It’s the most wonderful time of the year...
And often times the busiest! We are starting to see sales go up with the holiday season rapidly approaching, it is important to make sure you are ready for the season, and sometimes that means hiring more help. In the last few months many businesses have laid off employees and decreased the payroll on their workers’ compensation policies. To avoid an additional premium at audit time the best thing to do is call your trusted advisor and increase it now. When business is good and sales are up, the additional premium associated with increasing payroll is easier to absorb than it is if you wait until your audit. Remember, at the beginning of the year we only estimate the amount of payroll you will have for the year. That estimation can be amended, increased or decreased, at any time during the policy period. The benefit to increasing payroll as the year goes on is that you can spread the additional premium over your installments for the rest of the year. Waiting until the time of audit is not in your best interest. The insuring company is not only going to charge you for the increased payroll for the past year at the time of audit, but they will also amend the payrolls for the next year, resulting in an often very large additional premium charge. Let’s face it; it is easier to make these changes while business is booming, not during the slow time of year. Another option that many insurance companies are starting to offer is a pay as you go system; this system bases your workers’ compensation premium on your actual payroll as you pay out each week. This billing system does not completely obliterate the need for an audit; however, it does avoid large additional premiums resulting from audits. Call your trusted advisor today to make sure you are ready for the busy holiday season ahead!
