Florida Workers’ Comp Rates Will Decrease in 2018
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved an overall average rate decrease of -9.5% for workers’ compensation policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2018.
The -9.5% rate decrease is an average rate change across all class codes in the State of Florida. The specific rates for the individual class codes on your clients’ policies may decrease more or less than this amount, or they may even go up.
For example, here is a comparison of the current rate and the new rate for some of the class codes written recently through FUBA Workers’ Comp:
| Class Code | 2017 Rate | 2018 Rate | % Increase/Decrease |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5645 Framing | $19.40 | $19.79 | +2.0% increase |
| 0042 Landscaping | $9.82 | $9.34 | -4.9% decrease |
| 5474 Painting | $12.63 | $10.53 | -16.6% decrease |
| 9082 Restaurant | $2.54 | $2.28 | -10.2% decrease |
| 9102 Lawn Maintenance | $5.16 | $4.66 | -9.7% decrease |
In addition to the class code rate changes, OIR has approved several other changes that will also start January 1, 2018:
- The Expense Constant, a premium charge applied to every policy regardless of size which contributes to the carrier’s recovery of expenses for issuing, recording, and auditing a policy, will decrease from $200 to $160 per policy.
- The Terrorism premium (a mandatory charge in workers’ comp in Florida) will decrease from .02 to .01 per $100 of payroll.
- The annual payroll amount used to determine premium for partners and sole proprietors is increasing from $43,800 to $46,100.
- The minimum weekly payroll amount for executive officers in construction is increasing from $400 to $450, and for all other executive officers it is increasing from $850 to $900.
Please email us if you have any questions.