Moore: Workers' Comp Resolutions for 2024

Monday, January 8, 2024 | 0

This year's workers' comp resolutions come from the 2023 resolutions. 

James Moore

The theme in January 2023 was asset protection. Even though we are in a post-pandemic world, spiking interest rates, along with inflation, keep my thoughts on asset protection, so this year's resolutions are still based on it.

The theme comes from situations that J&L came across with customers during 2023. If you wish to see a list of 2024 non-insurance resolutions, click here.  

A list of workers' comp and other resolutions on this website can be found by using this search. I have been suggesting resolutions for at least the last 15 years right up through these resolutions.

Top 5 recommended resolutions

• Read your policies or assign someone you trust in your company to read them. Better yet, read it and assign someone to read it. Use the best policy-reading tool on earth to do it. No, it is not artificial intelligence. For instance, I had purchased a travel policy with a 10-day free cancellation period before the policy became active. I found out it did not cover one of my preferences. I used the tool, read it and then realized two coverages were lacking. I switched to another policy that did cover my preferences.
• Safety, safety, safety. During the pandemic and well before 2020, companies were laying off risk management and safety personnel. Even if your company is too small to afford a safety person, hire a safety consultant or contact your carrier to see what it offers (usually freebies) to assist your company.
• Predictive analytics has expanded to look beyond mods. Most agent clients have commented they look at five to seven years of accident histories, if not longer. With the acceptance of AI in the insurance world, an employer cannot look at only four years of injuries. Online claims access for all open and closed claims is now just as important as a safety program. I used to disagree with a few pundits on this one. It is what it is now.
• Remote premium audits are still popular. Rating bureaus, state governments and carriers have moved away from doing in-person premium audits. Yes, it does remove the inconvenience of having a premium auditor on-site, but we have been seeing where telephone and video audits have possibly reduced audit accuracy. Often, no discussion with the employer as to what they do in their daily business activities occurs during the audit process.
• 2023 was the year of endorsements. We have seen many policies endorsed multiple times. I am not 100% sure why this is occurring, even post-pandemic. Endorsement rules on changing workers' comp policies are complex yet very specific. Bottom line: Read all endorsements very carefully. See No. 1 for how to handle them.

Some things always stay the same in workers' comp insurance. I found it difficult to update the resolutions every year, but not this year. Nos. 3-5 were very different in 2023 and likely will stay the same in 2024. The fresh resolutions will soon include self-insureds.

This blog post is provided by James Moore, AIC, MBA, ChFC, ARM, and is republished with permission from J&L Risk Management Consultants. Visit the full website at www.cutcompcosts.com.