Jones Approves 3% Decrease in Pure Premium Rate

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones on Thursday adopted a pure premium rate 3% lower than the rate adopted on July 1, rather than the 2% reduction recommended by the state’s rate-maker. Jones set the advisory benchmark rate at an average of $1.94 per $100 of payroll, compared to the $1.96 recommended by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau. The pure premium rate was set at $2.02 on July 1, but insurers charged an average pure premium rate of $2.34. Noting the 17.1% difference between the advisory rate adopted Thursday and the average charged rate as...