From 1st March 2017 all new NSW workers compensation policies are required to be lodged directly to icare via their online portal. Businesses retain an option to select which insurer will manage their claims. Renewing policies from 30 April will transition.
The Christmas – New Year period has historically proven to be a busy period for workers compensation. Due to a variety of reasons, we see a higher frequency of claims during this period. Last December and just before Christmas break / public holidays, one of our clients had a psychological claim lodged against them. The worker had been terminated two weeks prior to the claim being lodged.
A NSW Parliamentary review of Workers Compensation Scheme has been released providing recommendations to improve the NSW scheme. The report revealed the scheme is $1.87B in surplus, claims have reduced materially (110,000 in 2011/12 to 60,000 in 2015/16).
With continued market speculation, earlier today it has been confirmed that CGU will exit the NSW workers compensation scheme when their agency agreement with icare expires at the end of 2017.
Per our previous articles and as recently as our February 2017 Update, it was expected that the current 5 agents (Allianz, CGU, EML, GIO & QBE) would reduce to 3 agents for 2018.
With the announcement of CGU’s decision to exit the scheme questions will be asked as to if icare will be happy with 4 agents at approximately 45% market share or if they will pursue the anticipated reduction to 3 agents.
icare recently held NSW briefing sessions to update consultants / brokers on the upcoming changes regarding the insourcing of premium & credit/payment functions from insurers. A phased approach is hoped to facilitate a smooth transition. In the next few weeks the new portal will be launched for new business only, this is for new companies taking out a policy for the first time. The next major phase of change is currently scheduled for April, where all client renewals will be managed through icare for the financial year 2017-18.
Recently we have been involved with an increased number of fall related incidents. The injuries sustained, & the resulting workers compensation claims, can often be complex & costly. In addition to claim related costs, employers also face material fines for unsafe work sites.
After providing advice and support recently to various clients with workers having sustained injuries (5 metre + 10 metre falls to concrete and an employee falling down fire escape), we wanted to provide greater insights into fall related incidents.