NCCI Files 12% Decrease for Tennessee Workers’ Comp Loss Costs

Workers’ compensation rates in Tennessee are going down again next year. The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) announced in August that the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) is seeking a loss cost reduction of over 12 percent for workers’ compensation that will have the impact of bringing down insurance rates, effective March 1, 2018.

The new filing, which TDCI said represents the seventh consecutive reduction, will benefit the majority of Tennessee employers and employees by continuing a trend of reduced workers’ compensation insurance premium prices.

Since Tennessee reformed its workers’ compensation system in 2014, NCCI filings have totaled loss cost reductions of over 36 percent, representing substantial savings for Tennessee employers. The reduced rates are also impacted by Tennessee employers seeing fewer significant workplace injuries.

“This is more good news for Tennessee employers at a time of record low unemployment,” said TDCI Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak. “The 2014 workers’ compensation reforms fueled these lower costs. These benefits extend to Tennessee’s workforce as well because the loss cost reductions are a result of decreases in lost-time claim frequency and stabilizing claim costs.”

The 12.6 percent proposed reduction comes on top of the 12.8 percent reduction that TDCI approved for a March 1, 2017, effective date. Insurance carriers combine NCCI’s loss cost filings with company experience and expenses to develop insurance rates.

The commissioner has 90 days from the August 24 filing date to make a decision on the filing. The NCCI filing will be presented before the Advisory Council on Workers’ Compensation later this fall and the Council has until October 23 to deliver a recommendation to the commissioner on the proposed reduction.