Manage your company's Workers' Compensation with NEXT Insurance

Once you run your first payroll, sign in to your NEXT account to manage job/risk class codes for employees, including assigning, changing, or removing class codes.

1. Sign in to NEXT's customer portal. 
2. Click the Policies tab.
3. Select Employees.
4. Click the "edit" pencil next to each employee's name.
5. Select the class code and effective date.
6. Click Save.

A workers’ compensation certificate of insurance serves as proof of your coverage. Below are a few options to get this certificate if your policy is through NEXT Insurance.

• Sign in to your NEXT dashboard account. From there, you’ll be able to quickly and easily generate or track your simple certificates on demand, request other types of certificates, and other actions related to the policy.
• Email gustosupport@apintego.com.
• Call (888) 289-2939, and use the certificate prompt.
• You can request your certificate of insurance online if your policy is with one of the following: 
  • Hartford
  • Guard

Reach out to NEXT Insurance directly at gustosupport@apintego.com or (866) 610-0063 with any questions specific to certificates or coverage.

When you sign up for workers' compensation with Gusto, premium amounts are submitted using the pay-as-you-go payment method. 

The following timeline occurs when you run payroll:

1. Every time you run payroll (regular, off-cycle, or bonus payroll), we'll send your payroll information to our partner, NEXT Insurance.
2. NEXT Insurance calculates the premium due based on your payroll information and remits the premium payment to the carrier on your behalf. The premium amount is calculated based on 4 key factors:
   • Employer's payroll amount
   • Job classification (4-digit class codes) within the company
   • Historical claims experience (experience rating or ex-mod)
   • Taxes and surcharges applicable to the state
3. A workers’ compensation invoice will appear in NEXT for payrolls processed in that week.
4. A debit for this calculated premium will be deducted from your company bank account.
   • Note: NEXT Insurance will debit from the default company bank account used in Gusto. This cannot be changed unless you change your default company bank account in Gusto. They have this information as part of the Gusto/NEXT Insurance integration. 

Pricing for workers’ comp insurance

The cost depends on your business, industry, and the type of work that your employees perform. Factors that can impact your costs include:


• Your annual payroll amount
• The “risk class code” of jobs being performed (some jobs are riskier than others—like construction, for example)
• The overall rate of injuries within your industry
• The rate of injuries within your state
• Your company’s claims history (the safer your business, the less you may have to pay over time)
• Inclusion/exclusion of owners or officers

The average cost of workers’ comp insurance is around 1.4% of a person’s total compensation. So if one of your employees makes $75,000 a year, you can expect to pay around $1,050 a year on workers’ comp insurance.

Pay As You Go fee

In addition to your premiums charged by NEXT, a fee of $1 per employee per month applies to Gusto Pay As You Go Workers’ Compensation policies. The maximum you’ll pay is $5—no matter how many employees you have.

With the Pay As You Go (PAYG) model, your premiums are based on actual payroll. For example, if you run payroll monthly, you’d pay around $87.50 in workers’ comp premiums each month, plus the $1 Gusto integration fee—rather than paying the full $1,050 upfront.

This fee supports the continued development and enhancement of our Pay As You Go Workers’ Compensation service. It’s designed to keep the experience fast, seamless and integrated with payroll—helping you simplify insurance administration.

Consistent payroll requirement

Pay-as-you-go workers' compensation requires consistent payroll. If you do not run at least one payroll per month, you run the risk of policy cancellation. If you anticipate a time period greater than 4 weeks without payroll, contact NEXT Insurance at (866) 610-0063 to let them know. This will keep your policy intact and help you avoid having to repurchase insurance when this is needed in the future.

FAQs

Q: Why is my premium $XX amount?

A: NEXT Insurance is responsible for calculating the premium amount based on the payroll information in your Gusto account. Any questions about the amount should be directed to NEXT Insurance.

Q: What is the Expense Constant?

A: States regulate the amount an insurance company can charge for the administrative cost of a policy. This charge is called an Expense Constant. It's generally the only flat dollar amount charged on the policy. The expense constant range is typically between $100 - $380 per policy based on the state and is built into your premium deductions. 

Q: What happens if the debit for our premium deduction fails?

A: NEXT Insurance will automatically attempt to re-debit your account 48 hours later. If the second debit is unsuccessful, your policy will go into "pending cancellation" stage if NEXT is unable to collect payment for 30 days or more, and you'll have to ask NEXT Insurance to retry the debit one more time. If the issue is not resolved, the carrier will mail a "pending cancellation" notice to your company.

Q: What sort of communication is sent out regarding billing? 

A: Various communications are sent regarding workers' comp billing:

• When you run payroll, a workers' compensation invoice appears in NEXT that week.
  
  • NEXT sends an email letting you know of the upcoming debit.
  • If no payroll is run, no billing will be processed and no communication will be sent. 
• If you do not run payroll for more than 30 days, NEXT will email you to inform that your company is at risk for policy cancellation if you do not run payroll consistently. 

Q: Why choose Pay-As-You-Go?

