Workers Comp Insurance Companies - Mistakes That Affect Your Bottom Line By: Workers Compenstaion Specialist

If you've ever had to run a business then you have had to deal with workers comp insurance companies. Dealing with the constant threat of increased rates will make any business owner paranoid.

No doubt you already know that there are things that occur in your company that will cause the workers comp insurance companies to raise your premium rates. What you probably don't realize are that there are also many mistakes made by the insurer that have a adverse impact on your business. Following is a listing of frequent errors by business owners and workers comp insurance companies.

The following are some common mistakes made by business owners that cause workers comp rates to go up:

* Lack of safety program for injury prevention
* No return to work plan
* Not reporting injuries to the insurance company immediately
* No communication with the injured employee's doctor

These are only a sampling of the common mistakes that business owners make when dealing with work compensation. There are several things available that will help business owners to reduce rates with minimal upfront costs. If not watched the items listed above can amount to thousands of dollars in increased premiums.

The following list below are common mistakes made by workers comp insurance companies:

* Employees assigned the wrong job class code
* Employer's experience modification was calculated using the wrong information
* Eligible credits and exemptions mis-applied or never applied
* Errors with payroll calculations

Make no mistake, these errors are only a small sampling of the several mistakes that come up. A frequent error is when the workers comp insurance company is calculating the overtime rate at the amount indicated on the payroll as opposed to a straight hourly rate.

Another problem is workers being put into the wrong work comp class category. This error can cost employers thousands of dollars. One example is a clerical worker being classified under the construction code because he has to go to the work site on an infrequent basis.

If you have ever dealt with insurance companies you probably know how hard it can be to get your business' premiums decreased. Even though you may be correct, you may not have the tools you need to show them the mistake so that the problem can be made right. Then there is the errors that you do not know about that are costing your company thousands of dollars. Mistakes that add up to tens of thousands of dollars each year.

Trust me, I have seen it. I just a short while ago reviewed a policy that had a whole host of mistakes that the company ended up being refunded $96K. Basically, they received back $16,000 a year for each of the six years past. I do not know about you but I could sure use an extra $96,000.

You may think I am embellishing the story but you would be wrong. That is not even the biggest refund that I have seen. Typically on average we see about $37,000 in refunds. Obviously it all depends on what your company is paying in premium rates but on average we typically recover about ten percent of the annual premium rate.

Don't take my word for it, try it out yourself and see.


To find out more you can view my other articles by clicking the following links.

Workers Compensation Insurance Companies and Workers Comp Claims

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