New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) business insurance

Overview

The New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) is a self-supporting, nonprofit agency of the State of New York that sells workers' compensation, disability benefits (DBL) and paid family leave coverage to New York employers. It is a competitive state fund: it competes with private insurers for business, and employers are free to buy from NYSIF, buy from a private carrier or self-insure. It is also the state's insurer of last resort for those coverages. Unlike a private insurer, NYSIF must insure any New York employer that applies, regardless of risk, and may cancel a policy only for nonpayment of premium. New York has no separate assigned-risk pool for comp. NYSIF fills that role, so an employer turned down everywhere else still has a place to go (see assigned risk and residual markets for workers' comp).

NYSIF was ranked No. 54 among U.S. business insurers by 2025 commercial lines direct premiums written, with $1.60 billion, based on NAIC market share data. All of that is workers' compensation, and it ranks seventh nationally in that line. NYSIF says it is the largest comp insurer in New York, covering about 2 million workers at 200,000 employers.

The NAIC group shown above is the Workers' Compensation Fund. NYSIF also runs a legally separate Disability Benefits Fund. Its premium does not appear in the commercial figures because disability benefits is an accident and health line. NYSIF also administers the comp program for the State of New York's own employees (the state self-insures) and the Aggregate Trust Fund, which pays certain death and permanent disability awards.

Most employers buy directly from NYSIF, online or on paper. Licensed brokers and agents can also place and service policies as registered NYSIF representatives. Gaurav Vasisht, a former executive deputy superintendent at the New York Department of Financial Services, has been executive director and CEO since November 2021. A board of commissioners chaired by Kenneth R. Theobalds oversees the fund.

History

NYSIF dates to New York's Workers' Compensation Act of 1914, which voters approved by referendum. The reforms followed the 1909 Wainwright Commission's report on injured workers and the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire. The statute still requires NYSIF's premiums to be set at the lowest rates consistent with a solvent fund and reasonable reserves.

The Disability Benefits Fund was established in 1949, and NYSIF has sold DBL coverage since New York's off-the-job disability law took effect in 1950. When paid family leave arrived, NYSIF added it as the state-mandated rider on DB policies rather than as a separate product. Safety groups, which pool employers in the same trade, have paid dividends every year since 1923.

The fund's surplus has been a political target. Laws passed between 1982 and 1990 required it to transfer a total of $1.295 billion to the state, which NYSIF still carries as a contingent receivable that the state must repay only if the fund runs short of assets to pay claims. In 1985 New York's Court of Appeals held, in Methodist Hospital of Brooklyn v. State Insurance Fund, that NYSIF is a state agency for all of whose liabilities the state is responsible.

Recent changes are mostly about access. A 2021 amendment to Section 76 of the Workers' Compensation Law let NYSIF cover policyholders' employees in other states, and since September 1, 2022, it has done so through a quota share arrangement with Zurich American companies, now branded Multi-State Coverage. A July 2022 law (S.9096/A.10078) let NYSIF reissue coverage to employers that owed it back premium, under a payment plan; NYSIF calls this the Welcome Back program.

Business insurance products

Workers' compensation. Statutory New York coverage, with employers' liability, on several plans:

• General Group (Group 90): individual rating using your experience modification rate, with a guaranteed discount for qualified employers.
• Safety groups: employers with similar hazards pooled together, with advance discounts and possible dividends. Dividends are not guaranteed.
• Retrospective rating for large employers with substantial premium and a steady loss record.
• Large deductible plans for employers willing to reimburse part of their own losses in exchange for lower premium.
• Preferred Risk Participation Plan, which can refund part of the premium a year after expiration if the loss ratio is favorable.

NYSIF also writes flat-premium policies for volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance workers, and offers instant online quotes for household employers with fewer than 10 domestic workers.

Disability benefits and paid family leave. Statutory DBL pays 50% of the employee's average weekly wage up to $170 a week for up to 26 weeks. Enriched plans pay up to five times that, or $850 a week. Paid family leave is attached as a rider; for 2026 it pays 67% of weekly wages up to $1,228.53 a week for 12 weeks, funded by employee payroll deductions. NYSIF cut its standard DB rate by 28% on January 1, 2026, to a maximum of $17.68 per employee per year (the $60 minimum premium still applies), and its DB rates do not vary by employee gender. See state disability and paid family leave programs: every mandate in 2026 for how New York's mandates compare with other states.

