Higher claim severity drives uptick in California workers comp losses

California workers compensation losses have increased slightly in the past couple of years, driven in part by higher claim severity, according to the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California. In its annual report released Monday, the San Francisco-based WCIRB said California employers saw $8.1 billion in workers comp benefit costs in 2010, up from $7.8 billion in 2009. The bureau said it expects losses to have increased “modestly” again in 2011. The average cost of a California indemnity claim reached an estimated $67,000 in 2011.