How Can I Tell If The Workers Compensation Reserves On A File Are Correct? (Part 3)

From the last three posts I am assuming that you have online access or a claims loss run and can find the Paid, Reserves, and Total Incurred figures in your loss runs. The ones that you want to target are the ones that have an Open or Reopen status. You will likely only want to examine the Lost Time files and not the Medical Benefits only file. You would want to examine any medical only claims that have more than $2,000 in outstanding reserves.

Now that you have a list of those claims, how do you tell which ones are over-reserved or should be closed? Well, I have been able to answer hundreds of questions in this blog. This is the first time that I have no sure answer. Contrary to the belief of some people, reserving Workers Comp files is an art that is very difficult. I could write a book just on how to analyze loss runs.

You can call the adjuster to see if they will reduce the Workers Compensation reserves, but on which files would that be appropriate? You can call your agent, but I have only know a very few agents that understand the process of reserving a Workers Comp file. That is no slight to agents as they are very necessary to the Workers Comp insurance process.

I want to avoid sounding like an infomercial for our services. I will not "toot our own horns." The best thing I can say to do is have a working relationship with your adjuster. That will help somewhat.

I have posted a large number of posts on loss runs, file reserving, and contacting your Workers Comp adjuster. Feel free to look through the posts on this page and on the archived pages. The Search Box may be a good shortcut.

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