The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and the state insurance commissioner have approved a 15.1% average decrease in workers’ compensation rates, despite calls from roofing contractors to freeze rates for a while.
The decrease takes effect for new and renewal workers’ compensation policies starting Jan. 1 and is the seventh-straight rate reduction for Florida and one of the largest in years. Actuaries with the National Council on Compensation Insurance recommended the change in August and a public hearing was held in October.
At that hearing, members of the Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association and its self-insurance fund urged regulators to hold off on another rate cut.
“I’m not asking. I’m begging you to freeze rates for roofing classifications,” Ralph Davis, of Streamline Roofing, said at the time.
The head of the association’s self-insurance fund noted that lower premiums paid by some roofing companies are impacting the fund, which has faced spikes in its reinsurance costs. The lower rates also are overlooking hidden costs and unreported injuries by undocumented workers in the construction industry, roofers said. Florida’s tough, new immigration law also is causing a shortage of skilled workers, forcing contractors to hire more inexperienced laborers, which could mean more injuries and a jump in experience modification and premiums in coming years.
If rates are too low, some comp insurance carriers may exit Florida, forcing more employers to turn to the Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association, a residual insurer, the contractors argued.
Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky has not commented on the roofers’ concerns. But in a statement this week, he said: “It’s clear the workers’ compensation market in Florida is stable and competitive; I’m confident lower workers’ compensation rates will assist in ensuring that all of Florida’s businesses have the opportunity to succeed in our state.”
Some in the insurance industry have warned that lower rates could lead to safety complacency by employers. At the International Risk Management Institute’s annual construction risk conference this week in Orlando, though, Mike Dickerson, a safety consultant with American Contractors Insurance Group, said that while workers’ comp rates have dropped significantly across the country in recent years, ex-mods and the cost of comp insurance are still a concern for many employers.
**Article obtained from: Insurance Journal, By: Insurance Journal Staff Reports, Published 11/15/2023
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2023/11/15/748366.htm
