Employers must provide workers' compensation insurance defined in the Montana Workers' Compensation and Occupational Disease Acts. Insurance may be purchased from insurers that are authorized in Montana, and have workers' compensation included in their authority. Alternatively, the department may grant an employer the ability to self-insure its workers' compensation liabilities if it has the requisite financial ability to pay workers' compensation indemnity and medical benefits.
Changes in Montana's Assessment Rates
Effective July 1, 2024
Montana Workers' Compensation
Premium Surcharge Rates
All Plan 2 and Plan 3 (new)-(Montana State Fund) carriers writing workers’ compensation in Montana need to collect from each policyholder enrolled in the workers' compensation regulatory assessment surcharge established by the Department of Labor & Industry.
| Premium Surcharge rates Effective July 1, 2024 (FY 2025) | |
| Administration Fund Premium Surcharge Rate: | 0.8925% |
| (MCA 39-71-201) | |
| Subsequent Injury Fund Premium Surcharge Rate:. | 0.4576% |
| (MCA 39-71-915) | |
| Occupational Safety & Health Administration Fund Premium Surcharge Rate: | 0.3902% |
| (MCA 50-71-128) | |
The surcharge rates will change for each subsequent fiscal year. Rates will be calculated each April and will be effective on July 1.
The premium surcharge must be paid whenever the employer pays a premium to the insurer. Terrorism premium should be included in the premium collected. Each insurer shall pay to the department all money collected as a premium surcharge within 20 days of the end of the calendar quarter in which the money was collected. The administration fund premium surcharge must be identified as the "workers' compensation regulatory assessment surcharge”, the subsequent injury fund premium surcharge must be identified as the “workers’ compensation subsequent injury fund surcharge” and the occupational safety and health premium surcharge must be identified as the “occupational safety and health regulatory assessment surcharge”. The surcharges must be stated as separate costs on the policy or provided on a separate document submitted to the insured employer.
Each insurer shall maintain reasonable records showing the total amount of premium surcharge billed to its policyholders and the total amount of premium surcharge actually collected. The premium surcharge must be excluded from the definition of premiums for all purposes.
If an insurer fails to timely pay to the department the premium surcharge collected, the department may impose on the insurer administrative fines of $500 for the administration fund, $500 for the occupational safety & health fund and $100 for subsequent injury fund plus interest on the delinquent amount at the annual interest rate of 12%.
Insurers may address over-collections or over-payments of premium surcharge in the following manner, outlined in Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM) 24.29.956. If a surcharge remittance from an insurer to the department is later determined to include an over-payment, the insurer may deduct the amount overpaid from the next surcharge remittance due from the insurer to the department. The insurer shall maintain records documenting any surcharge amounts refunded to its policyholders.
If you are submitting payment for several companies, please do not deduct negative premium from one company for another company. Please do not report a negative figure for the surcharge amounts, make adjustments internally and carry the credit forward on future reports. Report -0- on the surcharge remittal form and submit backup documentation supporting the credit.
You may review the rates and download the surcharge form for future filings.
Contact Information
Employment Relations Division
Operations Bureau
PO Box 8011
Helena, MT 59604-8011
(406) 444-6543
