Workers comp premium increase authorized in California

California’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau said Tuesday its governing committee voted to authorize an increased advisory pure premium rate filing, effective Jan. 1, 2018, to the California Insurance Commissioner.

The filing will propose advisory pure premium rates that average $2.01 per $100 of payroll, which is 0.1% more than the average approved July 1 advisory pure premium rate of $2.00, WCRIB said in a statement. 

The pure premium rate, while slightly up from the latest approved rate, is 7% below the average Jan. 1, 2017, advisory pure premium rate, according to the statement. The downward development of medical losses, continued acceleration of claim settlement rates, increased moderation of loss adjustment expense trends, and a forecast of increased wage growth were identified as some of the factors contributing to the reduction of the average advisory pure premium rate, the statement said.

Rising average claim severities and continued sharp growth in the volume of cumulative injuries countered several positive trends and contributed to the modest increase, WCIRB said.