Workers Comp Premiums Quick Fix Takes Patience
Your Workers Comp premiums -Immediately lower them for your company. This is probably the question that I am asked most often at presentations, conferences, and meetings.
There is no “quick fix” for your Workers Comp premiums. Reducing your companies premiums takes at least three years of constant effort. As Workers Comp is on more of a delayed system, anything that reduces the reserves will not show up in your premiums until two policy years later.
One of the best ways to reduce your premiums is to institute a new safety program or enhance one that is already in place. Preventing accidents is the best way to reduce your premiums and will have a long-term effect on premiums. Almost all states offer assistance in Loss Prevention from educating employees to safety DVDs. Check with your local department of insurance or industrial commission. You may be surprised what is offered for free.
Another way to quickly reduce workers comp premiums is to heavily review your Workers Comp premium audits. We have seen companies just write checks without questioning the premium audits. If there is something that does not look or feel right, you have the right to have the audit explained to you in detail by the auditor including classification codes, payroll (remuneration), and any other areas of the audit.
One area that most companies do not attempt to question is their Workers Comp loss runs. If you are not receiving your loss runs monthly, call your agent, or insurance carrier and ask to receive them monthly. Most insurance carriers will offer to send them quarterly, but you need to review them monthly for changes in reserves. Having online access to your claims info is critical. When shopping for a carrier to renew with, ask that your agent inquire to see if the company she/he recommends has online access to your claims.
Even with all the technology that is in place, there are a few carriers that do not allow access to your claims info. Having this access may be worth paying a little extra over the lowest-priced carrier. This will also save your company a large amount of $ if you decide to have a company such as ours to review your claims. Most companies that allow online access will have a place for status updates. Those are golden as you can review those quickly to have an idea of how the claim is progressing. If you do not agree with or have questions on the loss runs, you should email (not call) the adjusters that are on the files.
Questioning everything that comes across your desk in relation to your Workers Comp policies is always the best thing for reducing your Workers Compensation premiums.
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