Landscaping Class Codes 0042 & 9102

Workers’ compensation insurance in Florida and roughly 40 other states, use a classification code system designed by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) to rate insurance premiums differently for groups of employees. There are roughly 600 class codes, and the two main codes used for employees in the landscaping industry are 0042 and 9102.

I often encounter landscape maintenance businesses that have their employees misclassified and are able to not only receive a 50% reduction on their current insurance premiums and are also able to file for reimbursements from overpayments on previous workers compensation policies. In January, we provided workers compensation coverage under class code 9102 to three lawn care businesses that were classified under code 0042.

These experiences and multiple other questions about how these classification codes may be used together on a policy, have brought to my attention a need to communicate specific information to the landscaping industry about the uses of workers compensation codes 0042 and 9102.

First, let’s start with a brief description of each classification code with quotes from NCCI’s official descriptions:

In Florida, the 2011 rates for theses class codes are 7.14 for code 0042 and 3.47 for code 9102. For businesses in the landscaping industry, this emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between the two classification codes.

According to the state exception wording under the 9102 class code, Florida landscaping businesses can use class code 0042 and 9102 on their workers’ compensation policy only if those “operations described by these classifications are conducted by separate crews.”

For more information regarding these classification codes and their appropriate uses to classify your landscaping employees, please contact our office. Our insurance agency also runs BearWise Landscapers, a niche insurance program for landscaping, tree trimming, and irrigation companies in Florida.