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Experience Mod Projections – Key Budgeting Device

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Experience Mod Projections – Budget Helper

I have been asked to provide numerous types of Experience Mod projections over the years.  Why do them?  Let us look at an example.

One of the keys to budgeting for Workers Comp is to find out what Experience Modification Factor that your company will face in the upcoming workers comp policy year.

Experience Mod Projections – Private School

Pic of experience Mod forecast Private School
Wikimedia Commons – Christopher Thurber

A large private school system wanted to find out what their 2023 – 2024 and 2024 – 2025 workers comp policy would look like after their January 1, 2022 renewal.  Now, that is thinking ahead.

As written about often in this website, the Experience Mod systems lags six month behind to let the claims develop past the policy year.  When forecasting beyond the next policy period, a number of things could happen including: (a few examples)

  • Higher payroll due to growth
  • Higher claim values (reserves)
  • State law changes
  • Classification Code changes

2023 – 2024 Policy Projection Complicating Factors

For the 2023 – 2024 policy, six month of claims and policy changes/endorsements may occur.

  • January 1, 2023 policy year
  • Carrier report claim values up to July 1, 2022 for the January 1, 2023 – 2024 policy year
  • Six months of claims development has not yet occurred and has not been reported by the carriers.
  • No predictive analytics package can estimate what the six months of claims development will be as that is up to the employees’ medical and return to work statutes and the adjuster’s reserve increase levels.

2024 – 2025 Policy Experience Mod Projections Complicating Factors

For the 2024 – 2025 policy, six month of claims and policy changes/endorsements may occur.

  • January 1, 2024 policy year
  • Carrier report claim values up to July 1, 2023 for the January 1, 2024 – 2025 policy year
  • 18 months of claims development has not yet occurred and has not been reported by the carriers.
  • Same predictive analytics conundrum

2023 – 2024 Policy Projection Solution

This will not work in all cases. Using a Mod projection tool (unnamed), the six month gap was projected using a very long tail step-wise regression formula.  I know that actuaries prefer loss triangles.

I went back 10 years and projected what a 10-year loss projections would look like – yes, Excel has that package freebies if you add in the Statistical Package.

I advanced the projections ever six months and dropped off the prior six months.  Wow, I had a ton of numbers.

The basis for the Experience Mod projections was performing a full loss run review for 10 years of claims.   Luckily, the Budget Officer kept that data – the more numbers the better.

I projected a 1.285 or 1.29 Experience Mod.  NCCI promulgated a Mod of 1.30 later that year.

2024 – 2025 Policy Experience Mod Projections Solution

I performed the same procedure for the 2024 – 2025 policy period.  The private school’s CFO understood that 18 months of data needed to be added into the Experience Mod factor.

We agreed to review the Experience Mod factor projection next year.  I provided a Mod projection of 1.33 for the 2024-2025 policy year using the data at hand.  That number will likely change during the next year.

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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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