Renewing your accident insurance policy and declaring wages
Your accident insurance policy renewal starts with declaring the wages for your business. We use your wages to work out how much premium you should pay. To make sure your workers and your business are properly covered, you need to know who to cover and what counts as wages.
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Key dates for renewing your policy
Each year, you need to tell us your wages and pay your premium between 1 July and 30 September to renew your accident insurance policy.
If you don’t want to renew your policy, you’ll need to cancel it.
From 1 July, tell us your wages so you’re paying the right premium
Declaring your wages helps make sure your premium is correct.
Most businesses declare online – it’s quick and easy.
Tell us your wages by 31 August to get discounts
Declaring your wages by 31 August helps you:
- be eligible for a 3% pay-in-full discount (for premiums over $200)
- get the apprentice discount.
Pay your premium by 16 September to get early payment benefits
16 September is the last date to:
- get the 3% pay-in-full discount, or
- set up a payment plan.
Find out how to pay.
30 September is the last day to pay to keep your cover active
If you don’t pay your premium by 30 September, your cover will end.
If a worker is injured when your premium hasn’t been paid, you could be responsible for their claim costs.
If you have an active payment plan, your cover stays in place.
What you need to tell us
What we need depends on whether you’re taking out a new policy or renewing an existing one.
If you’re taking out a new policy
To work out your premium, we ask you to tell us your estimated wages for the current financial year.
You can apply for a new policy at any time
If you apply part-way through the year, your premium is based on the wages you expect to pay for the rest of the financial year.
After this, your policy will move into the standard renewal cycle. The normal policy renewal dates will apply.
If you’re renewing your policy
From 1 July each year, we’ll email you to ask for your wage details.
To renew your policy, you need to declare your
- estimated wages for this financial year
- actual wages from last financial year.
You need to tell us your wages by 31 August.
We use your wages to
- work out how much premium you need to pay
- apply any discounts you may be eligible for.
We’ll also check the wage estimate from your last renewal
If your actual wages are higher or lower, we may adjust your current premium.
How to declare your wages
Declaring online is as easy as 1, 2, 3
- Log in to WorkCover Connect
You’ll need your username and password. Forgotten your login details? You can reset them securely online. - Click ‘Declare your wages’
You’ll see it on the top left tile once you log in. - Tell us your wages
Enter last year’s actual wages and your estimate for the year ahead.
What are wages?
Wages are the total amount you pay to a worker for their work. This includes wages, salary and other benefits that have a monetary value.
Wages are counted before tax, superannuation and other deductions, like HECS or HELP repayments.
The full definition of actual wages is in our glossary.
Not everyone’s wages count
Not everyone is covered by your accident insurance policy. You only need to tell us the wages of your workers.
Find out who counts as a worker.
Payments that count as wages
When you tell us your wages, include:
- all PAYG gross salary and wage payments of workers
- all superannuation payments, including salary sacrificed amounts
- any fringe benefits or entitlements that have monetary value
- payments to individual contractors who count as workers (excluding GST)
- apprentice wages.
Find out what you need to know in our Wages definition manual (PDF, 0.4 MB)
Payments that don’t count as wages
Don’t tell us:
- reimbursements for work-related expenses (such as a travel allowance)
- lump sum termination payments
- claims excess paid to a worker
- any compensation payments we’ve reimbursed
- payments to Directors, Trustees or Partners – they don’t count as workers.
We won’t cancel your policy unless you tell us to
All Queensland employers must have an accident insurance policy. This means we won’t cancel your policy just because you haven’t told us your wages.
If you don’t tell us your wages, or you tell us your wages are $0, we’ll assume you still need to keep your policy.
If you don’t tell us your wages by 31 August
We’ll estimate that your wages have increased if you don’t declare them on time.
This may raise your premium.
No longer employing workers?
You can cancel your policy online in WorkCover Connect.
When you start, we’ll first ask you to declare your wages for the financial year you stopped employing workers.
After that, you can complete your cancellation.
We may adjust your premium if your actual wages are different from what you estimated.
You’ve got cover while you renew
All accident insurance policies end on 30 June each year, but your cover won’t stop as long as you renew on time.
Your interim cover
In June, we’ll email you an Interim Certificate of Insurance.
This keeps your cover active from 1 July to 30 September while you complete your wage declaration and pay your premium.
If you don’t pay your premium or arrange a payment plan by 30 September, your cover will end.
Your full-year cover
Once you pay your premium or set up a payment plan, we’ll send you your Certificate of Currency.
This confirms your cover for the full financial year.
Tell us if your wage estimate changes during the year
Keeping your wage estimate up to date helps you avoid:
- a big jump in premium later
- penalties or having to cover claim costs if you’re under-insured.
If your wage estimate changes, tell us as soon as you can.
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