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Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.82 (2026)

Contracts indemnifying or insuring employer void

✓ current as of May 2026
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Effective:
September 17, 2014
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 493 - 130th General Assembly
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(A) All contracts and agreements are void which undertake to indemnify or insure an employer against loss or liability for the payment of compensation to workers or their dependents for death, injury, or occupational disease occasioned in the course of the workers' employment, or which provide that the insurer shall pay the compensation, or which indemnify the employer against damages when the injury, disease, or death arises from the failure to comply with any lawful requirement for the protection of the lives, health, and safety of employees, or when the same is occasioned by the willful act of the employer or any of the employer's officers or agents, or by which it is agreed that the insurer shall pay any such damages. No license or authority to enter into any such agreements or issue any such policies of insurance shall be granted or issued by any public authority in this state. Any corporation organized or admitted under the laws of this state to transact liability insurance as defined in section 3929.01 of the Revised Code may by amendment of its articles of incorporation or by original articles of incorporation, provide therein for the authority and purpose to make insurance in states, territories, districts, and counties, other than the state of Ohio, and in the state of Ohio in respect of contracts permitted by division (B) of this section, indemnifying employers against loss or liability for payment of compensation to workers and employees and their dependents for death, injury, or occupational disease occasioned in the course of the employment and to insure and indemnify employers against loss, expense, and liability by risk of bodily injury or death by accident, disability, sickness, or disease suffered by workers and employees for which the employer may be liable or has assumed liability.

(B) Notwithstanding division (A) of this section:

(1) No contract because of that division is void which undertakes to indemnify a self-insuring employer against all or part of such employer's loss in excess of at least fifty thousand dollars from any one disaster or event arising out of the employer's liability under this chapter, but no insurance corporation shall, directly or indirectly, represent an employer in the settlement, adjudication, determination, allowance, or payment of claims. The superintendent of insurance shall enforce this prohibition by such disciplinary orders directed against the offending insurance corporation as the superintendent of insurance deems appropriate in the circumstances and the administrator of workers' compensation shall enforce this prohibition by such disciplinary orders directed against the offending employer as the administrator deems appropriate in the circumstances, which orders may include revocation of the insurance corporation's right to enter into indemnity contracts and revocation of the employer's status as a self-insuring employer.

(2) The administrator may enter into a contract of indemnity with any such employer upon such terms, payment of such premium, and for such amount and form of indemnity as the administrator determines and the bureau of workers' compensation board of directors may procure reinsurance of the liability of the public and private funds under this chapter, or any part of the liability in respect of either or both of the funds, upon such terms and premiums or other payments from the fund or funds as the administrator deems prudent in the maintenance of a solvent fund or funds from year to year. When making the finding of fact which the administrator is required by section 4123.35 of the Revised Code to make with respect to the financial ability of an employer, no contract of indemnity, or the ability of the employer to procure such a contract, shall be considered as increasing the financial ability of the employer.

(C) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the administrator or an other-states' insurer from providing to employers in this state other-states' coverage or limited other-states' coverage in accordance with section 4123.292 of the Revised Code.

