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Nevada Workers’ Compensation Rate Decrease

Nevada has approved a filing for an average decrease of 3.9% for Nevada workers’ compensation voluntary insurance loss costs and an average decrease of 2.2 % for workers’ compensation insurance assigned risk rates. Loss costs are the expected costs of medical and wage loss benefits including the costs to administer the benefits by employment classification. Insurers convert the loss costs to full rates by factoring in the insurer-specific loss cost multiplier which contemplates the insurers’ administrative expenses and profit. Workers’ comp claims costs have been decreasing over the past decade, which is largely the reason for the proposed decreases. Fewer… Read More »Nevada Workers’ Compensation Rate Decrease

Focusing on Risk Uncertainty

1. Uncertainty can be assessed and measured. 2. Emerging risks radars must be built and systems for continuous scanning established. 3. Even under uncertainty, prudent forecasting is possible and necessary. 4. Contingency planning is indispensable. 5. Establishing resilience buffers will dilute adverse impact. A new report from Zurich Financial Services notes that in contrast to the “bulk of risks faced by the corporate sector,” which are more or less “easily identified,” and can thus be dealt with, “there is a class of risks with often severe consequences that is, at times, difficult to grasp, even more difficult to assess, and… Read More »Focusing on Risk Uncertainty

TEACHING FIRE SAFETY – SMOKE ALARM

Some Facts to Introduce Fire Safety to Children • Fires need three things to get started and burn: Oxygen, fuel and a heat source to ignite the fuel. • Many children know that fire is hot and can hurt them. But smoke can be equally harmful. Breathing smoke makes people very sick and can even kill them. • Smoke from a fire spreads quickly and can be extremely hazardous. Most people harmed in fires suffer from injuries related to the smoke or toxic gases they inhale, rather than from being burned by the fire itself. Some Facts for Teachers to Note About Fire Safety • Children “playing” with fire start 40,000… Read More »TEACHING FIRE SAFETY – SMOKE ALARM

Creating a Safer America

The Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to go public on March 11 with a searchable database of consumer complaints about specific products. The Public Database will be available at http://www.saferproducts.gov/ website.

Infamous Workplace Record

The time when the records on the workplace were all over the news has gone. At least for a while. You won’t hear anymore about a guy who made 1000s hamburger per hour at a local fast food restaurant or a miner who managed to dig 1000s of tons of coil. Nope… We live in the new era and our news are corresponding: — A record 99,922 private-sector workplace discrimination charges were filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during fiscal 2010, the agency said Tuesday. The EEOC also said it ended fiscal 2010 with 86,338 pending charges, an… Read More »Infamous Workplace Record

AB 2774 – California OSHA Law

AB 2774 became law in California on Jan. 1, 2011. It’s one of the most important pieces of occupational safety and health legislation since Cal/OSHA came into existence. What does AB 2774 do? It provides the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) with a series of steps that must be completed to establish a serious violation. And if the steps are followed, employers will face major fines that are more likely to stick—and stick without reduction. This isn’t an additional hurdle for DOSH to surmount. In fact, the law was essentially written by DOSH to make it easier for… Read More »AB 2774 – California OSHA Law

How to Self-Insure in Texas

Under Texas law, certain large, private companies can self-insure for workers’ compensation claims, while retaining the protection of the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act for the company and for its employees. To qualify, a company must have a minimum workers’ compensation insurance unmodified manual premium of $500,000 and meet other requirements subject to annual review: Be a private employer with operations in Texas; Have an estimated unmodified manual insurance premium of at least $500,000 in Texas, or at least $10,000,000 nationwide; Present audited financial statements; Possess qualifying Credit/Debt ratings:Dun & Bradstreet – 3A1 or better or Standard & Poor’s – BBB… Read More »How to Self-Insure in Texas

U.S. Lowest Auto Insurance Premium

Auto insurance premiums in the North and South Dakotas are the lowest in the nation, according to ND insurance commissioner Adam Hamm. A new report issued by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners shows that the average auto insurance premium in ND was, in 2008, $644, whereas the national average was $903. The most expensive state was Louisiana, where the average auto insurance premium was $1,275.

MarketScout Predicts End of Soft Market in 2011

Commercial property/casualty insurance rates dropped an average of 5% in December 2010 compared with a year earlier, MarketScout said. The Dallas-based electronic insurance exchange reported Wednesday that general liability coverage was the most aggressively priced, dropping 6%, with commercial property coming in close behind with a 5% drop. In contrast, workers compensation, professional liability, commercial automobile and surety dropped only 1% while fiduciary remained flat. Despite the declines, “2010 will prove to be the beginning to the end of a six-year soft market cycle,” MarketScout CEO Richard Kerr said in a statement. “While rates were still down for all of… Read More »MarketScout Predicts End of Soft Market in 2011

E&O Coverage for Small Law Firms

When it comes to the legal profession, there are two known facts: claims against lawyers tend to increase in an economic downturn; and small firms (with fewer than five attorneys) are extremely vulnerable to legal malpractice and damaging lawsuits. To address these issues, we offer a professional liability insurance program specifically tailored to the needs of small law firms. Rates are competitive because the underwriting guidelines exclude writing large firms that tend to have higher risk and greater claims severity. According to the American Bar Association, over 70% of professional liability claims are driven by firms of less than five… Read More »E&O Coverage for Small Law Firms