Risk & Business

Image via Wikipedia Based upon an article in www.insurancenewsnet.com it seems that between what individual states have done to bring down workers compensation premiums and the current recession , insurance companies are being forced to be more selective when writing coverage.  Due to the consistent decline in premiums many companies are being even choosier by geographic region and by classification.  Many states seem to have forgotten that insurance companies are in the business to make a buck and if the profit motive is constantly being whittled away then many insurance companies will have no choice but to pull back in order to protect themselves and their financial position.  Of course this will mean more business heading to the various state funds but these funds are heading for trouble themselves due to their constant rate reductions.  Sounds like a recipe for a heck of a mess.

In the past I have spoken to clients regarding a particular workers compensation claim affecting them and have asked if they have brought the employee back to work yet. Too many times the answer is no, they have nothing for that employee to do since said employee is not 100% and unable to perform their specific job prior to their workers compensation injury/claim. The problem with this is that too often employers miss the point that even though an employee can't perform in the position they were in prior to their injury, it behooves the employer to create some type of alternative task/job the employee can do until such time they are able to resume their normal duties. Bringing that employee back to work means that work comp benefits /payments in that particular claim are being curtailed, thereby saving the employer potentially more being paid out, while adding to their experience mod and driving their overall work comp expenses up.

Attention business owners, if your employees are downloading information from illegal websites, you may be held liable for damages. A recent case out of New Jersey , the appellate court found the employer liable for not policing an employee who was using the work computer to download illegal pornography . The case was settled for an undisclosed amount.  In addition there have been cases where employers were found liable for retaining an employee who they caught. This is a risk problem for employers which can easily be managed. Have a internet and computer policy that is a no tolerance policy. Have all your employees sign it and educate them on your no tolerance policy. Report anything illegal immediately to the authorities. Until next time, be careful out there and know your risks.   K

Image via Wikipedia Recently an official with the Virginia workers compensation commission rescinded a $200.00 a day fine against Facebook . It seems an employer in the state requested photos from Facebook of an employee who was collecting workers compensation. Apparently the photos revealed the employee on vacation while they were supposed to be injured/rehabilitating and collecting workers compensation. Officials at Facebook refused to turn over the photos citing the federal Electronics Communications Privacy Act prohibited it from responding to the subpoena . To me this illustrates the lengths employers and those administering workers compensation will go in order to combat fraud. This should probably serve as a cautionary tale as well to those who frequent these social networking sites. Be careful what you put up there in cyberspace, the "EYES" are everywhere.

Image via Wikipedia In case you were't aware, the Delaware Compensation Rating Bureau (DCRB) recently filed to stop the further pending rate decreases to workers compensation mandated by the Delaware Insurance Commissioner 's office. The DCRB had disputed the cost savings that were to be realized by the medical savings containment measures in Sentate Bill 1 of the 144th Delaware General Assembly . Ruling against the DCRB on July 24th, the Delaware Chancery Court and the Supreme Court upheld the pending rate decreases as previously set forth by the commissioner 's office. Hopefully the cost containment measures put into place by Senate Bill 1 will realize the savings projected in the bill. If not, the prior and pending rate decreases may be for naught, since the obvious fix may be the reversal of these rate decreases, putting us in the same place as before.

Image via Wikipedia When was the last time you took a few minutes to perform a quick safety inspection of your workplace? You might be a small business owner and don't have a risk manager on staff so it falls to you to ensure that there are proper safety procedures in place and risk is mitigated for customers and employees alike. After all, a simple slip and fall can have a disastrous effect on either your workers compensation policy, in the case of an employee mishap, or on your general liability policy, should a customer suffer an injury. Take a few minutes to inspect all signs for emergency exits , fire extinguishers and alarms to make sure they are clearly visible/lit in the event of an emergency. Also, look for trip and fall hazards, wiring looking frayed or worn, and make sure you have surge protectors installed. It might not sound like much, but just a few minutes paying attention to safety related details can save you a bunch of premium dollars down the road. ...

Image via Wikipedia According to the latest circular released by the Delaware Compensation Rating Bureau, (DCRB), after a period of review the rates in Delaware for workers compensation have been decreased an average of 9.74% for residual market rates and 11.3% in voluntary market rates effective this past December 1st. Obviously, with the state of the economy locally, this can't hurt. Hopefully with all the stimulas money coming out of Washington some of it will trickle down to our State and put our local contractors to work, either through infrastructure improvements needed or get the banks lending again and create a possible increase in housing construction. Reblog this post [with Zemanta]">

Image by The Library of Congress via Flickr I recently came across a post on a insurance blog, link above, that discussed the usage of peer group pressure being brought to bear to help decrease workers compensation costs. The idea was to divide your employees into groups to start a competition among them to see who can have the lowest workers compensation claim incidence rate . The article suggested monthly prizes, recognition, etc, to be used as a form of incentive . Obviously a larger motivating factor, often unspoken, would be the peer pressure among team members to keep other members incidence rates to a minimum. Those employers with not enough staff to divide into teams can use the same concept on an individual basis. Each employee would still strive to keep their incidence rate down so as to decrease the chances of having their fellow employees look down on them since results would be publicly posted monthly. There are many good ideas out there, this just being a good ...

Image via Wikipedia While recently reading the current issue of an insurance industry trade magazine , American Agent & Broker, I came across an article discussing workers compensation . The article, entitled "Workers' Comp: 7 Biggest Mistakes", discussed proactive steps the employer should consider in order to increase the chances of the injured worker returning to work quickly, and also cut down on the cost to the employer. Some steps mentioned are - meeting with care providers to discuss the care of the employee; having regular on site file reviews of the injured workers case; using a medical doctor of their choosing to review medical records and reports instead of relying solely on the adjuster to make medical decisions, and simply staying involved with the process from start to finish. They did throw in one other step that's quite important, asking for and receiving assistance from your agent. While the agent cannot get involved in the actual adjus...