The State of the Longshore Market

If you are not in the Longshore market frequently you may not have noticed that almost overnight we have switched to a hard market, for virtually every significant traditional Longshore carrier.
It is worthwhile to catalog here some of the issues that are developing because of this.

TIME:
The vast majority of Longshore accounts are being remarketed right now and the number of submissions on every underwriters desk (electronically or paper) has increased exponentially since the beginning of the year. Realistically that means EVERY underwriter is now more backlogged than they have ever been. Thus getting middle market risks turned around in less than a week is practically impossible. Larger or more complex risks could be 2 weeks or more.  

ACTION… Start earlier and manage the client expectations to reality.

INFORMATION: The number of submissions is making the underwriters more selective, that requires information to be more TIMELY and more important to sell the story of your client. For all accounts a narrative is useful, but for middle market account, it is critical today. Gone are the days of the acord application and some loss runs. Many underwriters will not even start working a risk until such time as all the information is in hand. 
Watch out for the website – we had one recently for a marine contractor that said they built bridges and had a picture of the Golden Gate in San Francisco.  In reality all they built were little wooden bridges for carts at a golf course or a marina!  If possible sanitize the website, if not at least explain the reality of the exposure in your narrative before the underwriter reads it online.  
Add some relevant photos to the submission, especially if the operation is not the norm.

PRICING:
Pricing is up, 10-15% on decent accounts, more on risks with poor loss ratio or other issues. “As expiring” is only an option for the very best accounts. Prepare client early for this, AND check their mods early… add 10% to the rate and 10% to the mod and you are looking at big dollars overall.

MARKET AVAILABILITY:
Some carriers are pulling back out of particular states or areas, and whilst we have yet to find an area that does not at least have one or two markets, options are disappearing fast in some cases and even larger accounts and risks that have traditionally been relatively easy to handled are now heading to Assigned Risks/JUA or state funds!  Never a good idea long term.

Why is all this happening? Simply, the Longshore market has always been small, so the changes by two or three carriers who had significant books of work comp trigger are having a huge effect on our market.
  
Why the change for them?  Most of them are not making money in WC so instead of correcting the price, they simply withdraw. Longshore is one of the first to go in states with bad state act loss ratios, even though the Longshore books are often profitable.
 
Non-renewals are frequent, not the exception. Every day we receive more submissions saying “this has been non-renewed” and give a reason which is rarely specific to the client or their results.

So bottom line is:
    Start Early
    Understand mod revisions early
    Expect pricing increases for many accounts and prepare the client
    Manage expectations, no one is quoting very far out and rarely quickly
    Create a narrative, sell your client, add photos
    Make sure any website hyperbole is removed or explained.  

There is an ancient Chinese curse, may you live in “Interesting Times”.  We really are in “Interesting Times” in Longshore!

LS202

LS202  --   Never heard of this Longshore form?  Perhaps you or your clients need to know about it now or at least need a reminder.   Officially it is titled “Employer's First Report of Injury” – note carefully that first word “Employer’s”

“The LS202 is to be filed in duplicate with the District Director in the appropriate district office of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs within 10 days from the date of injury or death or from the date the employer first has knowledge of an injury or death….. Penalties may be charged for failure to comply with provisions of the law.”

“REPORTABLE INJURY – Any accidental injury which causes loss of one or more shifts of work or death allegedly arising out of and in the course of employment, including any occupational disease or infection believed or alleged to have arisen naturally out of compensation it must also file”

The responsibility for this lies with the insured.   This is common practice for Shipyards, Stevedores and the like who are used to Longshore claims.   But for those businesses who have few Longshore claims this can easily be forgotten.  The penalties are severe; the DOL has the ability to fine up to $11,000 PER CLAIMANT for this.   One insured whose Longshore exposure is a small part of their business, is being pursued for 7 such claims where they forgot to file and that bill could be as much as $77,000!

It simple to file online,  at http://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/ls-202.pdf or print it out and fax it (if you still have a fax).   But however you file, make sure your client keeps a proof of the filing so it the DOL misplace the form, you have proof you filed within the required period.

WATCH OUT THE FINES ARE COMING….   Send this notice to ALL your clients with Longshore exposure (even incidental) to make sure they know that the Longshore act makes this clearly their responsibility, not the insurance companies.

One other benefit is that filing the LS202 starts the statute running on the Longshore claim.  The employee has 12 months to file their Longshore claim once you have filed that form.    The only problem with this scenario is that typically if they have not filed their claim in a reasonable period of time, the DOL will likely write to the employee asking them if they want to file a Longshore claim.   Take advice from you Adjuster or Attorney on filing the form for this purpose based on the individual facts of that claim.

CARRIERS – a suggestion,  why not ask not only for a copy of the LS202, but the record of filing  not only will this help your ultimate customers, but also help in processing claims with the DOL.   Try, for example, applying for the DOL to approve a settlement on a claim on which they don’t even have a LS202.

I know that we all love forms – but the penalties for NOT filing this far outweigh the time it takes

Happy filing.