How to Handle Work Comp Insurers

If you have ever had to run a business then you have had to dealwith workers’ compensation insurers. Having to deal with the constant threat of increased premiums will make any business owner paranoid.

In all likeliness you already know that there are things that happen in your business that will cause the workers’ compensation insurance companies to raise your premiums. Other reasons you possibly don’t know are that there are also numerous errors made by the carrier that have a negative impact on your business. Following is a list of common errors by companies and workers comp insurance companies.

The following are some common errors made by companies that cause workers comp premiums to rise:

* No safety program for preventing injuries
* No return to work plan
* Not reporting injuries to the insurance company in a timely manner
* Lack of communication with the injured worker’s doctor

The preceding are just a few of the common errors that companies make when dealing with work comp. There are a list of options available that will help employers to reduce premiums with minimal upfront costs. If left unchecked the items listed above can cost thousands of dollars in higher premiums.

The following list below are common errors made by workers comp insurance companies:

* Workers given the wrong class code for their duties
* Employer’s experience modification was calculated wrong
* Eligible credits and exemptions not applied
* Payroll calculation errors

Make no mistake, these problems are just a small sampling of the dozens of errors that arise. A common mistake is when the workers comp insurance company is calculating the overtime rate at the amount indicated on the payroll instead of at a straight hourly rate.

A common issue is employees being put into the wrong work comp class category. This error can cost employers thousands of dollars. An example is a clerical worker being mis-classified under the roofing code because he/she has to go to the job site on an infrequent basis.

If you have ever tried to deal with insurers you realize how hard it can be to get your premiums decreased. In all likeliness you may be right, you may not have the tools you need to show them the mistake so that the error can be fixed. Then there is the errors that you don’t know about that are costing your business money. Mistakes that add up to tens of thousands of dollars over time.

Take it from me, I’ve witnessed it. I recently saw a policy that had so many errors that the business was refunded $96K. Essentially, the employer were refunded back $16K a year foreach of the six years past. I don’t know about you but I could definitely use an extra $96K.

You probably think I’m making this up but that’s not the case. It is not even the biggest refund that I’ve seen. Typically on average our company sees about $37K dollars in refunds. Obviously it all depends on what your company is paying in premiums but typically we typically recover about ten percent of the annual premium rate.

You don’t need to take my word on it. Try it and see, I doubt you will be disappointed.

You can read more about it at: Work Comp Insurance Companies

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