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Workers Comp Coverage North Carolina Agencies Tracking ERs?

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Tracking Employers Without Workers Comp Coverage In North Carolina

Without Workers Comp coverage whose job is it to track employers?

Graphic Map of North Carolina Workers Comp Coverage Track Employers
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For clarification:

  • NCRB – North Carolina Rate Bureau
  • NCDOL – North Carolina Department of Labor
  • NCIC – North Carolina Industrial Commission
  • NCCI – National Council on Compensation Insurance – not NC state government
  • NCDOI – North Carolina Department of Insurance
  • NCDOR – North Carolina Department of Revenue
  • NCESC – North Carolina Employment Security Commission

Two weeks ago, the Raleigh News Observer article asked which organization is going to track the state’s 30,000 uninsured employers for Workers Compensation and the new scofflaws? The answers were interesting yet disappointing.

All of the above mentioned state departments (except NCCI, NCDOI and NCESC) all said they have very limited resources and wish to stick to their specific departmental authority.

The Editorial & Opinion page had the following comments:

  • All of the departments involved are isolationists
  • The lack of information sharing between departments is appalling

The bottom line is the departments do not feel they should share data with other departments which may eliminate or at least lessen the numbers of uninsured companies.

Picture Businesswoman Getting Frustrated Workers Comp Coverage Track Employers
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One of the NC legislators said it best – “We just suck at synchronizing things that are supposed to be helping people,” said Rep. Dale Folwell, R-Forsyth, who has worked on workers’ compensation legislation. “None of this surprises me, but it disappoints me.”

In a few articles on this situation, the weak solution seemed to lean on a new computer system that was coming in 2015. I am not sure how the new computer systems would help if the data is still not shared.

I had posted about this situation previously with a recommendation to follow the West Virginia model on Workers Comp scofflaws. The result was that all businesses in the state of WV that were not carrying WC insurance had a sign posted on their front door saying the certain businesses were operating without current WC coverage.

Picture An Overworked Businessman Workers Comp Coverage Track Employers
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This caused quite a stir in WV, but set an example for the uninsured employers. This all was headed up by the West Virginia Department of Insurance. Previously, NC Governor Perdue had recommended the NCDOI should take over the investigations of non-coverage statewide. That is a great idea, if implemented.

I do understand why the NCDOL would not want to be tasked with enforcement of Workers Comp coverage. Maryland decided to have their inspectors check for WC coverage which was not a popular choice for businesses.

All the taxing and corporation databases in WV are fed into the WVDOI. It had taken a simple crosscheck program (which can be done in Excel) to point out the companies without coverage. You can quickly find out the uninsured companies using this page.

If West Virginia, while completely overhauling their system from monopolistic to a regular market system, can come up with a simple system to point out uninsured companies, why cannot NC come up with something similar?

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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

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