COIDA subclass correction
Same wage bill, fifteen times the assessment. The only difference is the industry class the Compensation Fund put you in — and it was set from the description you gave when you registered, then never looked at again. We check yours, and where it is wrong we apply to have it corrected.
Independent paperwork service. ProperSA is an independent private company, not the Compensation Fund. You can apply to have your classification reviewed yourself at no charge. Our R890 pays for us to work out whether you have a case, build it, put it to the Fund and follow it up.
How employers end up in the wrong class
The Fund does not inspect your business. It classifies you from the description of activities you gave when you registered, and that description then sits on your account, unchanged, for years. Four things put people in the wrong place.
- A vague description at registration. “General services” or “contracting” tells the Fund nothing, so it assigns the higher-risk reading. This is by far the most common cause.
- The business changed and the Fund was never told. A company that started out building and now only maintains is doing materially safer work at the same old tariff.
- One risky activity dragging the whole payroll up. Your class should reflect what the business mainly does. An office-based firm that occasionally sends someone to a site should not be assessed as a construction employer on every rand of payroll.
- A copied description. Registrations done in bulk by a third party often reuse the same wording for unrelated businesses, and it is usually the wording of the riskiest client on the list.
What the classes actually cost
Representative tariffs from the gazetted Tariffs of Assessment, with what each one produces on a payroll of R500 000 a year. Your exact subclass rate is assigned by the Fund and will differ, but the spread is the point.
| Industry class | Tariff | On R500 000 payroll |
|---|---|---|
| Office, finance, education, medical | 0.18% | R1 621 (minimum applies) |
| Food retail, hospitality | 0.81% | R4 050 |
| Iron, steel, engineering | 1.16% | R5 800 |
| Mixed farming, sawmilling | 1.65% | R8 250 |
| Textiles, meat, dairy, warehousing | 1.96% | R9 800 |
| Construction, transport, security | 2.65% | R13 250 |
| Rock drilling, blasting | 3.34% | R16 700 |
Sitting one row too high is worth thousands a year. Sitting at the bottom of the table when you belong near the top is not worth arguing about, and we will tell you so.
What is included
- Your current classification and tariff read off your assessment notice, so we start from what the Fund actually has, not what you were told
- A written view on whether the class is wrong, and how strong the case is, before any money changes hands
- The correct subclass identified against the gazetted Tariffs of Assessment for what the business genuinely does
- The application to the Compensation Fund prepared, with a description of activities written to be accurate and specific rather than vague
- Supporting evidence assembled: your CIPC main business activity, contracts or invoices that show the real work, and your staff roles
- The application submitted and followed up until the Fund rules on it
- A figure, in rands, for what the correction saves you a year
When this is not worth doing
We would rather tell you now than take R890 for nothing.
- Your payroll is small enough that the minimum assessment applies either way. Below roughly R90 000 of annual earnings the lower-risk classes all land under the R1 621 minimum, so moving between them changes nothing you pay.
- The class is right. If you build, you are a construction employer, and applying to be something else wastes a filing and leaves a refused application on your record.
- You are one class away and the payroll is modest. If the saving is smaller than the fee, we say so and you keep your money.
- You are not registered yet. Then you want COIDA registration at R1 290, and we get the description right the first time at no extra cost.
How ordering works
- Order online with the button below and pay securely by card or instant EFT (PayFast), or wait for the EFT invoice.
- Complete the short online form in your client portal and upload your latest assessment notice. It shows us the class and tariff the Fund is actually using.
- We give you a written view on whether you have a case, with the annual saving in rands. If there is no case, you get your money back and we stop there.
- If there is a case, we prepare and submit the application to the Compensation Fund and follow it up until the Fund rules on it.
Not sure whether you are in the wrong class? Ask us first and you get a written answer within one business day. Send your assessment notice and we will tell you for free whether it is worth pursuing.
What we will need from you
- Your latest assessment notice from the Compensation Fund. This is the important one. It carries your registration number, your class and the tariff being applied.
- Your company or close corporation registration number, or identity number if you trade in your own name.
- A plain description of what the business actually does day to day. Be specific. “We maintain and repair existing shopfittings, no new build” is worth far more than “maintenance”.
- What your people actually do, role by role, including anyone who works on a customer site.
- Two or three recent invoices or contracts that show the kind of work you are paid for. This is the evidence the Fund weighs.
- Your CompEasy login if you have one. If you do not, we tell you how to reset it.
Frequently asked questions
How is my COIDA subclass decided?
The Compensation Fund places every employer in a subclass based on what the business actually does, and each subclass carries a published tariff that reflects its risk. The classification is usually set from the description you gave when you first registered, which is why a vague or copied description so often lands an employer in a higher class than the work justifies.
How much difference does the subclass make?
A very large one. Office-based work sits near 0.18% of payroll while construction sits near 2.65%, so the same wage bill can produce an assessment roughly fifteen times larger depending on the class. On a payroll of R500 000 that is the difference between the minimum assessment and about R13 250 a year.
Will the Compensation Fund refund what I overpaid?
Correcting the classification stops the overpayment from the point the Fund accepts the change. Whether anything already assessed is adjusted backwards is at the Fund’s discretion and is not guaranteed, so we never promise a refund of past years. The saving you can count on is the one going forward, every year for as long as you trade.
What if my classification turns out to be correct?
We tell you before we file anything, and you get your money back. There is no point applying for a change the Fund will refuse, and a refused application leaves a note on your account for nothing.
Does changing my subclass affect my letter of good standing?
Your letter depends on your returns being filed and your assessment being paid, not on which class you sit in. A reclassification does not put your letter at risk, but it should be timed sensibly around your return of earnings so the new tariff applies to the right assessment year.
How long does it take?
We submit within 1 business day of your form and assessment notice coming back to us. The Compensation Fund then takes as long as it takes; a reclassification is a manual review and is slower than a routine filing. We follow it up until the Fund rules.
The comparison above uses representative class tariffs compiled from the gazetted Tariffs of Assessment and the 2026/27 earnings ceiling and minimum assessment. Your exact subclass rate is assigned by the Compensation Fund and will differ. Whether the Fund accepts a reclassification, and from which date, is the Fund’s decision and outside our control.