EXCAVATION INSURANCE GROUP
Monopolistic Workers’ Comp Funds: ND, OH, WA, WY
Excavation Insurance Group explains why these four states require workers' comp through a state fund instead of a private carrier, and what that means for multi-state crews.
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Quick answer: Excavation Insurance Group flags this for every contractor expanding into North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, or Wyoming: these four states don’t let you buy workers’ comp on the private market at all. If your crew is heading into one of them, your entire approach to structuring coverage has to change, not just your premium.
WHAT “MONOPOLISTIC STATE FUND” MEANS
In most of the country, employers buy workers’ comp from private insurance carriers who compete for the business. In North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, and Wyoming, that competitive private market doesn’t exist for workers’ comp, the state itself is the exclusive provider. Employers register directly with the state fund, pay premium into it, and claims are administered through that state agency rather than a private insurer’s claims department. According to MoneyGeek’s 2026 excavation insurance cost analysis, this is exactly why per-employee private-market workers’ comp pricing isn’t published for these four states, that market simply doesn’t apply there.
THE FOUR FUNDS, BY NAME
| State | State Fund | Administered By |
|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | Workforce Safety & Insurance (WSI) | State of North Dakota |
| Ohio | Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) | State of Ohio |
| Washington | Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) | State of Washington |
| Wyoming | Department of Workforce Services (DWS) | State of Wyoming |
Each fund has its own registration process, reporting cadence, and rate-setting method, and none of them operate identically to a private carrier’s binder-and-renewal cycle. That’s worth knowing before you bid a job in one of these states expecting your existing coverage to simply extend to it.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR MULTI-STATE EXCAVATION CONTRACTORS
If your operation is based outside these four states but a job takes your crew into one of them, you generally can’t rely on your existing private workers’ comp policy to cover work performed there. Instead, you typically need to register directly with that state’s fund and report payroll for the employees actually working in-state, separate from your main policy. Contractors who take on jobs across multiple states often end up carrying a private policy for the bulk of their operations plus one or more separate monopolistic-fund accounts layered on top for any work touching North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, or Wyoming.
This is exactly the kind of state-specific detail that’s easy to miss when a contractor grows into new territory focused on winning the bid, not on how workers’ comp gets structured differently there. Confirming your registration is in place before your crew shows up on site avoids finding out about the gap after an injury, when it’s far more expensive to fix.
← Back to Workers’ Compensation for Excavation Contractors
Related: Workers’ Comp Requirements Vary by State · Is Workers’ Comp Required for Out-of-State Crews?
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