Industry News
Author, Greg Garcia, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Imagine you are a landscaping company owner and your workers’ compensation policy just renewed January 1st. You are probably thinking, now what? Well, the next date that should be on your radar is June 30th, your unit stat date.
Author, Greg Garcia, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Every business owner understands the correlation between their Experience MOD (XMOD) and what they will pay in workers’ compensation premiums. When the XMOD increases, there is a good chance that the workers’ compensation rates or premiums will rise as well. This is why it is so crucial to really hone in on company safety procedures to limit work-related injuries as much as possible. The reality is that even the safest company that does everything the right way is going to run into a workers’ compensation claim from time to time.
Author, Sam Clayton, Vice President, Construction Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
It appears the COVID-19 pandemic has finally entered an endemic stage and most companies have fully re-opened and/or are offering their employees some type of a hybrid work schedule. With this being the case, the California Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) proposed to amend the rule that excludes COVID-19 claims from the calculation of experience modifications for only claims with incident dates from December 1, 2019 through August 31, 2022.
Author, Drew Garcia, Vice President, Landscape Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Rancho Mesa’s Safety KPI Dashboard allows businesses the ability to clearly visualize their path to an Experience MOD (XMOD) below 1.00 through goal setting.
Author, Sam Clayton, Vice President, Construction Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
What is a dual wage threshold? According to the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB), in California there are sixteen (16) construction operations that are divided into two separate classifications based on the hourly wage of the employee. There are different advisory pure premium rates for the low wage employee and the high wage employee.
Author, Casey Craig, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Wage thresholds have increased consistently in the past decade. This has pushed owners to give sizable raises every few years to maximize employee compensation, but also reducing insurance cost. The experience modification (MOD) and payrolls are key factors in developing a company’s net rates for workers’ compensation, but average wage per hour represents a big differentiator for most carriers and can lead to even more savings.
Author, Casey Craig, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Following up on a great article by fellow construction team member Kevin Howard, about anticipated wage threshold increases coming in 2022, I wanted to highlight the building problems resulting from substantial hourly wage increases.
Author, Jack Marrs, Associate Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Leading into 2022, it is important for employers to examine their workplace injury reporting practices. Specifically, employers should report all injuries including medical-only workplace injuries to their workers’ compensation insurance company. Best practices dictate all claims should be reported within the first 24 hours in order to improve treatment to the injured worker and reduce the overall cost of the claim to the employer.
Author, Drew Garcia, Vice President, Landscape Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
In January 2021, we launched the Safety Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Dashboard to provide a tool for our customers to use as a bridge between their experience mod and safety performance.
Author, Drew Garcia, Vice President, Landscape Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
For the first time in several years the Expected Loss Rate for class code 0042 has increased from $2.38 to $2.42, a 2% increase.
Bottom line, although very minimal, this should help bring the experience mod down.
Author, Casey Craig, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Hiring is never an easy task, especially during a pandemic. Dealing with COVID-19 has made finding the right employees much more difficult for many business owners in the construction industry. Now is the perfect time to evaluate your hiring practices to ensure you don’t make a costly hiring mistakes that can affect your Experience Modification Rate (XMOD) and workers’ compensation premium long after the pandemic has passed.
Author, Sam Clayton, Vice President, Construction Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Adding frustration to the growing concerns for businesses dealing with COVID-19, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) has recommended California employers pay a COVID-19 surcharge on their 2021 workers’ compensation policies.
Author, Drew Garcia, Vice President of the Landscape Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
The workers’ compensation market for landscape companies in California has remained in a downward trend since 2015. As a result, landscape business owners have realized lower rates and subsequently aggressive premiums. The following are some key insights to help landscape businesses prepare for their 2021 workers’ compensation insurance renewal.
Author, Kevin Howard, C.R.I.S., Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
COVID-19 has created a multitude of challenges for California business owners in the first half of 2020. A concerning trend is the potential combination of lower payrolls and the California Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s (WCIRB) recommendation to lower expected loss rates, creating what very likely could be significant Experience Modification Rate (XMOD) increases for numerous California businesses.
Author, Drew Garcia, Vice President of the Landscape Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Landscape companies with a low Experience Modification Rating (XMOD/EMR) typically exhibit similar best practices when dealing with work-related injuries. Their proactive approach helps close claims faster and return employees to work sooner than their counterparts.
Author, Drew Garcia, Vice President, Landscape Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
California business owners are aware that their experience modifier (XMOD) is published annually, roughly three to four months before the expiration of their current workers compensation policy term. However, more often than not, companies are missing an incredible opportunity to make an impact on the calculation of their XMOD by strategically evaluating their work comp claims prior to the most critical month in the XMOD calendar known as Unit Stat.
Author, Drew Garcia, NALP Program Director, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
The Experience Modifier (i.e., experience MOD, MOD, XMOD, experience modification rating, EMR) weighs heavy on the calculation of your workers' compensation premium. With a MOD rating of 1.00 signifying unity (i.e., the average for your industry), any MOD above 1.00 is considered adverse. Thus, any MOD below 1.00 is considered better than average. Higher MODs will debit the premium, resulting in higher workers' compensation premiums, while lower MODs will credit the premium, resulting in lower workers' compensation premiums.
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