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Policy Coverages

Benefits
Workers' compensation provides medical payments for care, services and supplies as reasonably needed.

Disability coverage replaces the injured employee's loss of income. In 2002 the wage replacement is two thirds of a worker's average weekly income up to a maximum of $564 per week.

Vocational rehabilitation is available to find suitable work with comparable wage for an injured employee whose permanent disability prevents a return to usual employment.

Permanent partial disability benefits compensate an injured employee for the loss or loss of use of a part of the body.

Death benefits provide weekly benefit payments to the surviving spouse and dependent minor children and cover funeral and burial expenses when an industrial injury results in death.

Cost of Loss
For a business, the true cost of a workers' compensation injury can be greater than the cost of the benefits outlined above. This can include cost associated with damage to property, training expenses, lost management time and reduced productivity. These additional costs can make the actual cost of a loss be several times the amount of the benefits paid. It is important that all parties realize the value of decreasing the number of workers' compensation losses.

Reducing Premiums
The most effective way to reduce your workers' compensation premium is to reduce the frequency of losses. Most insureds receive an experience modification which is promulgated by the National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc. (NCCI). Good loss experience will generally result in a reduction of your premium while poor experience will result in an increase. The formula used to determine an experience modification gives greater weight to past loss frequency than to loss severity because it is felt that an insured has more control over their loss frequency. To improve your experience modification factor, it is important that you develop a loss control program that attacks loss frequency.

Another method to reduce or control your workers' compensation premium is to purchase a retrospectively rated program. These programs are for accounts with larger premiums and they allow an insured to more directly control their insurance costs through the control of their loss experience. There are many factors involved in a retrospectively rated program, but essentially it allows an insured an opportunity to reduce their premiums if they have good loss experience. Conversely, poor loss experience can result in higher premiums.

Risk Management
Your workers' compensation premiums are heavily influenced by your ability to control and minimize employee injuries. We feel that by helping you control your accidents and insurance costs, your company productivity and competitiveness will be greatly enhanced.

In today's work environment, we have learned that changing the way a company looks at and practices safety is the most effective means of controlling occupational injury. So a large part of our work focuses on identifying the reasons unsafe behaviors and attitudes exist, then developing the right method to fix the problem. Some of the risk management services we offer are:

• Comprehensive risk assessment
• Safety program audit
• Developing a goal oriented plan with measurable objectives
• Developing and implementing your injury and illness prevention program
• Customized training programs
• Accident investigation and loss trend analysis
• Ergonomic assessments and consultation
• Regulatory compliance assistance Safety program certification