Here’s the Workers’ Comp Rate Hike
The first workers’ compensation rate hike in California in a decade was announced late Friday afternoon. Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara approved an 8.7% hike in the workers’ comp advisory pure …
Tagged in: WCIRB
Bracing for the Rate Hike Decision
Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and the California Department of Insurance are reviewing and evaluating testimony by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau in support of its request for an 11.2% increase in the September 1st, 2025, advisory pure premium rates. They are weighing it against a competing proposal recommending an 8.1% increase that was developed …
This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in
Surprises in Workers’ Comp Market Share Numbers
California market share totals for 2024 show a new entrant among the 10 largest workers’ comp carriers in the state, while another group moved up two slots in the rankings to become California’s third-largest workers’ comp carrier. One carrier wrote ten times what it did in 2023. Beyond these moves, however, the top of the …
This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in
Timecards Audit Fight
The California Department of Insurance’s Administrative Hearing Bureau may soon adjudicate a fight between an electrical contractor and its workers’ comp carrier. The fight centers on an audit bill for an additional premium under California’s dual-wage system for contractors. The company is contesting the reassignment of its payroll to the low-wage/high-rate classification for its electrical …
This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in
California Workers’ Comp Combined Ratio At Highest Level Since 2011
The California workers’ comp industry projected a 2024 accident year combined ratio of 123—an increase of 10 points from the prior year and the highest annual combined ratio since before the SB 863 reforms. The year-end data from the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau also shows that written premium fell last year while average charged …
This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in
Executive Officer Exemption In Dispute
In an interesting case, a nonprofit theater company is balking at paying a minimum workers’ comp premium charge for two executives who helped run the operations on an unpaid, volunteer basis. The workers’ comp carrier counters that the charge is required under Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau rules and maintains that the company got the …
This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in
CDI Considering Class Changes, Updated ELRs
The California Department of Insurance held a public hearing last week to take public comment on the September 1, 2025, regulatory filing by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau. The proposal, which includes several classification changes, increases to the minimum/maximum payroll limits for certain classes, and updates to the ELRs and D-Ratios, drew little response …
This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in
Workers’ Comp Carrier Results
The workers’ comp industry continued its decade-long run of profitability in California and nationwide. Results extracted from a new National Association of Insurance Commissioners report show carriers nationwide reported a profit on their insurance transactions of 23.5%, while the results for California carriers were even better at 27.6% (see chart). Profit on insurance transactions is …
This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in