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A Brief about BoxersWELLINGTON, New Zealand – After hearing an attorney's hard-hitting argument, a judge here ruled that an employee who was injured in an amateur boxing match – off-site, during his lunch break – was covered under workers' compensation laws because lunch hours are for "refreshing" oneself for work, according to a report in News of the Weird. Cabbies Conned on CompCHICAGO – City officials planned to revoke the operating license of one of this town's oldest taxi companies because the owner allegedly collected workers' compensation and liability premiums from his cab drivers but failed to pay for their policies. According to the Chicago Tribune, the owner was also a former insurance broker who issued certificates of insurance from his own brokerage but failed to make some $80,000 in payments to the carrier. L.A. Comp Costs SkyrocketLOS ANGELES – Local public agencies face substantial increases in costs for workers' compensation, according to several reports in the L.A. Daily News. The City of Los Angeles had budgeted $103 million for workers' compensation claims this year, but one official said another $10 million would be needed. As many as 10 percent of the city's employees may receive benefits at any given time. Costs for the L.A. Unified School District are expected to reach $147 million this year, more than three times what it was five years ago. District officials said that since 1998 their 78,000 workers have filed 22,991 claims with an average cost of $8,275 each, the paper reported. School board members want a more aggressive plan to crack down on fraud, noting that not a single case of suspected fraud has been referred to the district attorney for prosecution in the past five years. The Metropolitan Transportation Agency has witnessed a 51 percent increase in workers' comp costs in five years, from $35.4 million to $53.4 million in annual costs. Since 1998 the MTA's 9,000 employees have filed 12,487 injury claims, but only 16 cases have been referred for fraud prosecution. In one quarter of the current financial year, the MTA's workers lost 27,554 days of work due to workers' compensation absences.
Ruling Restores Exclusive RemedyCONCORD – The New Hampshire Supreme Court effectively overturned a 1999 decision that allowed an injured employee to both collect workers' compensation and sue for damages under the state's uninsured motorist statutes, reported the Insurance Journal. Growth in Residual MarketFaced with higher premiums, increasing numbers of employers are turning to assigned risk pools or residual markets to secure workers' compensation coverage, reported the National Underwriter. But the growth does not even approach the proportions reached during the early 1990s. An official of the National Council on Compensation Insurance estimated that workers' comp premiums for the residual market in 2001 totaled about $500 million. Premium was up more than 90 percent over 2000 and the number of policyholders rose 37 percent, accounting for 5 percent of the market. But in 1992 the residual share was 25 percent with premium of more than $4 billion. Many multi-line insurance carriers are now considering leaving the workers' compensation field if the government does not provide assistance with terrorism losses, and due to the difficulty in obtaining reinsurance. Geography Becomes FactorWorkers' compensation underwriters are giving consideration not only to what types of work the employees perform but also where they are located. According to a report by Standard & Poor's, the 9/11 attacks have led many carriers to impose large premium increases on policyholders who have significant concentrations of employees in single locations, particularly in urban settings. Employers with concentrations of workers in high-profile office towers, such as the Sears Tower or Empire State Building, may be especially prone to large premium hikes. But the suburbs may also be vulnerable to nuclear, chemical or biological attacks, according to the report. |
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