What Do You Know About Workers’ Comp?

Do you understand your workers’ compensation insurance coverage? If you don’t, you’re not alone.

A recent survey conducted by EMPLOYERS found that 14% of small business owners and executives don’t even know who their insurer is.

They’re spending money on the coverage without understanding how it works. For example, what they get for their premium payments, or why they continue coverage with a particular carrier.

Many small business owners and decision-makers are relying on state funds, but only 12 states actually offer these funds. I wonder how many of those reporting that they rely on them know if their own states actually offer them or not.

In these economic times, you as a business owner should probably be aware of where all of your costs are going, and why they are going there.
A few other interesting highlights from the survey are:

- 75% of decision-makers identify price as their primary motivator for choosing workers’ comp coverage.

– 69% ranked their carrier’s financial strength as the second most important factor.

– 60% named claims handling as highly important in protecting small business operations in the event of an employee injury, and in helping to return valued employees back to work as soon as they are able.

Sixty percent? That means 40 percent are not so concerned about this. I realize that not all jobs come along with much danger. I’m not exactly in the lions’ den myself, but even if you do your best to create a safe work environment, things can happen. I’m not going to go over a bunch of crazy scenarios that lead to your employees’ injuries. Just beware. That’s all I’m saying.