California Workers Comp Policies Have Built in Disadvantage
California Workers Comp policies have a built-in disadvantage when compared to other states.
California has changed their rating rules quite often over the last few years. After attending many of the WCIRB conferences, I noticed that the CA rules for rating Workers Comp policies is becoming very similar to the rating regs 0f the NCCI.
One area that is very unfair to California policyholders is the limitation of the lookback period if a mistake is found in an employer’s Workers Comp policy. If the employer is owed a refund, they can only ask for a refund from their insurance carrier for one year in the past and the present year. Most states allow for a lookback period of three years and the current year.
What does that mean to CA employers? If you find an error in your Workers Comp policy that results in a refund, you will only be entitled to approximately 50% of what is received by employers in other states.
California Insurance Commissioner Poizner will hopefully be able to modify this rule. If an employer has been overpaying for many years, why should there be a refund limit of only one year in the past and not three?
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