Florida Workers’ Compensation rates will rise by an average
of 14.35% effective December 1st and the industry has covered the
impact of that on the “dry” businesses in Florida. But the news for Employers with Longshore
exposure is buried in the detail of the new filing.
STATE ACT CLASSES WITH LONGSHORE LOAD:
For risks that fall into the “non-traditional” Longshore
world – e.g. a risk that does electrical work in a Longshore environment –
there is some good news! Even though the
“DRY” or State Act rate may have gone up an average of 14.35%, the new Longshore
load has been reduced from 1.20 to .92!
That means that instead of multiplying the state rate by 2.20 you now
multiply it by 1.92.
The math on this is a little complex, but the bottom line is
that the effective Longshore rate for those codes will DROP a hair… 0.2% -- not
much, but DOWN not UP!
TRADITIONAL LONGSHORE CLASSES:
The average rate increase for the “traditional” Longshore classes
is increasing 3% over the January 1, 2016 rates. There is a long and even more complex
explanation as to why these rates are increasing, but bottom line is the
increase is a modest 3% rather than the 14.5% for their “dry” counterparts
Some of the more common classes and rate comparisons are:
CODE
|
2015
Rate
|
2016
Rate
|
%
Difference
|
6006F – Marine Const.
|
$17.62
|
$18.08
|
+3%
|
6824F – Boat Building
|
$8.96
|
$9.19
|
+3%
|
6872F – Ship Repair
|
$12.22
|
$12.54
|
+3%
|
7317F – Stevedoring
|
$12.26
|
$12.58
|
+3%
|
8726F – Steamship Line
|
$2.70
|
$2.78
|
+3%
|
The bottom line is that whilst the “dry” business are going
to be hit heavily with rate increases as the policies renew, the effect on
Longshore business is going to be modest.
Keep Calm and Carry On; seems to be a good motto for this
change in the marine world!