Decrease in Frequency Fueling Rate Reductions, Analysts Say

As workers’ comp rate decreases recommended by the nation’s main rate-maker swell into the double digits in several states, some are explaining the phenomenon with a single word: frequency. “Claim frequency continues to decline; that’s the primary reason,” said Robert Hartwig, co-director of the Risk and Uncertainty Management Center in the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. The National Council on Compensation Insurance last month recommended a decrease in the overall voluntary loss cost level in Tennessee of 12.6% and a dec...