Delaware Hears Proposed 10% Workers’ Comp Hike Today

The First State’s Insurance Commissioner Matthew Denn is today holding what he thinks may be the state’s first true public hearing on workers’ compensation rates.

The subject of today’s hearing will be a proposal to raise workers’ comp rates in Delaware an average of 10 percent. The hearing starts at 1 p.m. at the Carvel State Office Building in Wilmington.

Denn has also hired an outside actuary to review the filing.

The rate filing is from the Delaware Compensation Rating Bureau on behalf of insurers writing the coverage in the state.

“It is not the first time the state has reviewed a filing; the state is required by law to review the filings,” Denn told Insurance Journal. “However, to my knowledge it is the first time that the state has had a formal public hearing on the rate application and it is the first time that an outside actuary has been made available to the business and labor community to offer testimony on the rate application.”

Citing studies showing the state as having the fourth-highest workers’ comp rates in the country, Denn said he is concerned that high workers’ comp costs are a problem for businesses.

Topics Workers' Compensation Delaware