A: Pay As You Go Workers’ Comp still offers major advantages and savings, including:

• Improved cash flow: Premiums are based on Gusto payroll data and paid per pay period – no big, upfront payment required. 
• Less admin time: Payments adjust automatically with payroll changes, which can simplify your end of year audit and reduce the likelihood that you’ll owe additional premium at the end of the year. 
• No guesswork: There’s no need to estimate annual payroll upfront – your premiums will reflect real data, so you pay for only what you need. 

Pay As You Go can save you time, help avoid costly audit surprises, and fit your business’s cash flow better. Even with the small fee, it’s designed to make managing workers’ comp simpler and more affordable overall​.

Q: Can I switch to direct billing to avoid the Pay As You Go fee? 

Yes, you have choices beyond the Pay As You Go fee. There are two options to maintain your coverage while avoiding the fee:

• Self-Reporting (remain on Pay As You Go): You can continue with Pay As You Go billing, but you'll need to manually upload your payroll information directly to the NEXT customer dashboard. This requires a specific format, and it's essential to upload data at least every 30 days to prevent potential policy cancellation.
• Direct Billing: With this option, you pay a fixed amount on a regular schedule directly to your insurance carrier. Switching to direct billing might necessitate a new policy, which could affect existing documents and pricing. It may also involve a larger upfront premium payment, and you'll need to perform more manual reconciliation during audit time. While you would no longer report payroll directly to NEXT, NEXT Agency will still provide assistance with your policy needs.

If you’d like to explore your options further, contact us from the Help section of your Gusto account.

There are two different rates you'll come across when signing up for workers' compensation through Gusto:

• Manual rate: The manual rate (also known as the quoted rate) is the rate on your initial quote. It shows the estimated net amount before any fees, surcharges, taxes, and discounts from the state or carrier.
• Composite rate: The composite rate (also known as the billed rate) is the actual rate that's charged based on your payrolls processed through Gusto. It includes a blended amount of fees, surcharges, taxes, and discounts from the state or carrier based on each payroll.

NEXT Insurance applies the composite rate to your payroll with the pay-as-you-go billing method. Applying the composite rate helps reduce additional premium due at audit.

FAQs

Q: Why is my composite rate different from my manual rate?
A: Your composite rate may be higher or lower than your manual rate based on your circumstances. If you have a credit modification and hefty discounts, you'll likely have a lower composite rate than your manual rate.

Q: Where can I learn about additional fees within my policy?
A: The various fees are outlined in your workers' compensation proposal provided by NEXT Insurance. If you received your quote and signed your workers' compensation forms within Gusto, this should be available in your Forms section.

If you cannot find this information, or if you did not go through the quoting process in Gusto, log in to the NEXT Customer Dashboard where you can find information on your account as well as pull policy documents to locate the fees. You can also reach out to NEXT Insurance at gustosupport@apintego.com for these details.

If Gusto isn't managing your workers' compensation policy, you can set a notification in Gusto to remind you when your policy is up for renewal. 

1. Sign in to Gusto.
2. Click the Taxes & Compliance section and select Stay compliant.
3. Next to Workers' Compensation Insurance, click Get started.
4. Select Yes - we already have a policy.
5. Click Continue.
6. Select I don’t want to integrate workers’ comp with payroll.
7. Click Continue.
8. Enter your policy information.

We’ll email you a notification before your policy expiration date as a reminder to renew. You'll also be given the option to set up another renewal reminder or add a workers' compensation policy through Gusto.

Worker's comp carriers may audit at policy end or cancellation to help determine if the company owes any additional money or needs to be refunded. The notice lists documents needed to verify payroll during the policy term. 

Pay-as-you-go policies reduce audit risk by charging based on actual payroll amounts.

Gusto can help you find documents in your account, but cannot answer the audit on your behalf or give legal advice.

If you're a NEXT Insurance customer, use your NEXT Dashboard or email gustosupport@apintego.com.

Helpful items

• Find quarterly tax forms (for example, 941s).
• Run a Payroll Journal report for the time frame.

To cancel your workers' compensation, you'll need to reach out to NEXT Insurance directly, as Gusto does not have permissions to cancel your policy.

• Phone number: (866) 610-0063 
• Email address: gustosupport@apintego.com

Policy/quote support

If you have questions about premiums, coverage, billing, audits etc., contact NEXT Insurance. Log in to the NEXT Customer Dashboard Portal.

Phone: (866) 610-0063, option 11
Email: gustosupport@apintego.com

If you need a certificate of insurance, request one via email at gustosupport@apintego.com.

Claims-related questions

If you need to file a claim or have any questions regarding claims, contact the carrier below.

Guard: (888) 639-2567, claims@guard.com
Amtrust: (866) 272-9267, anaclaimsreporting@amtrustgroup.com
Employers: (888) 682-6671, reportaclaim@employers.com
Markel: (888) 500-3344, froi@markelcorp.com
NEXT: (855) 222-5919, support@nextinsurance.com
Pie Insurance: (844) 581-0828, claims@pieinsurance.com