WCRI: Expect More Claims as Temperatures Rise

The number of heat-related workers’ compensation claims in the U.S. are likely to increase with the trend of rising temperature, Vennela Thumula, senior policy analyst at the Workers Compensation Research Institute, said in a recent webinar on heat-related illnesses in the workplace.
In the webinar, which is available for replay viewing,Thumula said in the decade beginning in 2040, the U.S. Southeast could see 140 days with temperatures at or above 90F.
WCRI’s review of claims from 31 states filed in 2013-2022 found an annual average of 210 heat-related illnesses per 100,000 claims, with summertime claims topping 750 a month.
The analyst also noted that data on heat-related injuries from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are widely considered to be underestimated, and that “heat illnesses and deaths are likely to increase as temperatures continue to rise.”
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WR Berkley CEO Rob Berkley told analysts on this week’s second-quarter earnings call that “medical trend is not working in the workers comp market’s favor.”
He suggested that medical trend has “been artificially held back or suppressed because of how it prices off of Medicare” in many states.
He also commented on California’s recently approved 8.7% increase in advisory pure premium rates, effective Sept. 1, 2025.
“This time around, (California) is out in front of the rest of the market as far as firming,” he said.
The insurer’s rates increased 7.6% in the quarter on average across all lines with the exception of workers comp.
Other insurers reporting in recent days also reported flat workers’ comp pricing in the three-month period ended June 30.
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The Hanover Insurance Group said Thursday that it is adding a new business submissions platform aimed at streamlining the workers’ comp quoting and binding process for small business clients.
The insurer is integrating its Workers’ Comp Advantage into a suite of existing coverages.
Hanover’s announcement claims that the platform can deliver a bindable WC quote in less than two minutes, with up to 90% straight-through processing across many target classes.
The new platform is currently available in Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New Hampshire, Utah, Vermont and Virginia. Additional states will be added throughout the year, including South Carolina and Tennessee next month.
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