Sunday, February 3rd, 2002 — Workers‘ compensation, one of the insurance lines most acutely affected by the terrorism of 2001 and by the continued absence of government backstop insurance for terrorism events, is fast becoming a high-priced thorn in the side for U.S. companies seeking coverage for their employees, Standard & Poor‘s said in a new report released today.
"Choose your poison," said Fred Sklow, a director in Standard & Poor‘s insurance ratings group. "If you‘re a company with a large concentration of employees, you may find yourself paying an exorbitant premium or even that insurance companies don‘t want to write the risk at any price."
Since the attacks on the World Trade Center, minimum premium increases are in the 30 percent-50 percent range, he said, but for companies with loss experience, price hikes of 50 percent-75 percent or even 100 percent are the norm.