Comp insurers appeal S.C. rate hike rejection

The South Carolina Department of Insurance recently disapproved a request made by the National Council on Compensation Insurance to increase loss costs statewide by 23.7 percent.

NCCI State Relations Executive, Amy Quinn, said the South Carolina department released its announcement in August, prompting NCCI on Sept. 14 to request a contested case hearing before the Administrative Law Court.

Quinn said the 23.7 percent request is based on an increase in actual cost of claims or “loss costs.” She said the NCCI figure is a starting point for carriers, which will consider additional overhead and commissions to calculate a “loss cost multiplier.”

SCDOI Program Manager Carla Griffin termed the requested increase as “excessive” in disapproving it.

Consumer Advocate for the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs, Elliot Elam, said his office will seek to intervene in NCCI’s request to contest the disapproval. Elam said workers compensation is a “real political football” in South Carolina. He said in 2005 when NCCI requested an increase of 32.9 percent, the resulting hearing spilled over into late 2006.

“We’re committed to try to work something out with them (NCCI),” Elam added.