California Workers’ Comp Committee OKs 2021 Pure Premium Filing

The governing committee of the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California voted on Wednesday to authorize the WCIRB to submit a Jan. 1, 2021 advisory pure premium rate filing to the California Insurance Commissioner that are on average roughly 2.6% above the average approved Jan. 1, 2020 advisory pure premium rates.

WCIRB Executive Vice President and Chief Actuary Dave Bellusci noted that absent the estimated impact of COVID-19 claims on 2021 policies, the WCIRB’s recommendation would reflect 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 WCIRB’s recommendation also reflected the impact of the pandemic related economic slowdown on wage growth, claim frequency and claim severity.

The WCIRB expects to submit its filing to the California Department of Insurance during the week of Aug. 24. The CDI will schedule a public hearing to consider the filing, and once the Notice of Proposed Action and Notice of Public Hearing is issued, the WCIRB will post a copy in the Filings and Plans section of the WCIRB website.

Related:

• Report: Sharp Drop in California Workers’ Comp Premiums Expected from COVID-19
• California Workers’ Comp Bureau Lowers Mid-Range Estimate of COVID Costs by $10B
• Analysts Tally Workers Comp Cost of Assuming On-The-Job Exposure to COVID-19