Florida workers' comp rates to fall nearly 7% next year

Florida’s employers will pay less for workers' compensation insurance starting in January.

The state’s Office of Insurance Regulation announced Monday that Commissioner Mike Yaworsky has issued a final order approving a 6.9% rate decrease effective Jan. 1. 

This is the ninth consecutive year that the state’s insurance overseer has allowed the rate to be cut. Last year, it approved a 1% decrease. In 2023 it approved a 15.1% decrease and in 2018 a 13.8% decrease was approved. 

Courtesy image

According to OIR’s 2024 workers' compensation annual report, with the 15.1% decrease that went into effect January 2024, Florida’s workers' compensation rates are down about 78% following reforms in 2003.

Yaworsky, in a statement announcing the decision, says the rate decrease “directly translates to reduced operating costs for businesses, encouraging investment and growth throughout Florida's economy.” 

Workers' comp is required by law for most employers and is meant to compensate workers for “occupationally incurred” injuries no matter who is at fault, OIR says on its website. It is meant to make employers immune from employee injury lawsuits.

According to the annual report, 288 privately-owned insurers wrote $3.4 billion in premiums in 2023.