Around the PIA Western Alliance States

California — Insurers Want to Use Wildfire Catastrophe Models: Milliman did an analysis of wildfire insurance in California and found homeowners would be better able to access insurance if wildfire catastrophe models were instituted.

Milliman did the analysis at the request of the Personal Insurance Federation of California, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC).

After releasing the analysis, the three groups pointed out that California is the only state that sets total catastrophe premiums based on historical data. The contention of the three groups is that California’s regulations are outdated and cannot reliably measure the ongoing threat of wildfire in the state.

Source link: Insurance Journal — https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2022/11/29/696876.htm

California — On Average Work Comp Claims Closure takes Seven Years: California’s work comp claims — says a study — can take up to 7 years to complete. That information was released last week by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California.

Here are the highlights of the report:

• *It has taken seven years to close 90% of the state’s claims
• *That compares to three years for all states in the union

   

  These are the reasons it takes seven years:

   

• *A higher share than state average for permanent partial disability claims and cumulative trauma claims
• *More utilization of legal services
• *Differences in medical coverage in different regions in the state.

Source link: Insurance Journal — https://bit.ly/3P7aV9l

Washington — A Work Comp Premium Hike: Washington’s work comp rates are going to go up — on average — 4.8% next year. That number was released last week by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.

L&I head, Joel Sacks said this means rates — driven by inflation, higher wages and medical costs that are rising — will cost the average worker and employer about $61 a year.

“We’re adopting this modest increase in the workers compensation rate to boost the long-term health of our state workers’ comp system,” Sacks said. “This move will assure that our contingency reserves, which we’re using to buy down the impacts of the rate increase, will continue to be healthy and viable.”

Source link: Business Insurance — https://bit.ly/3VYsVoK