Published in WorkCompCentral
April 2, 2009
South Carolina Insurance Director Scott Richardson has approved a call by the national Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) to reduce workers’ compensation loss costs by 0.3% effective July 1.
The slight decrease comes after double-digit jumps that triggered a series of reforms by the South Carolina Legislature in 2007.
NCCI said in its filing that the decrease marks a reversal in trends that saw loss costs increase more than 70% during the past five years.
The last two increases triggered challenges by state Insurance Consumer Advocate Elliott Elam Jr. and the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce.
Chief Administrative Law Judge Marvin Kittrell trimmed the first requested increase to 18.4$ effective Dec. 1 2006. Elam, the Small Business Chamber and NCCI settled a second court dispute last year and agreed to a 9.8% increase, which took effect July 1.
The average reduction is based on decreases of 3.3% in the construction sector and 5.7% for office and clerical jobs. It also reflects a 1.2% increase for manufacturing classes and 4% for jobs in the goods-and-services sector.
The South Carolina Department of Insurance did not announce its decision. But Carla Griffin, program manager for the department’s Market Services Decision, confirmed the ruling in a March 24 letter sent to NCCI and copied to Elam.
Richardson’s office did not return a call for comment Wednesday.