Get more than one quote, and make every quote price the same facts. That means the same job categories, the same payroll cap, and your real claims history, from private insurers and from NYSIF, the state's own carrier. New York base prices fell 13.2 percent for policies starting October 1, 2025 and another 21.9 percent from October 1, 2026, so a renewal that did not drop deserves a second quote. Who this is for: New York contractors whose renewal came in high, or who have only ever had one quote.
The short version
- Every New York insurer starts from the same published base price, then marks it up its own way. That is why the same crew gets different quotes.
- You can buy from a private insurer or from NYSIF, which must accept any employer. Get both.
- Those base prices dropped twice in a row, in October 2025 and again in October 2026. Your renewal should reflect that unless something else changed.
- Every quote should use the same job categories, payroll cap, territory, and claims history, or you are not comparing prices.
- Contractors who pay above-average wages may earn an extra New York credit. Ask for it.
How is workers comp priced in New York?
New York is not like most states. It has its own rating bureau, the New York Compensation Insurance Rating Board, and does not use the national one. The bureau publishes a base price for every class code, the job category your payroll is rated under. Each insurer multiplies that base price by its own approved factor to get its rate. The rate is applied to your payroll per $100, then multiplied by your experience mod, a number based on your claims history. Two insurers quoting the same roofer can land well apart, because each marks up the same published base price its own way. That gap is where shopping saves money, and it is why one renewal quote is not a market.
Where can a New York contractor buy workers comp?
| Source | Who it fits | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Private insurers | Most contractors with a clean or average claims history | Each has its own multiplier and appetite, the kinds of businesses it actually wants. A broker sends one application to many. |
| New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) | Anyone. NYSIF must accept any employer regardless of size, trade, or safety record. | New York's own carrier and its largest workers comp insurer. It competes on price too, so quote it every year. |
| Self-insurance | Large employers with state approval | Not practical for most contractors. |
Because NYSIF must take everyone, New York has no separate plan of last resort. A contractor with bad claims still has a home. See how to get workers comp in New York.
What should every quote have in common?
A cheap quote built on the wrong facts becomes an expensive audit bill. Before you compare prices, make sure each insurer used the same inputs.
| Input | What to check |
|---|---|
| Job categories | Office staff in clerical, owner-officers in the executive officer category, field trades in the right trade. A wrong category swings the price more than any discount. |
| Construction payroll cap | On commercial work, premium is charged on weekly pay up to $1,833.63 per employee from July 1, 2025 and $1,922.25 from July 1, 2026. It needs weekly records per employee and does not apply to one- or two-family homes. |
| Territory | New York rates construction by where the work is done: the five boroughs, the Hudson Valley and Long Island counties, and the rest of the state. |
| Claims history | Five years of claims, and your current experience mod. |
| Subcontractors | Proof of coverage on state form C-105.2 or U-26.3 for each sub, or their payroll ends up on your bill. |
| Wage credit | New York's Construction Classification Premium Adjustment Program credits contractors whose average hourly wage beats the class average. Ask whether it was applied. |
The classification and payroll cap details are in how to reduce workers comp costs in New York.
When should I shop, and what about the 2026 decrease?
Start 60 to 90 days before renewal, with five years of claims history in hand. The base prices New York insurers start from have fallen for roughly a decade in a row. Those are the rating board's numbers, not your rate, and your insurer marks them up its own way. If your renewal is flat or up with no new claims and no payroll growth, ask your broker to explain it in writing and to get two more quotes. See also how to find cheaper workers comp insurance and workers comp cost in New York.
How much can shopping save?
No web page can put a number on that, because every New York quote is built from your own payroll, categories, territory and claims. What decides the size of your saving is below.
| Move | What decides how much it saves you |
|---|---|
| Three quotes including NYSIF instead of one renewal | How far apart the insurers' markups sit this year, and how much they want your trade |
| Correcting a misclassified office employee | The gap between the office category and the trade category that pay sits in now |
| Applying the payroll cap to commercial crews | How far your weekly wages run above the cap, and how much of your work is commercial |
| The wage credit for above-average pay | Your average hourly wage against the average for your class |
| Passing along the October 2026 decrease | Your insurer's own multiplier, which is the part it controls |
What this looks like in real life
Illustrative example. It is typical of what we see and is not a promise of how any specific situation would be handled.
The setup: A roofing contractor in Syracuse has 11 employees and about $640,000 of payroll. His renewal for a policy starting November 1, 2026 came in at almost exactly what he paid the year before.
What went wrong: Base prices for policies starting October 1, 2026 had dropped 21.9 percent. He had no new claims. His agent said the insurer had raised its multiplier and that was that. He had never had a NYSIF quote.
What it cost: A broker sent one application, with weekly payroll records and five years of claims history, to four insurers and NYSIF. The quotes came back spread wide apart, with NYSIF second lowest. He bound the lowest private quote and cut about a fifth off his own renewal.
The fix: The loss cost decrease was real, but only insurers competing for his business passed it along. One quote is not a market.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How can I find cheaper workers comp insurance in New York?
Get quotes from several private insurers and from NYSIF, and make each one use the same job categories, the payroll cap, your territory, and your claims history. A broker does that with one application.
Q: Is NYSIF the cheapest workers comp in New York?
Not always, but it is often competitive and it must accept any employer. NYSIF is New York's own carrier and its largest workers comp insurer. Quote it every year alongside private insurers.
Q: Why did my New York workers comp not go down when rates dropped?
Those drops were in the base prices published by the rating board. Each insurer applies its own multiplier, and your payroll and claims change too. If nothing else changed, get other quotes.
Q: What happens if no insurer will take me in New York?
There is no separate plan of last resort here, because NYSIF must insure any employer regardless of size, trade, or safety record. Coverage can be denied only if you owe NYSIF money.
Q: Can I switch New York workers comp insurers mid-year?
Usually yes, with an extra charge from the old insurer for ending the policy early. Compare the saving against that charge. Many contractors wait for renewal unless the gap is large.
Q: What does a broker need to shop my New York workers comp?
Your current policy, five years of claims history, payroll by job category and county, weekly records if you do commercial work, the worksheet showing how your claims history multiplier was worked out, and sub certificates.
How Morrow helps
Morrow is a licensed independent commercial insurance brokerage that works with contractors and trades every day. Shopping a New York contractor's workers comp across private insurers and NYSIF with one clean application is something we do at every renewal.
- Free contract review. Send us the contract or bid documents and we mark up the insurance section in plain English, whether or not you buy anything from us.
- Free, instant certificates. Clients issue their own certificates of insurance online in about a minute, any hour, any day, at no charge.
- Markets you cannot reach online. One application, shopped across many insurance companies for general liability, workers comp, auto, umbrella, and pollution coverage.
One more thing. This article is general information and is not legal advice or a statement of coverage. Your contract and your policy wording control in every case. Requirements vary by customer, by state, and by insurance company, so have a licensed advisor review your own contract and your own policy before relying on any of it.
Last updated: Reviewed by the Morrow commercial lines team. Last updated September 2026.