Good news for Tennessee business owners: Workers compensation rates will drop for the seventh consecutive year.
Because safer work sites and nonjudicial settlements continue to rein in the costs of workers compensation insurance in the state, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) recently announced it’s seeking a loss cost reduction of 12.6 percent. This downward trend is largely thanks to Gov. Bill Haslam and the Tennessee General Assembly, who reformed the state’s workers compensation system and changed the rules to an administrative process of paying worker injury claims. Prior to this reform effort, the Volunteer State had some of the priciest workers compensation rates in the U.S.
Now, Tennessee ranks in the middle of the pack, and NCCI filings have amounted to loss cost reductions of more than 36 percent since 2014. Insurance Journal reported that following the filing of this loss cost reduction on Aug. 24, the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance has 90 days to make a decision. This filing will also be presented to the Advisory Council on Workers’ Compensation this fall, and the Council will have until Oct. 23 to give its recommendation to the commissioner on this proposed reduction.
