JL_risklogo.png

Workers Comp Audit Stress Reducer
Use It For Your Next Premium Audit

Your Workers Comp Dec Page – Know It Or Pay More Premiums

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Your Workers Comp Dec Page – Meat Of The Sandwich

Your Workers Comp Dec Page – know it or pay more premiums (sometimes a large sum).

Graphic Of Money Workers Comp Dec Page And Gold Coins
StockUnlimited

In my last post, I summarized the Workers Comp Declarations (Dec) Page. At a bare minimum, you should have the page memorized if not more of the policy. As the old saying goes “Just give me the facts.” The Dec Page is the facts about your company’s Workers Comp policy. In fact, ALL of your insurance policy Dec Pages should be at your fingertips.

A quick examination of your Workers Compensation policy Dec Page will lead you to ask these questions:

  • Estimated payrolls – Do the figures look plausible? If they look high, you are giving your insurance carrier a free loan. If they are too low, then you are going to have severe sticker shock at the time of the premium audit.
  • Classifications – Are these the jobs the employees are performing?
  • Discounts – Is this similar to your last policy? If not, why were there changes?
  • Rates – Are these similar to your policy from last year?
  • Credits – Similar to last year, any credits that were eliminated?
  • Deposit premium for the policy period – Can you pay a smaller deposit premium and make monthly payments?
Rubber Band Workers Comp Dec Page wallet
Wikimedia commons – Drew Friestedt

The first section of the page will be listed or shown as Item 1 and will show information about the named insured such as their name, address and entity type. Make sure that this matches your company’s info EXACTLY. I have seen major problems when the company covered has a slightly different name or address.

The next section may show as Item 3 and will be detail information concerning the policy itself and will include:

  • Section A, Workers Compensation Insurance, this section will show the specific state in which the worker’s compensation applies – If your company is operating in a state that is not listed, your company could end up paying a Workers Comp claim out of pocket.
  • Section C, Other States Insurance, lists each state in which other states coverage applies. This goes hand in hand with Section A. We have seen Workers Comp carriers deny coverage if a claim is filed in a state that is not listed in these sections.

Found within Item 4 will be the premium calculation statement – does this look right to you? Does it look similar to last year’s policy?

Also included on the Workers Comp Dec Page you will find:

  • Picture Hand Pointing Financial Workers Comp Dec Page Icon
    StockUnlimited

    The audit term, usually set as annual but possibly another length of time, if it is set for quarterly or semi-annually the Workers Comp premium auditor will be auditing your company more than once a year. Does your company want to have that interruption more than once a year?

  • The policyholder’s federal ID number and its experience risk ID number as issued by the governing rate-making authority for the resident state. This should match your company’s information exactly. The worst time to figure out that this information is incorrect when a major claim has been filed against your policy.

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Related...

James J Moore - Workers Comp Expert

Raleigh, NC, United States

About The Author...

James founded a Workers’ Compensation consulting firm, J&L Risk Management Consultants, Inc. in 1996. J&L’s mission is to reduce our clients’ Workers Compensation premiums by using time-tested techniques. J&L’s claims, premium, reserve and Experience Mod reviews have saved employers over $9.8 million in earned premiums over the last three years. J&L has saved numerous companies from bankruptcy proceedings as a result of insurance overpayments.

James has over 27 years of experience in insurance claims, audit, and underwriting, specializing in Workers’ Compensation. He has supervised, and managed the administration of Workers’ Compensation claims, and underwriting in over 45 states. His professional experience includes being the Director of Risk Management for the North Carolina School Boards Association. He created a very successful Workers’ Compensation Injury Rehabilitation Unit for school personnel.

James’s educational background, which centered on computer technology, culminated in earning a Masters of Business Administration (MBA); an Associate in Claims designation (AIC); and an Associate in Risk Management designation (ARM). He is a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and a licensed financial advisor. The NC Department of Insurance has certified him as an insurance instructor. He also possesses a Bachelors’ Degree in Actuarial Science.

LexisNexis has twice recognized his blog as one of the Top 25 Blogs on Workers’ Compensation. J&L has been listed in AM Best’s Preferred Providers Directory for Insurance Experts – Workers Compensation for over eight years. He recently won the prestigious Baucom Shine Lifetime Achievement Award for his volunteer contributions to the area of risk management and safety. James was recently named as an instructor for the prestigious Insurance Academy.

James is on the Board of Directors and Treasurer of the North Carolina Mid-State Safety Council. He has published two manuals on Workers’ Compensation and three different claims processing manuals. He has also written and has been quoted in numerous articles on reducing Workers’ Compensation costs for public and private employers. James publishes a weekly newsletter with 7,000 readers.

He currently possess press credentials and am invited to various national Workers Compensation conferences as a reporter.

James’s articles or interviews on Workers’ Compensation have appeared in the following publications or websites:

  • Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS)
  • Entrepreneur Magazine
  • Bloomberg Business News
  • WorkCompCentral.com
  • Claims Magazine
  • Risk & Insurance Magazine
  • Insurance Journal
  • Workers Compensation.com
  • LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites
  • Various trade publications

Subscribe

Get the latest workers' comp news FREE!

Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.