(D) Notwithstanding any other section of the Revised Code, but subject to division (A) of this section, the superintendent of insurance shall have the sole authority to regulate any insurance products, except for the bureau of workers' compensation and those products offered by the bureau, that indemnify or insure employers against workers' compensation losses in this state or that are sold to employers in this state.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 18 cases, 1954–2010 · leading case: Cincinnati Bell Tel. Co. v. Straley, 533 N.E.2d 764 (Ohio 1988).
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Cincinnati Bell Tel. Co. v. Straley, 533 N.E.2d 764 (Ohio 1988). · cites it 12× “filed an action against Heatbath Corporation, seeking damages which included $18,025 as attributable to increased workers’ compensation premiums. The lower courts rejected the claim by Ledex, Inc.”
Ledex, Inc. v. Heatbath Corp., 461 N.E.2d 1299 (Ohio 1984). · cites it 8× “The question presented is whether R.C. 4123.82 bars an employer whose employee suffers injuries and recovers workers’ compensation therefor from recovering damages for increased workers’ compensation premiums from a third party whose conduct caused the employee’s injuries.”
In Re Suburban Motor Freight, 134 B.R. 617 (Bankr. S.D. Ohio 1991). · cites it 4× “O.R.C. § 4123.82(A). The Ohio system does permit certain employers to “self-insure,” but this privilege is severely limited.”
Worth v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 513 N.E.2d 253 (Ohio 1987). “2d 1047 (construction contracts); R.C. 4123.82 and Ledex, Inc. v. Heatbath Corp.”
Schramm v. Appleton Papers, Inc., 833 N.E.2d 336 (Ohio Ct. App. 2005). · cites it 4× “{¶ 19} In addition, we find no basis for Schramm’s assertion that the release is void, pursuant to R.C. 4123.82. R.C. 4123.82 prohibits contracts and agreements “which undertake to indemnify or insure an employer against loss or liability for the payment of compensation to…”
Holben v. Interstate Motor Freight Sys., 509 N.E.2d 938 (Ohio 1987). · cites it 2× “Appellants’ arguments utilizing R.C. 4123.82 (B) are misplaced. Although subsection (B) provides in part that “* * * no insurance corporation shall, directly or indirectly, represent an employer in the settlement, adjudication, determination, allowance, or payment of claims,” a…”
Glaspell v. Ohio Edison Co., 505 N.E.2d 264 (Ohio 1987). “2d 1047 (construction contracts); R.C. 4123.82 and Ledex, Inc. v. Heatbath Corp.”
Bush v. Mayfield, 508 N.E.2d 181 (Ohio Ct. App. 1986). · cites it 3× “84(A)(2)(b) when that section is read in pari materia with R.C. 4123.82. There is no contention that the insurance policy in question was other than a nonoccupational accident and sickness policy under which payments would not be payable or made if a compensable industrial…”
Repub.-Franklin Ins. v. City of Amherst, 553 N.E.2d 614 (Ohio 1990). “Since the relevant exclusion in the insurance contract herein, set forth infra, reflects R.C. 4123.82(A), which prohibits contracts indemnifying employers against loss or liability for the payment of workers’ compensation to workers injured or killed in the course of their…”
Repub. Steel Corp. v. Glaros, 230 N.E.2d 667 (Ohio Ct. App. 1967). · cites it 2× “Section 4123.82, Eevised Code, provides in part as follows: “(A) All contracts and agreements are void which undertake to indemnify or insure an employer against loss or liability for the payment of compensation to workmen or their dependents for death, injury, or occupational…”
Yoder v. Ohio Bureau of Workers' Comp. (In Re Suburban Motor Freight, Inc.), 156 B.R. 790 (S.D. Ohio 1992). “”) § 4123.82(A). While Ohio’s system permits self-insurance on a very limited basis, that privilege is limited to certain employers, and participation in the program is mandatory for all others.”
A.H. Sturgill Roofing, Inc. v. Robert W. Setterlin & Sons Co., 870 N.E.2d 240 (Ohio Ct. App. 2007). · cites it 2× “{¶ 12} When an employer pays an injured employee under the Workers’ Compensation Act, R.C. 4123.82 prevents the reimbursement to the employer for any amount paid to the employee; therefore, no employer’s cause of action exists.”
Show all 18 citing cases →
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.82(A) — 7 cases
In Re Suburban Motor Freight, 134 B.R. 617 (Bankr. S.D. Ohio 1991). “O.R.C. § 4123.82(A). The Ohio system does permit certain employers to “self-insure,” but this privilege is severely limited.”
Repub.-Franklin Ins. v. City of Amherst, 553 N.E.2d 614 (Ohio 1990). “Since the relevant exclusion in the insurance contract herein, set forth infra, reflects R.C. 4123.82(A), which prohibits contracts indemnifying employers against loss or liability for the payment of workers’ compensation to workers injured or killed in the course of their…”
Bush v. Mayfield, 508 N.E.2d 181 (Ohio Ct. App. 1986). “84(A)(2)(b) when that section is read in pari materia with R.C. 4123.82. There is no contention that the insurance policy in question was other than a nonoccupational accident and sickness policy under which payments would not be payable or made if a compensable industrial…”
Yoder v. Ohio Bureau of Workers' Comp. (In Re Suburban Motor Freight, Inc.), 156 B.R. 790 (S.D. Ohio 1992). “”) § 4123.82(A). While Ohio’s system permits self-insurance on a very limited basis, that privilege is limited to certain employers, and participation in the program is mandatory for all others.”
Sammetinger v. Kirk Bros. Co., Inc., 2010 Ohio 1500 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.82(B) — 1 case
Bush v. Mayfield, 508 N.E.2d 181 (Ohio Ct. App. 1986). “84(A)(2)(b) when that section is read in pari materia with R.C. 4123.82. There is no contention that the insurance policy in question was other than a nonoccupational accident and sickness policy under which payments would not be payable or made if a compensable industrial…”
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