Pennsylvania Employers – Left In Limbo On Workers Comp Premiums
Pennsylvania employers likely experienced overcharges on recent workers comp policies and audits.
A previous article was published on who is to blame when the rating bureaus make a mistake. Pennsylvania recently experienced system-wide workers comp premium overcharges due to a carrier misreporting their data to the PCRB (Pennsylvania Compensation Rating Bureau).
When a very large carrier in a certain state does not report the proper insurance rating data, then all employers data incurs a ripple-effect of inaccuracy. In fact, the overcharge was estimated at $250,000,000.
The main question in 2018 was – Did the PCRB have the proper data safeguards in place to catch when a carrier accidentally misreports their data? My main question was – will Pennsylvania employers receive their proper premium refunds? The premium overcharges were beyond obvious.
If an employer’s workers compensation experience rating information is incorrect, then the company did not pay the correct premium.
My question for 2019 was – Did the workers comp carriers refund the overcharges to Pennsylvania employers? My question was answered in two parts.
Two Questions For Pennsylvania Insureds
Two questions that I thought should be asked by Pennsylvania policyholders are:
- Did the proper insurance authorities order an immediate refund? No, in fact, the Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman said that “carriers should do the right thing.” I have not seen to date where any carrier had produced a press release on refunds to employers.
- What did any carriers do to correct the mistake? SWIF – The State Workers Compensation Insurance Fund published a press release of sorts by writing a letter to the Commissioner Altman adjusting the Loss Cost Multipliers to lessen the affect of the overcharges. One has to congratulate SWIF on their proactive stance. However, the LCM’s affect the future – what about the overcharges that Pennsylvania employers incurred in their past policies?
Should Pennsylvania employers contact their carriers and agents? Yes, but make sure that you have your “ducks in a row.” Never contact your carrier with a grievance on overcharges without the proper numbers down on paper. That type of contact has backfired on many unprepared employers in the past.
Pennsylvania employers – feel free to contact me with questions.
©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice
