NCCI Recommends 7.4% Rate Cut in Florida

rate cut

The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), Florida’s licensed rating organization, is recommending an average 7.4% reduction in workers’ compensation insurance rates beginning January 1, 2027, a proposal that goes to Florida’s insurance commissioner for final approval.
The recommended cut is largely driven by a decline in the frequency of “lost-time claims,” where employees miss work due to injuries; Florida Chamber of Commerce Vice President Carolyn Johnson called the trend a sign that workplaces are becoming safer.
NCCI’s recommendation, based on premium and loss data from policy years 2023 and 2024, also includes a small 0.06% increase to maximum allowable rates for physicians and other non-hospital providers treating injured workers, reflecting a lower-than-anticipated medical loss-ratio trend tied to strong nationwide wage growth of 4.8% between 2024 and 2025 compared to just 0.5% employment growth.
If approved, this would mark the 10th consecutive year of falling workers’ compensation rates for Florida employers, following a 6.9% average reduction Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky ordered last year.

Warren Palmer, 59, of New Haven, a Yale University police officer, was charged with illegally collecting workers’ compensation benefits after allegedly receiving $38,655.94 in indemnity payments he wasn’t entitled to, according to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice.
Palmer reported sustaining abdomen and rib injuries during martial arts training at the department’s training center in November 2025, and was initially placed on Temporary Total Disability (TTD), a wage-replacement benefit funded by his employer’s workers’ comp insurance carrier, before being shifted to Temporary Partial Disability (TPD), which is provided by the State of Connecticut.
TPD recipients are required to disclose any physical recovery to their employer and report additional income, but documentation showed Palmer allegedly exceeded the physical restrictions set by his treating physicians and could have returned to full-duty work while still collecting benefits.
Palmer surrendered to Rocky Hill police and was charged with perjury, first-degree larceny, and fraudulent claim or recipient benefits; he was released on a $10,000 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear in New Haven Superior Court on September 29.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha charged Carlos Amparo, 37, owner of CAC Contract, with failing to secure required workers’ compensation insurance after state investigators found three employees working uninsured at the Viking Hotel in Newport between January and April.
The Department of Labor and Training issued an immediate Stop Work Order upon finding no policy on file, later referring the case for prosecution after Amparo allegedly failed to provide proof of coverage.
The case illustrates how skipping workers’ comp coverage lets employers avoid a cost that competitors are legally required to absorb, leaving injured workers on hazardous jobsites like construction without protection while undercutting contractors who properly maintain coverage. Rhode Island generally mandates coverage for any employer with one or more employees.
Two other business owners were separately charged over unpaid wages. The owner of Premier Environmental Services, allegedly issued a former employee a $7,349.42 final paycheck that bounced after the company account held just $15.76. And, the owner of Zayas Delivery Solutions LLC, allegedly failed to pay roughly $3,400 in final wages and failed to maintain a regular payday; willfully failing to pay more than $1,500 in wages is a felony in Rhode Island carrying up to three years in prison and $5,000 in fines.