Rhode Island Approves 2.5% Workers’ Compensation Decrease

Rhode Island’s regulator has approved a 2.5% average reduction in overall workers’ compensation loss costs.

The reduction will take effect on August 1, 2026. More than 200 insurers write workers’ compensation coverage in the state.

The rate change was proposed by the industry’s National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) last November and, according to the state, this latest approval marks the 11th consecutive annual decrease in loss costs for the state, resulting in a net average decrease of 75.8% since 2015.

“This latest average rate reduction signals a healthy insurance market in Rhode Island,” said Department of Business Regulation (DBR) Director Elizabeth Kelleher Dwyer. “It is partly due to the efforts of our business owners for their continued focus on workplace safety, which is reducing the number of workers injured on the job.”

DBR’s approval is for an overall decrease in advisory loss costs of -2.5% for industrial classes, -12.9% for “F” (federal) classes, and no change for USL&HW classes.

For 2025, an overall 4.8% decrease was approved.