SAN FRANCISCO -- State Compensation Insurance Fund has filed an average rate decrease of 16 percent on new and renewal workers’ compensation policies with an effective date on or after January 1, 2006. This marks the fifth consecutive rate decrease filed by State Fund and represents a cumulative 38 percent rate decrease since January 1, 2004.

Policyholders covered from January 1st through June 30th, 2005 will experience the combined benefit of the 14 percent rate decrease filed effective July 1, 2005 and the January 1, 2006 rate filing, resulting in an average 27.8 percent rate decrease from their expiring policies.

In addition to these rate decreases, the filing also includes an additional 10 percent workplace safety credit that rewards small employers (premium between $1,000 and $75,000 annually) with superior safety records. This credit recognizes the important contributions these smaller safety conscious employers, who are not eligible for State Fund’s merit rating plan, make to the quality of life of their employees and to keeping the cost of insurance down.

James C. Tudor, acting State Fund President, said, “State Fund’s fifth consecutive rate decrease underscores the significant positive effect of reform legislation passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Clearly, the reform measures have halted the escalation of workers’ compensation insurance costs in California.”

“State Fund remains committed to passing on the savings realized from the Governor’s reform legislation to our policyholders,” said Jeanne Cain, Chair of State Fund’s Board of Directors. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Established by the California Legislature in 1914, State Compensation Insurance Fund guarantees the availability of workers' compensation coverage at cost to all California employers and competes fairly with private carriers. State Fund is a wholly self-supporting non-profit enterprise that serves as a moderating and stabilizing influence on California's workers' compensation insurance system.