Even though financial indicators have been suggesting
improvements, the president and CEO of the National Council on Compensation
Insurance Inc. (NCCI) has stated that the workers compensation industry should
be getting ready for some “difficult times” as the workplace and workforce ecosystem
undergoes a considerable evolution.
President and CEO of the NCCI, Steve Klingel, recently spoke
at the 2015 Issues Symposium.
The NCCI is a workers
compensation ratings and research organization. At the symposium, Klingel
explained that the claim frequency fell in 2015, while there was a 5.7 percent
increase in net written premiums, bringing them to a figure that was $44.2
billion greater than that of 2013.
Moreover, there was an improvement in the
combined ratio to 98 percent, which was a drop from 2013, when it had been 102
percent (based on the data from the 2015 State of the Line report from the
NCCI).
The NCCI report also suggested that there was a 2 percent
decrease in workers compensation claims for lost work in 2014.
That decrease wasn’t as large as the one that had occurred
in 2013, which was 2.9 percent. Klingel explained that “Our industry runs in
cycles,” and that they will “Watch for upward pressure on claim frequency from
new workers in unfamiliar jobs.”
The reasons are that there is a massive evolution underway
when it comes to both workplaces
and the workforce, itself. Employees are increasingly seeking the type of
employment that will allow them to work from the location of their choice, on their own schedule. Klingel
said that workers want to be able to complete their tasks from home, in coffee
shops, or just about anywhere else they want to be at a given time.
The result of this trend is that the types of definitions
that are required for workers compensation coverage are changing and will need
to continue to evolve. After all, job related injuries are not necessarily
those that are occurring at the actual business location.
Employees could be
doing their jobs in any of thousands of other places. Klingel cautioned the
industry that they should “Keep your seatbelts fastened, because I believe
there’s turbulent air ahead.”
Source: http://www.liveinsurancenews.com