Risk & Business

Recently Wal-Mart announced an elimination of health insurance for their part time workers. This goes along with many other large corporations shifting full time positions to part time and eliminating health insurance and other benefits. This all in the name of reducing costs as health care premiums and regulation costs from the ACA , are putting earnings pressures on business. Now experts are warning that the shift to part time could create more work comp claims. Part time workers are less likely to be properly trained or have continual training. In addition part time workers are less likely to be " conditioned " to the rigors of  the job which could increase work comp frequency. Many experts are predicting that any cost savings,  could be wiped out by the increase costs of comp claims.  So what are business owners suppose to do? The best risk management advice is to take some of the savings and invest in safety training and education for part time employees. Also find w...

The Delaware Compensation Rating Bureau has announced that it is requesting roughly a 1.5% rate decrease for work comp rates in 2015. This comes off the heals of consecutive rate increases over the last three years. The Bureau is hoping that the legislative changes put in place over the summer will start to have an impact on high medical costs that have been driving the increases. This is a risky move however. If the medical cost containment does not work, then expect a slingshot reversal of rates sometime in 2016 or 2017.  The DCRB states in their filing that the rates really should be 25% increased in 2015 ! However they believe the cost containment measures will work and that is the reason they are requesting the small decrease. Small business owners need to keep an eye on this as successful cost containment means decreasing rates over the next few but failure of the legislative initiatives could mean big time work comp rate increases a few years from now.  Until next time ...

So you go to the appliance store and you buy a brand new stove. The dealer begins putting the info into the computer and then asks you if you want to buy a 2 year warranty. You are told that it covers if "anything goes wrong", and will cost just a small amount of money each month or a one time fee.  Now you may ask "isn't this insurance? Warranties  have terrms and conditions in their contracts just like insurance policies. The money you pay is just like an insurance premium. When there is a problem you call the warranty company and put in a claim just like insurance. So what is the difference between warranties and insurance? The most glaring difference is that warranty contracts are not regulated as strongly as insurance is. Most people that sell warranties are not licensed. Insurance professionals are required to be licensed. Warranty contracts can vary completely from one to another, where insurance contracts have some consistency in coverages and language.  Ther...