A few weeks ago, I was reviewing loss runs for a prospective client who was frustrated that their workers’ compensation premium kept increasing every year.

They told me they hadn’t had a serious injury in quite some time and couldn’t understand why their costs were still so high.

When we dug into the loss runs, the answer became pretty obvious. Several claims from years ago were still open.

The employees had already returned to work, but the claims were sitting there with reserves attached to them. The business owner thought those claims were long gone. The insurance company didn’t.

This is something I see all the time.

A lot of employers assume a claim is finished once the injured employee comes back to work. Unfortunately, that’s not always how workers’ compensation works.

Sometimes a claim stays open because treatment is still ongoing. Sometimes the adjuster is waiting for additional medical reports. Other times there are future medical reserves sitting on the file that nobody has reviewed in months.

The result is that a claim that looks small on the surface can continue impacting your experience modification factor and insurance costs long after the injury happened.

One of the first things I look at when reviewing a company’s loss runs is whether the open claims actually need to be open.

I’ve seen situations where a claim only paid a few thousand dollars but had reserves that were several times higher than the amount already paid. The employer had no idea because nobody had reviewed the file recently.

That’s why I always tell clients not to wait until renewal to look at their claims.

By the time you’re shopping your insurance 30 days before expiration, it’s often too late to make meaningful changes.

The businesses that tend to perform best from a workers’ compensation standpoint are the ones that stay involved throughout the year.

They’re talking to their adjusters.

They’re reviewing claims periodically.

They’re finding modified duty opportunities whenever possible.

And they’re asking questions when reserve amounts don’t make sense.

Modified duty is another area where I see companies leave money on the table.

When an employee can safely return to work with restrictions, everybody usually benefits. The employee stays engaged, the employer keeps a valuable worker, and the claim often becomes less expensive than it would have been if the employee remained completely off work.

Yet many companies either don’t have a modified duty program or don’t communicate those opportunities effectively.

Over time, those small decisions add up.

One thing I’ve learned after reviewing thousands of workers’ compensation policies is that claim management is just as important as claim prevention.

Most employers spend a lot of time trying to avoid injuries, which they absolutely should. But once a claim happens, that’s when many businesses take a hands-off approach and assume the insurance company will handle everything.

The reality is that the employers who stay involved usually get better outcomes.

If your workers’ compensation costs seem higher than they should be, don’t just look at what claims have been paid. Look at what’s still open.

You might be surprised by what you find.

Need a Second Set of Eyes on Your Loss Runs?

At Goldbridge Insurance Services, we regularly help business owners identify open claims, review reserves, and uncover issues that may be driving up workers’ compensation costs.

If your renewal is approaching or your premiums keep increasing, we’d be happy to take a look.