I want to . . .
- Get information about self insurance and the requirements to self insure
- Apply to become self insured
- Get information on posting a security deposit for self insurance
- Complete my Self Insurer's Annual Report
- Apply to take the Self Insurance Administrator's examination
- Determine if an employer is self insured
- Access self insurance regulations
- Receive notices about SIP rulemaking
About Self Insurance Plans (SIP)
Office of Self Insurance Plans (SIP)
Headquarters
(916) 574-0300
Fax: (916) 483-1535
2265 Watt Avenue, Suite 1
Sacramento, CA 95825
Chief: Mark Johnson
Acting Manager: James Ware
Supervisors: Ken Swanson, Jamie Meyers, Marilee Robinson
Overview of Self Insurance
California has one of the largest workers' compensation self insurance programs in the nation. As of July 1, 2007, a total of 5,548 California employers were actively self insured, not counting past self insured employers that were still paying claims from their periods of self insurance. These totals include:
Private Employers
- 329 individual private sector employers, not counting subsidiaries and affiliates of those employers covered under their programs.
- 26 private industry-specific group self insurers, with 2,086 members.
Public Employers
- 441 individual public sector employers.
- 89 JPAs (Joint Powers Authorities) - pools of self insured employers - with 2,692 members.
In addition, 1,102 former self insured employers were still paying claims from their periods of self insurance. These include:
- 255 individual private sector self insured employers and two private sector self insured groups with 193 members.
- 60 individual public sector self insured employers and 10 JPAs with 594 members.
Rather than purchase insurance, these employers choose to self insure their workers' compensation liabilities to cover their employees for reasons of cost effectiveness, greater control over their claims programs, and increased safety and loss control management.
The success of a workers' compensation self insurance program is often dependent upon the effectiveness of loss control activities and claims supervision. Most self insured employers contract with third-party administrators to perform some of these services, while some qualify to self administer their claims administration.
To receive self insured status, the employer must qualify through an application process, meet specified financial requirements, and be approved by the Director of Industrial Relations.