California Workers’ Compensation Claims Costs Rise

The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB)  issued a statistical report on August 26, 2010 that shows the average cost of an indemnity claim reached $60,253 in 2009 — of which $19,682 was spent on indemnity and $40,571 was spent on medical costs.

In comparison, the 2005 average cost of an indemnity claim was $38,105 — of which $13,079 was spent in indemnity and $25,028 was spent in medical cost.

The report shows that, since 2005, indemnity has risen 50.485% and medical costs have risen 62.1%.

Monies spent on indemnity and medical plus reserves are used to calculate your experience modification. AS an employer, you may not have control of what is happening to the whole Work Comp industry but you do have control of your experience modification. Your Work Comp broker or agent should be guiding you on how to obtain the lowest experience modification possible for your class of business.

The 2011 experience modifications issued by the WCIRB will now  include your ZERO claims EMR. Your company’s EMR goal every year should be to get as close a possible to your ZERO claims EMR. If your broker or agent is not willing or can’t give you a plan on how to lower your future EMR you should contact my team here at Van Beurden Insurance.