The Delaware Department of Insurance has announced that workers’ compensation insurance rates will decrease, effective 1 December 2022. Workers’ compensation insurance provides medical coverage and wage reimbursement to those injured at their job. Alongside this, the Department is providing financial support to businesses through its Workplace Safety Program, which aims to reduce risk and offers insurance discounts to participating companies. The announcement follows six successive years of lowered rates, and is expected to be combined with a reversal of voluntary and residual market trends, the latter of which is expected to see a more significant rate decrease than the former. Residual insurance is used by companies who cannot obtain coverage in the mainstream market, such as those with higher risk or claims histories. The decrease in rates indicates that less residual policies are being used less, with the traditional market now accessible to a wider range of companies. Trinidad Navarro, insurance commissioner at the Department, says: “Lowering workers’ compensations costs helps our local businesses, who have faced several years of uncertainty and economic difficulty due to the pandemic. It also helps us to attract new companies and jobs to our state. While costs continue to decrease, companies are keeping their eye on the ball by reducing risk through programmes like our Workplace Safety initiative.”
