Corporate officers can opt out of their own coverage

A corporation can elect not to cover its directors or officers by written notice naming them; notice to the Labor Commission (rather than the insurer) is capped at five people, and officers who drive for their own motor carrier cannot opt out.⁠2 Sole proprietors and partners are outside comp unless they elect in by written notice to their carrier.⁠2

Utah compared with its neighbors

Workers’ comp and health insurance costs, Utah and neighboring states
Utah$0.58$0.63$8,448
Idaho$1.34$1.10$8,770
Wyoming$1.57$1.41$8,997
Colorado$0.64$1.05$8,816
New Mexico$0.98$1.05$9,447
Arizona$0.62$0.70$7,734
Nevada$0.87$0.73$8,215

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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