California Workers’ Comp Bureau Submits Premium Rate Filing

The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California has submitted its Jan. 1, 2021, pure premium rate filing to the California Department of Insurance, proposing advisory pure premium rates that are on average 2.6% above the average approved Jan. 1, 2020, advisory pure premium rates.

The average of the proposed January 1, 2021, advisory pure premium rates is $1.56 per $100 of payroll.

Absent the estimated impact of COVID-19 claims on 2021 policies, the filing reflects a modest decrease (1.3%) in advisory pure premium rates.

In addition to projecting the cost of COVID-19 claims to be incurred on 2021 policies, the filing also reflects the impact of the pandemic-related economic slowdown on future wage growth, claim frequency and claim severity.

The move follows an earlier vote by the WCIRB governing committee.

Once the CDI schedules a public hearing to consider the filing, a notice of proposed action and notice of public hearing will be issued and posted in the filings and plans section of the WCIRB website.