Case Study

With an “X-mod rating” of 139, A-1 Employment’s number of workers’ compensation claims exceeded the national average and meant the firm was paying 39% more in premiums than average.

An experience modification or X-mod rating represents a company’s likelihood of experiencing workplace injuries or illnesses that would trigger a workers’ compensation claim. While it is calculated by a complex mathematical formula, it relates closely to the number of workers’ comp claims the business has previously encountered. Insurers use this number to determine the cost of premiums. The number 100 represents the industry’s baseline average. Anything over 100 means your company had more workers’ comp claims than the average and thus, your premiums will also be above average, costing you more. A number under 100 means that either you were very lucky or you have put measures into place to emphasize safety and reduce your workers’ compensation claims and control your premiums.

The latter is just what our clients at A-1 did.

Owner Kim Petrina and Risk Manager Jerrie Necrelli worked with Barrow Group’s Director of Staffing Insurance Kevin Kilcoyne and Barrow Group’s staffing insurance team to identify the causes of their workers’ compensation claims.

With nearly two decades of experience in staffing insurance, Kevin has an in-depth understanding of staffing’s complex nature. He applied his expert knowledge of the staffing industry to help Kim and Jerrie identify the specific risks to which their temporary workers were exposed. Next, helped them identify which carriers could best meet A-1’s specific needs by identifying any workers’ comp class codes or job types that might have restrictions or might not be insured by specific carriers.

Then, Kevin worked with Kim and Jerry to provide on-site safety training and educational seminars on specific areas of concern. The A-1 team also received access to Barrow Group’s extensive on-line catalog of downloadable workers’ compensation and safety content to use in their office; provide reminders to their temporary employees; or share with their host clients.

A-1 Employment’s “Controllable Premium Program” was rounded out with Barrow Group’s proactive claims and loss analysis management. Using data-driven insights, Kevin worked with Kim and Jerrie to help them better understand how evaluating potential clients and screening job applicants for risk factors could help them prevent future losses due to the workers’ comp claims.

By learning how to identify potential work-related hazards and proactively implementing the programs Barrow Group helped them put into place, A-1 systematically reduced their x-mod rating by 70 points. They went from paying 39% more than the average staffing firm for insurance, to paying 31% less in just six years!

Kim and Jerrie couldn’t be more pleased with their results. Jerrie says, “We are grateful to Kevin Kilcoyne and Barrow Group for teaching us that we could control our premiums! Thanks to him and the programs he helped us put into place, we saved $650,208 over the course of 6 years! That’s like placing 105 FTEs every year for that period!”

To see more of Barrow Group’s client success stories, visit www.cprnea.org/barrow and check back here often for more updates.