November 01, 2010
ACTION ALERT!!!!
Workers’ Comp Cancellation Period to be Shortened
Send Opposition Letter
Your workers’ compensation insurance company wants to make it easier to cancel your policy.
On November 29, a public hearing will be held by the S.C. Workers’ Compensation Commission to hear comments about a proposed change that could affect you.
Today, an employer can be up to 30 days late in paying the premium for a workers’ compensation policy. After 30 days the policy can be cancelled. This is the standard used for almost all types of insurance.
But workers’ compensation carriers don’t want to wait 30 days. They want to be able to cancel a policy 10 days after a premium is due.
Those proposing the change cite a section of the law that has never been applied to workers’ compensation. No evidence has been produced showing any harm to insurance companies under the present 30-day cancelation policy.
The real reason for the proposed change is that insurance companies simply want to drop policyholders they don’t like or want to re-write the policies at much higher rates due to the cancellation.
ACTION: Send a letter opposing this change to the Workers’ Compensation Commission. They must receive the letter prior to November 24th.
Message: I oppose reducing the present 30-day cancellation period for a workers’ compensation policy. While big corporations might have accounting departments, small business owners like me must find time to pay bills while meeting the demands of running our businesses. Reducing our time to pay is an unnecessary hardship that will put us at the mercy of delays beyond our control (ex. lost or slow mail service, slow paying customers, etc,) that will result in higher premiums.
Send your letter to:
Gary M. Cannon
Executive Director
S.C. Workers’ Compensation Commission
P.O. Box 1715
Columbia, SC 29201-1715