Connecticut Approves Workers’ Comp Loss Cost Decrease of 3.9%

Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Katharine L. Wade said Connecticut employers can expect to pay less next year for their workers’ compensation insurance as a result of the Insurance Department’s approval this week of a rate filing that lowers rates and the cost factors insurers use to develop prices.

The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) filed a rate proposal in September with the department. NCCI annually collects data from the workers’ comp market in Connecticut and proposes rate changes to the department. After an actuarial review and 30-day public comment period on the posted rate filing, the department approved a 3.9 percent reduction in the overall average loss cost level change, a factor insurers use to calculate premium prices.

In the same filing, the department further reduced NCCI’s assigned risk rate request from a decrease of 6.3 percent to a decrease of 7.9 percent. Assigned risk policies are those sold in a market for high-risk businesses that have had difficulty securing workers’ comp insurance.

Approved on Nov. 3, the new rates represent an overall decrease of about 7 percent over the last two years in the traditional workers’ comp market in Connecticut. Wade also noted that there has been an even steeper decrease, nearly 10 percent, in the assigned risk market over that same period.

“We are seeing a steady decline in the number of claims and robust competition is also helping to drive down costs,” Wade said. “There are about 300 companies licensed to sell workers’ compensation insurance in Connecticut, offering business owners a variety of policy choices to best suit their needs and budget.”

“Giving businesses relief from some annual costs, like insurance, can help employers reinvest in their operation and create more jobs for our state,” Wade said.

The new rates will take effect on policies issued on or after Jan. 1, 2016.