Workers Compensation Insurance

Don’t make the costly mistake of calling around for just the lowest worker’s compensation premium! Balsiger Insurance can win the price war almost every time. But, as a fellow business person we can tell you that is the smallest piece of your selection process!

Protecting your worker’s compensation MOD FACTOR is really the discussion you want to have with our team at Balsiger Insurance. The short explanation of what your Mod Factor is that based on your premiums paid and claims you will receive a debit or credit on your worker’s compensation rates. This factor is adjusted each year. A good question to ask yourself is “Has my current agent/broker discussed how my mod is determined?” More importantly “has my current agent/broker talked to me about how I can get a better mod?” If you are not engaging in these important discussions it may be time to talk to Balsiger Insurance!

Worker’s Compensation Modification Factor reviews are something most brokers are not going to provide. At Balsiger Insurance we will help you dig deep and provide reports that analyze why your mod is where it is at, where it is trending and what you can implement to reverse any negative trends!

We will also help with proper rate classifications. Misclassification can be the difference between profitability and losing money. Can you split codes in your state? What can you do to prevent an employee from going into a higher class code?

Another important piece is AUDIT TIME. We helped save a client over $40,000 due to an audit that misclassified a large amount of payroll! To complete your audit you will need your payroll records to cover the policy term. While we don’t suggest you change your policy term many businesses try to have their policy term run on a calendar year another option is to make sure it matches or falls on one of the quarterly reporting dates.

Worker’s Compensation has other key pieces that you should be aware of. Here are some of them:
PAYROLL CAPS. Many states cap the ratable payroll for each employee. This can result in significant savings. You will want to review your end of policy term audit to make sure any caps in your state are correctly applied to the audit calculations.

COVERED STATES. If you land a job in another state don’t assume your worker’s compensation will extend coverage! It is your responsibility to make sure you have the coverage you need.
NCCI. This stands for National Council on Compensation Insurance. The NCCI reviews data and helps set base rates in participating states. Businesses that are not able to get work comp in the standard market are able to secure coverage through the NCCI. If you obtain coverage through the NCCI your policy is still assigned to an insurance company that will service your policy and handle any claims.

STATE FUND. California does not participate in the NCCI. While California has many private insurance companies that handle work comp there are also a lot of class codes that find it hard to obtain coverage in the private marketplace. These businesses are able to get coverage through the California State Fund.

MONOPOLISTIC STATES. These are states that don’t participate in the NCCI worker’s compensation program.

DEDUCTIBLE OPTIONS. Like other insurance contracts work comp policies can also elect a deductible. Standard work comp contracts generally do not have a deductible on claims. This might be something worth looking into for those businesses that have a substantial work comp premium. Like any other insurance coverage weigh the savings to possible increased exposure to make an informed decision. Your broker at Balsiger Insurance will also help you weigh which option makes the most sense.

PAY AS YOU GO. This is becoming more and more popular. If you are tired of projecting and getting blind-sided by end of policy audit bills this might be the perfect solution. Many work comp insurance companies offer pay as you go options. Each month you would do some sort of reporting of your actual payrolls and then be billed based on those results. While you will still complete an audit in theory there shouldn’t be any audit balance if you have accurately reported throughout the policy term.

Pay as you go work comp has other advantages too. The biggest likely being that your worker’s compensation premiums are paid as you incur the payroll. This can help cash flow if you are a business that has seasonal spikes in payroll. Another benefit if you have a lot of highly compensated employees in a state that caps the rating basis. You could have payroll late in the policy term that you don’t have to pay worker’s compensation premiums!

Worker’s Compensation Services (in Las Vegas, & Reno, Nevada, and in many other states) Provided by Balsiger Insurance include:

• Help with Audit Reviews for accuracy
• Class code review
• Review and report on Mod factor
• Help put in place loss prevention policies to control mod

Ready for Balsiger Insurance to contact you about your worker’s compensation? Click here to get started.