Workers' comp rates to drop 5.2%

Workers' compensation insurance rates will drop 5.2% in 2015, the first decrease in the rate in four years.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, according to a release, approved the drop. The rates, for both new and renewal polices, are effective Jan. 1.

The National Council on Compensation Insurance, which represents about 250 insurers, had initially proposed a 3.3% rate cut. But the NCCI, after a request from Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, resubmitted a new rate proposal with a higher decrease, the release states. McCarty, in a previous statement, says the first rate cut proposal would lead to underwriting profits of nearly double the previous year.