Overcharged for Workers Compensation Insurance? Here's how you can tell.

Anyone who owns a small business knows how expensive workers compensation insurance can be. While the true cost really depends upon the kind of business you operate the expense to your bottom line is real. In this hub I'll uncover and discuss some of the indicators of a work comp premium error or mistake. For a newbie to the world of workers compensation some of the terms I use may be confusing but just bear with me, you'll be able to understand the basics.

The workers compensation premium calculation process is complicated. Errors and mistakes often occur during the premium calculation and audit process usually unknown to an employer. Because of the nature and complexity of these calculations it creates an environment where errors and mistakes thrive. As you review these guide questions keep in mind any positive answer on your part may be enough to indicate that you have been overcharged for your workers compensation insurance.

Did the workers compensation auditor complete your audit while he was at your business or did he have you sign off and take the information gathered back to his office to complete? It is very important to have the auditor complete the audit at your place of business. You should never sign off on an audit until you have had a chance to review the final work product.

Do you feel your auditor made a mistake or that you've been subjected to an adverse audit? Auditors work for the insurance company. Their job is to discover all premium producing items they can for the insurance company. Their job is not to counsel you on how to structure your business to save premium. Audits are governed by a complicated set of rules. Both auditors and insurance companies make mistakes. If you feel a mistake has been made you're probably right. After all, you know your business better than the auditor.

Did the auditor leave completed copies of the audit worksheets? It is important that you be given copies of these worksheets because this is the information the insurance company will use to adjust your premium. If the auditor did not leave a copy of the worksheets how can you verify the information being used is correct?

Did the payroll (remuneration) information you provided to the auditor have your individual employees pre-classed into the correct workers compensation job classification codes? You should never leave it up to the auditor to classify your business. Classification is the single most common area where audit errors are made.

Were you charged for subcontractors on your audit? If you used insured subcontractors and provided the auditor with certificates of insurance you should not be charged for their exposure on your policy.

Did your insurance company remove schedule credits at audit from your policy? The credit and pricing structure established at the beginning of your policy must carry through the audit period.

Check your audit. Does the payroll (remuneration) the company used match with what you provided to the auditor? It is important that these match. If they do not you need to seek an explanation.

Did your insurance company or auditor change your job classifications? Again there are specific rules governing the modification of class codes that must be followed.

Have you merged with another business?

Have you expanded your business into other states?

Has your business changed ownership?

Has your experience modification factor changed?

Have all workers compensation claims been managed properly?

If you've answered yes to some of these questions you may have been overcharge on past workers compensation and you may also be paying too much for your current policy.

So where can you find help? If you search google for "workers compensation audit consultants" you'll bring up most professional audit consulting firms with a few good ones to choose from. You can also search for those firms who work in your state by simply adding the name of your state to the beginning of this search like "(your state) workers compensation audit consultants."

You'll find there are a few professional workers compensation audit consulting firms out there like Workers Compensation Consultants, found on the web as workcompconsultant, that can help you identify and solve these overcharge problems.

Thanks!