Indiana self-insurer workers’ comp bonds.
From $10,000.
An Indiana employer that pays worker’s compensation directly, instead of buying a policy, must satisfy the Worker’s Compensation Board of Indiana that it can. The Board’s self-insurance requirements under IC 22-3-5-1 make a surety bond mandatory, $500,000 minimum. Premiums cost 2% of the bond amount.
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How much does an Indiana self-insurer workers’ comp bond cost?
2% of the bond amount, from $10,000 at the $500,000 minimum. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
The bond is one line item in a much longer self-insurance application — and it is the line item you can close today. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your entity details, years in business, the bond amount your program requires, and an effective date. That is the application for the bond itself — the audited financials and excess-insurance certificates go to the Board, not to us.
Issued
Most applications approve instantly. Because this bond starts at six figures, larger amounts may draw a brief underwriter review — the application includes a credit consent, but it authorizes a soft credit pull only, a soft inquiry that never affects your score.
File with the Board
Send the executed bond to the Worker’s Compensation Board with your initial or renewal application. A valid surety bond must be on file with the Board at all times, so file it before your certificate lapses. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the Board insists.
What it is and who needs it.
What the self-insurer’s bond actually secures
IC 22-3-5-1 gives every Indiana employer covered by the Worker’s Compensation Act and the Occupational Diseases Act two choices: insure the liability with an authorized worker’s compensation carrier, or furnish the Worker’s Compensation Board of Indiana with satisfactory proof of financial ability to pay compensation directly. The second route is individual self-insurance, and the Board grants it by certificate. The statute expressly lets the Board require the deposit of acceptable security, indemnity, or a bond to secure payment of compensation liabilities as they are incurred.
The Board’s published requirements turn that discretion into a rule: a surety bond is required as part of a self-insured program in a minimum amount of $500,000. It is not a token filing. The bond runs to the Board for the benefit of your injured employees — if you stop paying compensation the Board can call on the surety, and the surety then looks to you for reimbursement. It is not insurance for your company. It sits alongside the rest of the program: an audited financial statement prepared within the last six months, five continuous years in business (or a parent guarantee on Form SI-4), specific and aggregate excess insurance evidenced on Form SI-3, and competent claims administration.
The filing is a standing obligation, not a one-time hurdle. A valid surety bond or other approved security must be on file with the Board at all times, and your certificate of self-insurance expires on August 31 each year, with the renewal application due no less than thirty days before expiration together with a current financial statement. A bond may be exchanged or replaced only if 60 days notice of termination of liability is given and the Chairman approves the replacement — and if the Board receives a cancellation notice, that alone is grounds for terminating your self-insured status unless an acceptable replacement bond is on file before the cancellation takes effect.
You need this bond if you are
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
File with the Board. Send the executed bond to the Worker’s Compensation Board with your initial or renewal application. A valid surety bond must be on file with the Board at all times, so file it before your certificate lapses. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the Board insists.
What sets the price
The premium is 2% of the bond amount, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
One soft credit pull, never a hard inquiry, and it never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, priced on the spot.
Submit the application with the bond amount the Board requires. Because these start at six figures, larger amounts may get a brief underwriter look — the credit consent in this application authorizes a soft pull only.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Indiana bonds.
The same bond in nearby states.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Keep a valid bond on file with the Board.
Enter the amount your self-insured program requires and file it before your certificate lapses. From $10,000, soft pull only. Free until issued.