Programs. NYSIF Insure+ offers up to 20% off General Group premium for eligible veterinary, legal, electrical, plumbing and retail businesses. PayGo ties premium to each payroll with no up-front deposit (see pay-as-you-go workers' comp: how it works and who it suits). There are also premium credits for extreme-heat protective equipment and the Construction Premium Adjustment Program for high-wage construction employers.

NYSIF does not sell general liability, property, commercial auto or any other coverage. You will need a second carrier for the rest of the account.

Who it insures

Every kind of New York employer, by design. Its safety resources are organized around construction, healthcare, manufacturing and services, and its safety groups are organized by industry. Its DB book alone covers about 58,000 employers, 97% of them small businesses, according to NYSIF in March 2026. At the other end, retrospective and large deductible plans serve big employers. As the guaranteed market, NYSIF is where an employer goes when private carriers decline it, but it also competes for preferred accounts through safety groups and dividends.

The limit is geography. NYSIF insures New York employers. Out-of-state employees can be covered through Multi-State Coverage only if the business has more comp premium or payroll in New York than in all other states combined and meets NYSIF's underwriting guidelines.

How to buy

Apply online or have your broker do it. The online workers' comp application asks about 10 questions; have your estimated annual payroll (including casual labor, 1099 payments and uninsured subcontractors), your last four quarters of NYS-45 or Form 941 filings, and prior carrier loss history ready. Applications are reviewed only when complete and paid: coverage starts at 12:01 a.m. the day after NYSIF receives the signed application and premium deposit. DB/PFL quotes come back immediately as estimates, and policies take up to five days to become effective. Multi-state coverage needs a separate ACORD 130 application.

New small policyholders with 10 or fewer employees can enroll in the Small Business Support Program for one-on-one help through the first year, including audit preparation. Expect a premium audit after each policy year; NYSIF processed more than 20,000 audits in 2025. Online accounts handle bills, payroll reporting, certificates and loss runs, and a policy mobile app launched in April 2026. Anyone can validate a NYSIF certificate on its website.

Claims

Report a work injury online through NYSIF's eFROI system or by calling the 24/7 Accident Reporting Hotline at 844-879-2692, where the injured employee can speak with a nurse triage specialist. Report within 10 days of learning of an injury that causes lost time beyond the day of the accident or medical treatment beyond first aid. Reporting to NYSIF satisfies the employer's reporting duty to the Workers' Compensation Board. Injuries in other states under Multi-State Coverage go to Zurich North America, not NYSIF, at 877-405-9045.

NYSIF says it managed about 94,100 claims in 2025 and made timely first payments on 96.1% of new claims. Claimants can track payments in its claim app and get direct deposit. Employees file disability and paid family leave claims through NYSIF's separate DB claims process.

Financial strength and ratings

NYSIF does not publish a financial strength rating from AM Best, S&P, Moody's or Fitch on its website or in its 2025 annual report. Its security rests on its own statutory surplus and its status as a state agency. Its audited statutory statements for 2025 show the Workers' Compensation Fund with $1.60 billion of net written premium, $577.5 million of net income, $25.0 billion of admitted assets and $12.27 billion of surplus at December 31, 2025. The Disability Benefits Fund reported $110.5 million of net written premium and $429.4 million of surplus.

NYSIF returned more than $700 million to policyholders through dividends and discounts in 2025. In July 2026 the governor's office announced that the Department of Financial Services had approved an average 22% cut in New York workers' comp premium rates for insured employers statewide, effective October 1, 2026. The cut applies to insured employers statewide, not only NYSIF's.

Strengths and weaknesses

NYSIF is the comp market every New York employer can count on, and for many it is also the cheapest. Its limits come from the same statute that guarantees access: one state, two coverages, and an agency's processes.

• Strengths: Guaranteed availability as New York's insurer of last resort, with cancellation only for nonpayment. A legal mandate to charge the lowest rates consistent with solvency, plus safety-group dividends paid every year since 1923. Large surplus ($12.27 billion at year-end 2025) backed by a court ruling that the state is responsible for its liabilities. Practical small-business tools: online quotes, PayGo, the Small Business Support Program and gender-neutral DB rates cut 28% for 2026.
• Weaknesses: Workers' comp, DBL and paid family leave only, in New York only, so it cannot round out an account. Out-of-state coverage depends on a Zurich arrangement with its own claims reporting. No published rating, which can clash with contracts that require an AM Best-rated carrier. The legislature has taken surplus from the fund before.

How to contact NYSIF