Average Approved WC Loss-Cost Change +2.8% in Northeast in 2012

The workers’ comp loss-costs are continuing to go up in most Northeastern states, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc.

Based in Boca Raton, Fla., NCCI analyzes industry trends, prepares workers comp insurance rate recommendations, determines the cost of proposed legislation, and provides services and tools to maintain a healthy workers’ comp system.

In the Northeast zone (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, D.C., and Delaware), the average approved loss-cost change is +2.8 percent in the current 2012 filing cycle, said Laura Backus Hall, a state relations executive for the Northeast/New England region.

“From a rate filing perspective, for the current filing cycle, we saw considerably more filings for loss-cost increases than decreases,” Hall told Insurance Journal.

Looking at specific New England states, Connecticut’s approved loss cost increase was 4.5 percent. In New Hampshire, it was 6.7 percent. In Vermont, it’s 4.1 percent. In Rhode Island, a 6.4 percent increase has been filed by the NCCI, and it’s pending a decision from the state department of business regulation. In the New England area, Maine was the only state with decreases filed by NCCI. “We made a law-only filing that was approved for a decrease of 3.8 percent. That was on top of our annual loss-cost decrease of 3.2 percent in Maine. It was the only state in New England where NCCI filed loss-cost decreases.” In Massachusetts, a rate filing is pending for +19.1 percent, and New York’s loss-costs increased 9.1 percent.