Texas Mutual business insurance

Overview

Texas Mutual Insurance Company is the largest workers' compensation insurer in Texas. The Legislature created it in 1991 as the Texas Workers' Compensation Insurance Fund, and a 2001 law turned it into a domestic mutual company owned by its policyholders. It writes one line, Texas workers' comp with employers' liability coverage, for more than 80,000 policyholders whose payrolls cover about 1.5 million workers. It also keeps a public duty from its state-fund days: it acts as the insurer of last resort for Texas employers. AM Best calls it the market of last resort in Texas.

Texas Mutual was ranked No. 80 among U.S. business insurers by 2025 commercial lines direct premiums written, with $941.9 million, based on NAIC market share data. All of that is Texas workers' comp, so it does not rank in any national top-10 line; AM Best placed it 16th among U.S. comp writers in 2023. Inside Texas it dominates. AM Best put its share of the state's workers' comp market at 41.4% in its November 2024 rating release.

Texas is the one state where private employers can choose not to carry comp at all. Employers that opt out are "nonsubscribers" and give up important defenses in injury lawsuits (see texas nonsubscribers: opting out of workers' comp). Texas Mutual's market is the employers that do subscribe, of every size.

Texas Mutual sells only through licensed agents, and it says more than 9,000 of them across the state can place its policies. Jeanette Ward, who joined the company as a receptionist in 1993, has been president and CEO since March 1, 2023. A nine-member board chaired by Ron Simmons oversees the company. The governor appoints five directors with Senate consent, and policyholders elect the rest. The company is based in Austin.

History

Texas created the fund in 1991, when comp rates were climbing and private insurers were pulling back. Its jobs were to be a competitive presence in the market, keep coverage available and serve as insurer of last resort. The fund came under the Sunset review process. In 1995, House Bill 1090 continued it for 12 years and let it require a last-resort applicant to cover commonly owned businesses when fraud was suspected. The fund joined the Texas Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Fund in 1999, the same year it began paying policyholder dividends.

House Bill 3458 changed its status. Effective September 1, 2001, the fund became Texas Mutual Insurance Company, a domestic mutual. The law says the company's money and assets belong solely to the company, that the state may not borrow or redirect them, and that the state is not liable for its obligations. It also says the company is not a state agency and cannot be dissolved, and it removed the company from Sunset review. Supporters argued that policyholder ownership would better protect the assets. The statutory duties to compete, guarantee availability and act as insurer of last resort stayed in place.

Texas Mutual says AM Best first rated it A (Excellent) in 2011. AM Best raised it to A+ (Superior) in November 2024. Rich Gergasko led the company as president and CEO for 10 years before retiring in 2023, and the board picked Ward, then chief operating officer, after a national search. The company has since added Texicare, a health affiliate selling level-funded health plans to Texas small businesses. In 2025 it hired its first chief transformation officer and a new chief operating officer.

Business insurance products

Texas Mutual writes workers' compensation and employers' liability for Texas operations. It does not write general liability, property or commercial auto, so the rest of a client's program goes to other carriers.

• Out-of-state employees. A Texas Mutual policy can be paired with an other states coverage policy from Argo Group US, now owned by Brookfield Wealth Solutions (see Argo Group and Farm Family). Texas Mutual combines billing for both on its invoices and handles the final audit. Out-of-state injuries are reported to Argo, not Texas Mutual. Ask your agent about eligibility.
• Dividends. Texas Mutual has paid general dividends for 28 consecutive years, nearly $5.1 billion in total. In June 2026 it mailed about $300 million to nearly 74,000 policyholders. Safety group members can earn a separate group dividend; those totaled nearly $20 million in 2025. General dividends reward profitability over the prior five years and loyalty. They are not guaranteed and must comply with Texas Department of Insurance rules.
• Safety services. Free safety resources come with the online account, including training and webinars, safe-driving tools and incident analysis. A safety services line takes questions.
• Health care network. Texas Mutual runs the WorkWell, TX health care network. If your company participates, injured employees must choose a network provider.
• Texicare. A separate affiliate offers level-funded group health plans (level-funded plan) to small businesses, also through agents.

Who it insures

Texas employers that carry comp, across industries and sizes. As insurer of last resort it is also the market for Texas employers that private carriers turn down, so hard-to-place accounts often end up there (see assigned risk and residual markets for workers' comp).

The limit is the line and the state. Texas Mutual writes only Texas comp. Multistate employers depend on the Argo arrangement or a different carrier for other states (employees in several states: other-states coverage and multistate workers' comp).

How to buy

Through an agent. Texas Mutual tells employers that "you'll need to work with an agent," and it does not sell direct or offer a self-serve quote. Agents can get automated quotes, and the company's find-an-agent form will connect you with one. Coverage is bound when the deposit is paid, online or by mail.

Payment plans include paying in full, 12 monthly installments, or payroll reporting, where you report payroll each period and pay on actual figures, similar to pay-as-you-go workers' comp: how it works and who it suits. Card and digital-wallet payments carry a 3% fee. Certificates of insurance come from your agent. Texas Mutual Online lets you file and track claims, submit payroll reports, pull loss runs, check dividend history and manage payments. Expect a final premium audit at the end of each term, done by phone, online, in person or virtually. Disputes go in writing with supporting documents.

Claims

Texas Mutual asks employers to report injuries the same day if possible. It notes that Texas law allows up to eight days to file the Employer's First Report of Injury (DWC-1), and that missing the deadline waives reimbursement rights for voluntary payments. Report online through Texas Mutual Online, by phone at 800-892-5246 (800-TX-CLAIM), by fax at 877-404-7999 or by mail to the claims office in Austin. A specialized adjuster then gathers details to decide eligibility and benefits. See reporting a workplace injury: what employers must do for what to have ready.

Adjusters work with the employer, the employee and the treating doctor on return-to-work plans, including modified duty. Injured employees can see claim details and income payments online. Suspected fraud goes to a dedicated line, 800-488-4488.

Financial strength and ratings

AM Best affirmed Texas Mutual's A+ (Superior) financial strength rating and "aa-" issuer credit rating, both with stable outlooks, in December 2025. Those ratings were upgraded from A (Excellent) and "a+" in November 2024. In that release AM Best rated its balance sheet strength as strongest and its operating performance as strong. It also cited the strongest level of risk-adjusted capital, the pricing flexibility that comes with its last-resort role and its exemption from federal income taxes.

Texas Mutual sent about $330 million of general dividends to policyholders in the year before December 2025. The Texas Department of Insurance regulates its solvency and rates. The Division of Workers' Compensation oversees claims handling, benefit payments and dispute resolution.

Strengths and weaknesses

Texas Mutual is the default comp market in Texas for good reasons: scale, an A+ rating and a long dividend record. The trade-offs are a single line in a single state and an agent-only door.

• Strengths: About 41% of Texas comp premium (AM Best, 2023 data) and an A+ (Superior) AM Best rating since November 2024. Dividends every year since 1999, about $300 million in 2026 alone. Statutory duty to serve as insurer of last resort, so a hard-to-place Texas employer still has a market. Policyholder ownership, with no outside shareholders.
• Weaknesses: Workers' comp only, Texas only. Out-of-state employees need Argo, which has its own claims reporting. No direct purchase or employer-facing online quote; you need an agent. Dividends are discretionary and depend on the company's results and your own loss history.

How to contact Texas Mutual