New York self-insurer workers comp bonds.
From $100.
An employer approved to self-insure workers’ compensation, disability or Paid Family Leave must post a security deposit with the Workers’ Compensation Board under WCL Article 4 § 50, in cash, an irrevocable letter of credit and/or a surety bond. The Chair sets the amount. Premiums cost 2% of the bond amount, with a $100 minimum.
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How much does a New York self-insurer workers comp bond cost?
2% of the bond amount, from $100. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
Enter the deposit the Board set, pay, and file with the Office of Self-Insurance. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Employer details, the deposit amount the Board set, and the effective date — plus a one-time consent to a soft credit pull that never affects your score.
Issued on the spot
Smaller deposits — the disability and Paid Family Leave tiers especially — issue right after purchase at 2% of the bond amount with a $100 minimum. Seven-figure workers’ compensation deposits get an underwriter review and a request for financials.
File with the Office of Self-Insurance
Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email, ready to file with the Board so your self-insured status can be approved or continued. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the Board insists.
What it is and who needs it.
What the self-insurer security deposit actually guarantees
New York employers must provide workers’ compensation, disability and Paid Family Leave coverage. WCL Article 4 § 50 names self-insurance as one way to do it, and Article 9 § 211 does the same for disability and PFL. The Board is blunt about the terms: self-insurance is a privilege, and an approved self-insurer agrees to make benefit payments to injured employees and meet every other obligation under the Board’s laws, rules and regulations. Each entity files its own application — a subsidiary is not covered by its parent’s approval.
Because there is no carrier standing behind the promise, the Board takes security. All qualified self-insurers except political subdivisions must post a deposit with the Board in the form of cash, an irrevocable letter of credit, and/or a surety bond, to be used if the self-insurer defaults on paying benefits. Where an employer posts a mix, the statute sets the order: the Chair applies the securities, cash and letters of credit first, and only when those are exhausted requires the surety to pay the penal sum of the bond.
The amount is whatever the Chair determines is necessary. Effective 1 July 2026 the minimum security deposit for workers’ compensation self-insurers is $1,999,000; the minimum for disability self-insurers is $10,000, and $11,000 where Paid Family Leave is included. It is not set once — every year you remain self-insured the deposit is reviewed for adequacy against your annual reports and current rates, and you must top it up to the level the Board determines. The deposit also does not come back the day you stop self-insuring: claims keep running, so the Board holds the security for as long as it judges warranted.
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 Office of Self-Insurance. Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email, ready to file with the Board so your self-insured status can be approved or continued. 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, then a quick review.
Submit the application with the deposit amount the Board set. Because workers’ compensation deposits run into seven figures, larger amounts get an underwriter review and a request for company financials.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other New York bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Post the deposit without tying up cash.
Premiums from $100, soft pull only. Enter the amount the Board set and file with the Office of Self-Insurance. Free until issued.