HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- There's nothing wrong with a little competition. That's the old phrase that's been tossed around the business world for years.

There is an upcoming competition to sell workers’ compensation insurance in West Virginia.

Starting July 1, Brickstreet Insurance will no longer be the only game in town.

So far, more than 20 different companies have been licensed to offer their insurance services to businesses in West Virginia, and some businesses are already shopping around.

Just like death and taxes, business owners like Ernest Perry of Ernie's Automotive in Huntington, have no choice but to pay their share into West Virginia's Workers' Compensation Fund.

Mr. Perry says last year he was charged about $1,800 for coverage.

"I got my statement the other day and it went up to 23 hundred. I've never had a claim yet in all the years I've been in business," Perry said.

For as long as those insurance statements have been mailed out to businesses, large and small, they've always come from one source.

For years, it was the state. In 2006, Brickstreet Insurance took over the work of workers' comp.

Company CEO Greg Burton said Brickstreet inherited a sinking ship and not only kept it afloat, but rebuilt it.

Lawmakers, like Senator Evan Jenkins and Delegate Kevin Craig, helped the state open the market for other insurance companies to show off their rates and services to business owners in West Virginia, but they're not ready to write off Brickstreet.

No one's venturing a guess on how much business Brickstreet will lose right off the bat with the changes, but the changes that are expected with this new found competition can't come soon enough for people like Mr. Perry, who says the price increases on all consumer goods make comparison shopping a necessity.

"Shop around and get cheaper prices on uniforms or on your garbage dumpster out there. I've had to do that over the last 4 to 5 months because of fuel prices," Perry said.

Some of the bigger insurance companies are already visiting employers, seeking their business and offering quotes.