Worker’s Comp rates edging up recently

As most of you employers know, the Worker’s Compensation market has been VERY competitive in the last 3-4 years (or longer). Rates have consistently gone down, and scheduled credits have increased. In most instances, an employer is paying less for their worker’s comp now than they were 10 years ago, not only because the payrolls have been less, but because the rates are a lot lower!



However, in the last 6 months, the rates are starting to edge up a little. Carriers are being a little more judicious with credits, and loss cost multipliers are easing up recently. There is still much competition in the marketplace, but the prices are definitely increasing a little.


The question is- “How can you drive your Worker’s Comp premium down even in a market with slightly increasing rates”? The answer is not simple, but achievable:


1) Make sure you are doing all you can to change the “culture” of your organization so that all of your employees understand that you do care about their safety, and you have a program that allows them to get back to work as soon as possible.


2) Make sure you are hiring quality people that have not had prior worker’s comp history and prior health conditions that may not allow them to safely do their jobs.


3) Make sure your Supervisors and Department Heads are properly trained as to how to handle the injury of an employee in their area. Make sure that claim will be dealt with swiftly and correctly.


4) Develop a return-to-work program that is effective and easy to use.


5) Make sure you have a random drug-screening program and also included in that program is mandatory drug screening for on-the-job injuries.


6) Keep pushing safety to all of your employees. Safety truly is a matter of awareness.\


You CAN lower you worker’s comp premium even during a hardening market. The key is to keep you Experience Mod going down by executing the steps above. It’s up to you. Sometimes, accidents happen. However, reducing the number of accidents and mitigating the claims once they happen are up to you!


Bobby Bland
Commercial Risk Service