Florida workers' compensation insurance rates to rise 8.9 percent

Workers' compensation insurance rates statewide will rise 8.9 percent effective Jan. 1, under a ruling Monday by Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty.

In issuing his order, McCarty technically denied the rate request by the National Council on Compensation Insurance, saying its methodology was flawed. He also rejected a proposed increase in minimum premiums. NCCI will need to refile the request.

Nevertheless, McCarty's office said, the rate increase was still justified.

Even with the increase, Florida would still have the lowest workers' comp rates among large states and the lowest rates in the Southeast. "Most importantly," McCarty said, rates would still be a cumulative 58.6 percent lower from the highs before changes in the workers' comp laws in 2003. Before then, Florida consistently had one of the country's highest workers' compensation rates.

Regardless of whether the hike was necessary, the National Federation of Independent Business said it's still bad news for small businesses trying to survive and for thousands seeking work.

"We had a roughly 8 percent increase last year and now our members are being asked to absorb another 8.9 percent increase," NFIB Florida Director Bill Herrle said in a statement. "That's a very substantial increase in the cost of labor over the course of two very difficult years for small employers."