Carriers Increase Charged Rate

California employers, on average, saw a 6% rate hike in the first quarter of the year after the Insurance Commission approved an 8.7% increase in advisory pure premium rates effective last September 1st. Advisory rates are set to go up another 6.6% at the beginning of September, although many individual classes are increasing over 20%. … Read More »

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Remote Employees – Class 8871 – Lowered

California’s advisory pure premium rate for clerical employees who work remotely is decreasing by 4% to just under ten cents per $100 of payroll as of September 1, 2026. The September 1st rate marks the first time that the decrease in the telecommuter rate wasn’t limited by Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau rules since it … Read More »

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Policy Cancellation for Audit Noncompliance

The Third District Court of Appeal held that a workers’ comp policy was properly canceled as it overturned a decision by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board holding that an insurer improperly canceled a policy after an insured did not cooperate with a premium audit. The court notes that the insurer made multiple requests for access … Read More »

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Nonprofit Wins Classification Dispute

Norcal Crew, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit competitive youth rowing program, prevailed in a dispute with its workers’ comp carrier and the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau. The organization successfully fought off reclassification of its operations to a class with an advisory pure premium rate 2.5 times higher than the workers’ comp rate for its historical classification … Read More »

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New Ruling In 20-Year-Old Premium Dispute

The Fourth District Court of Appeal issued a second decision in the two-decade-long dispute between State Compensation Insurance Fund and the temporary nurse staffing firm ReadyLink over workers’ comp premium owed on per diem payments. The ruling upholds the award of over $500,000 in additional premium and allows State Fund to recover its appeal costs. … Read More »

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Premium Audit Dispute Over Timecards & Dual Wage

A small electrical contractor who appealed a premium audit bill to the California Department of Insurance Administrative Hearing Bureau is getting some of the additional premium back. The parties settled before trial. But it is an interesting story and lesson. D&D Electrical and State Farm ask the Department to dismiss D&D’s appeal, filed last year, … Read More »

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Rate Increase Drivers Identified

The insurer majority on the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s governing committee pushed through a request for a 10.4% increase in California workers’ comp advisory pure premium rates effective September 1, 2026. An alternative proposal by the public members for a lower 5.1% rate hike was rejected by the industry executives. The filing for the … Read More »

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Written Premium Down, But Charged Rates Tick Up

California workers’ comp carrier’s written premium was down some 4% for the first quarter of 2025 compared to last year. At the same time, carriers’ average charged rates were up 1% — the first increase in average charged rates in over a decade (see charts). The findings are from the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s … Read More »

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