Premiums for workers' compensation insurance will increase in Washington and New Jersey in 2014, according to recent state department reports.
Washington's Department of Labor and Industries said this week that premiums will increase by an average of 2.7% for all state employers, the first uptick in three years.
“This modest increase in rates is part of a long-term plan to ensure steady and predictable rates by benchmarking against wage inflation,” says department Director Joe Sacks.
He says that the increase will bring in about $55 million in additional premiums next year, and will be combined with a cost-reduced claims process that will save the WC system $35 million to $70 million by June 2014.
The New Jersey Commissioner of Banking and Insurance has approved a 3.6% increase on new and renewed rates as of January 2014, partly in order to fund increasing workers' compensation benefits for all types of injuries except permanent partial disabilities.
The maximum weekly benefits will increase from $826 to $843 in the state, while the minimum weekly benefit will increase from $220 to $225.
Additional premium charges for terrorism and other catastrophes at three cents and one cent per unit of exposure, respectively, apply to all non-excluded policies.
California's insurance commissioner, Dave Jones, recommended a 6.7% increase in workers' compensation rates for 2014 to buffer the system's fluctuations in recent years, and which hit a combined ratio of 140 in 2010.
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