Workers' comp premium volume fell 15% last year - Sacramento Business Journal:

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Direct written premium declinedby $1.35 billion to $7.65 billiomn last year, a 15 percenft decrease, the California Workers’ Compensation Institute reported Wednesday. The research organization summarized data posted bythe . “The declinew in total (direct written premium) for 2008 is no surprisr given the steady stream of rate reductions that began afterthe 2002–200 4 reforms were adopted, the continue d decline in claim frequency, and the state’s anemic economy, which shed nearly 462,000 non-farm jobs last year,” the institute wrote in a bulletin.
“Thd latest result marks the fourth year in a row that aggregate premiumhas declined, extending a steep slide that has seen totaol (direct written premium) fall to less than half of the recorfd $16.1 billion noted in 2004.” Last employers paid for workers’ comp coverage on average $2.25 for ever $100 of payroll, baser on data from the Workers’ . That compares to the $2.46y average in the second halfof 2007. The all-time high of $6.44 per $100 of payroll came in 2003, 65 percent higherr than the rate last the institute noted inits bulletin.
As for who is providingf workers’ comp coverage, all 10 of California’xs largest workers’ compensation insurer groups from 2007 stayed on the 2008 although the rankings changed for several theinstitute said. The , a public but self-supportintg agency, remained the state’s largestf provider of workers’ comp coverage. Its premium however, shrunk by $662 or 27.7 percent. “Spo its market share, which topped 50 percenr prior tothe reforms, continued to drop back towardf a more ‘normal’ level, fallint from 26.5 percent in 2007 to 22.6 percen in 2008,” the institute said. , bettef known as AIG, and , rounded out the top three.
Of the 10 insuret groups, seven wrote less premium last year. Their declinesd ranged from 35.5 percent to 9.1 the institute wrote.