This morning NCCI released the 2010 results for private work comp insurers – and they aren’t good. The combined ratio climbed to 115%, an increase of a full five points over 2009. The combined ratio is a key measure of industry performance and the deterioration marks continued decline in the health of work comp.
While the number itself is discouraging, one carrier’s decision to add $800 million to reserves was a major contributor.
The economy and employment also added to the poor results, as premium declined by 1.3 points. Premium is based in part on the number of people working thus the recession’s impact on hiring helped drag results down.
As I’ve been predicting for some time, frequency popped up significantly last year. The ‘real’ bump was about three percent, although NCCI is reporting nine with the difference accounted for by “distortions in collected data.”
More to come later today.
May
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