Safer Workplace Lowers Colo. WC Loss Costs

Safer Workplace Lowers Colo. WC Loss Costs

By Gregg Greenberg

NU Online News Service, Aug. 7, 10:30 a.m. EST?The Colorado Division of Insurance will likely be decreasing workers' compensation premiums later this year for some employers, said Colorado Commissioner of Insurance William J. Kirven III.

Mr. Kirven announced that the National Council on Compensation Insurance filed an average decrease of 10.2 percent in workers' comp insurance loss costs for Colorado, effective Dec. 1, 2002.

Deborah Collete, spokeswoman for the Colorado Division of Insurance, said the declining costs reflect the rise in the safety of the Colorado workplace. "We are seeing fewer workplace injuries in Colorado, and the cost per workers' compensation claim has been relatively steady," Ms. Collete said.

A public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 3 to discuss the proposed decrease.

"The Division's consulting actuary will now review this data and make a recommendation to us to either approve it or modify it," Mr. Kirven said. "Once this filing is approved, the good news is that some employers should see a decrease in their workers' compensation premiums."

According to the NCCI, a ratings and advisory organization, this is the second consecutive year that Colorado's workers' comp loss costs have declined. On Jan. 1, the loss costs decreased an average of 7.4 percent.