Rate Hikes in California Workers’ Comp: SNL Financial

AmTrust Financial Services Inc. hiked rates by 15 percent on its California workers’ compensation business in 2013, and it is not alone.

SNL data shows multiple companies took rate during the first half of 2013.

The rates used in this analysis come from the disposition section of System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing documents, which contain the rates that were ultimately approved by the state insurance department. Since rate filings are based on different amounts of premium, some small and some large, the chart also includes a weighted average that factors in the amount of premium affected.

One of the notable discrepancies between the averages and weighted averages occurred for new business with an effective date in June. In that case, Employers Compensation Insurance Co., a unit of Employers Holdings Inc., filed to raise the terrorism rate to 5 cents per $100 of payroll, which amounted to an increase of 0.8 percent. This rate change impacted $341.3 million worth of premium,. March was another month of note, when the State Compensation Insurance Fund, a state-run insurer of last resort, filed for a 7 percent decrease, a move that affected over $1 billion in premium.

The State Compensation Insurance Fund is the leader in the California workers’ compensation market, accounting for roughly 10 percent of the total workers’ compensation premiums written in the state in 2012. Travelers Cos. Inc. wrote the next-highest amount of premiums in 2012, edging out The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. All told, insurers in the state — including State Fund — wrote $9 billion in direct premiums in 2012. The rate filings included in this analysis cover $6.71 billion worth of premium, a significant portion of the overall market, but not all of it.