Texas Business Insurance: The only state where comp is optional. The option has teeth.

Most business insurance is judgment. The comp decision is the judgment call of the decade.

Start here, because everything else is a distant second. Texas is the only state in the country where workers' compensation is optional for most private employers. Roughly a quarter of Texas employers, by some counts, run as non-subscribers. It sounds like freedom, and it is — the same way removing the guardrails is freedom.

Here is what the brochure version leaves out. Carry comp, and an injured employee's claim runs through the comp system: defined benefits, no lawsuit, done. Go without, and that employee can sue you directly in civil court — and Texas law strips you of the three defenses that would normally protect an employer: contributory negligence, assumption of risk, and fellow-employee negligence. Their lawyer needs to show your negligence contributed to the injury, and the damages are not capped the way comp benefits are. Pain and suffering is on the table. One bad morning on a ladder can outrun a decade of saved premiums.

And "optional" comes with an asterisk anyway. Comp is required on government work. Around Texas, the refineries, chemical plants, and general contractors mostly require it by contract — no certificate, no badge, no site access. Even the opt-out itself is a formal status: annual notice to the state, written notice to employees, bilingual postings on the wall.

Everything after that is judgment, and judgment is what you are actually hiring us for. Most small Texas businesses run on a Business Owners Policy, packaging general liability, property, and business income, plus the comp decision made deliberately. Then it depends on what you do. Give advice for money and you need professional liability. Drive for work and you need commercial auto, because your personal policy excludes business use. Hold customer data and cyber stops being a luxury. Own property in a flood zone and wind and flood become their own layers. What we will not do is sell you the whole catalog. Tell us what your business actually does, and we will tell you what it actually needs. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and for the employment-law side, get an employment attorney. We handle the insurance.

Texas workers' comp, in plain English.

This is the section worth reading properly, because Texas runs the comp question differently from all forty-nine other states, and the freedom it offers is priced in a currency most owners never examine.

The choice, and who actually has it

Most private Texas employers may legally choose whether to carry workers' compensation. Carry it and you are a subscriber; decline and you are a non-subscriber. The choice is narrower than it looks: comp is required for government contracts, and in this market the practical rule-makers are the plants and the general contractors, who write comp requirements into their agreements. If your revenue comes through a badge gate in Pasadena, Deer Park, or Baytown, the state's permission to skip comp is worth very little.

What going bare actually costs

A subscriber gets the exclusive remedy: injuries run through the comp system, benefits are defined, and the employee cannot sue. A non-subscriber loses that shield entirely, and Texas law goes further — it strips the three classic defenses an employer would otherwise raise: contributory negligence (the employee was partly careless), assumption of risk (they knew the job was dangerous), and fellow-employee negligence (a coworker caused it). The injured employee's lawyer needs to show your negligence played a part, and the jury's number is not capped by any benefits schedule. Pain and suffering, mental anguish, and in egregious cases punitive damages are all in play. That is the trade: premium savings now, unlimited downside later.

Non-subscriber, done properly

Some businesses still reasonably choose it — very low-risk operations, or firms pairing the decision with an occupational accident plan that pays medical and wage benefits for injured workers and reduces the odds a claim becomes a lawsuit. If that is your road, take it deliberately: the status requires an annual filing with the state (DWC Form-005), written notice to every employee, and posted workplace notices in English and Spanish. We will price both roads — real comp and a structured alternative — and show you the difference in dollars and in exposure.

The paperwork nobody mentions

Comp pricing runs on class codes — clerical staff and roofers are priced very differently per $100 of payroll — and misclassified payroll is the most common way Texas businesses overpay, or get an ugly surprise at audit. Certificates of insurance, additional-insured endorsements, and waiver-of-subrogation requests are daily bread in this market's contract work, and slow certificates stall invoices. We handle both routinely. On employment-law questions, talk to an employment attorney; we do the insurance.