Introduction

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Interactivity

This interactive dashboard provides an overview of the average cost of a lost-time workers compensation claim, broken out by three main injury descriptions:

  • Cause of Injury (COI)
  • Nature of Injury (NOI)
  • Part of Body (POB)

Helpful tips for using this resource:

  1. The tabs allow a user to select a category of interest within each respective grouping. For the selected category, the visuals display reported lost-time claim severities, percent shares of category loss dollars relative to total loss dollars, and percent shares of category claim counts relative to total claim counts, over time.
  2. The Additional Injury Characteristics section within these tabs displays information on cross-dimensional relationships between each of the Cause of Injury (COI), Nature of Injury (NOI), and Part of Body (POB) categories.
  3. The Injury Severity Rankings tab allows for direct comparison of the lost-time claim severities across all injury categories for the latest policy year (Policy Year 2021).
  4. Information is included for Policy Years 2012 through 2021 as of a 1st report***.

Underlying data values as well as information up through a 10th report (as available) can be downloaded here.

Note: Values are as reported and have not been developed, on-leveled, trended, or adjusted for inflation. While patterns across various maturities were reviewed, takeaways were generally similar and thus the visuals and insights in this dashboard focus on a 1st report.

Interested in even more claims analysis? Check out WorkComp Workstation and Claims Data Dashboard, available to affiliates for their book of business and to dive deeper into the numbers (content requires authentication).

***This information is based on countrywide Unit Statistical Data submitted through October 6, 2023 and includes jurisdictions where NCCI provides ratemaking services: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, ME, MO, MS, MT, NC, NE, NH, NM, NV, OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, and WV. Data from private carriers and state funds as well as claims resulting from large deductible policies are included. Claims directly resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have been excluded.

Glossary

Case Reserve: The estimates of anticipated future payments associated with individual known claims as established by an insurer.

1st Report: The first submission of loss information, valued 18 months after the policy effective month/year as reported in accordance with NCCI’s Statistical Plan guidelines.

Lost-Time Claim: A compensable workplace injury that results in the claimant missing sufficient work time to receive an indemnity (i.e. wage replacement) benefit payment.

Lost-Time Claim Severity: Measured in this tool as reported paid losses plus case reserves divided by claim counts for lost-time claims as of a 1st report.

Policy Year: A premium and loss accounting definition in which experience is summarized for all policies with effective dates in a given calendar year period.

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Cause of Injury (COI)

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Key Insights

  • Burn:
    • This COI has the second highest severity of all COIs but only accounts for about 2% of total claim counts.
    • Severity increases in recent years are related to increases in the medical cost component.
  • Fall/Slip:
    • The shares relative to total loss dollars/claim counts have increased slightly over the last 10 years.
    • The severity is greater for this COI than that for all claims.
  • Motor Vehicle:
    • The severity is the highest of all COIs and in recent years has been trending upward at a rate higher than the average annual increase for all claims.
    • In Policy Year 2021, this COI accounted for only 6% of total claim counts but 12% of total loss dollars.
  • Strain:
    • The shares relative to total loss dollars/claim counts have declined over the last 10 years.
    • The severity is less for this COI than that for all claims.

Additional Insights:

  • Strain and Fall/Slip together account for over 50% of total loss dollars/claim counts.
  • Injuries that impact Multiple Body Parts contribute to at least 40% of total loss dollars within each Motor Vehicle and Burn COI.

Lost-Time Claim Severity for Selected COI

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Loss and Claim Shares over Time

Additional Injury Characteristics

Nature of Injury (NOI)

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Key Insights

  • Amputation:
    • The severity is the highest of all NOIs.
    • This NOI accounts for about 1% of total claim counts and between 2% to 3% of total loss dollars.
    • Severity for this NOI in recent years has been trending upward at a rate higher than the average annual increase for all claims.
  • Fracture/Crush/Dislocation:
    • The shares relative to total loss dollars/claim counts have risen over the last 10 years.
  • Other Trauma:
    • The share relative to total claim counts has decreased, while the share relative to total loss dollars has increased over the last 10 years, thus causing severity for this NOI to trend upward at a rate higher than the average annual increase for all claims.
  • Sprain/Strain:
    • Similar to the Strain COI, the shares relative to total loss dollars/claim counts have decreased over the last 10 years.

Additional Insights:

  • Sprain/Strain and Fracture/Crush/Dislocation together account for over 50% of total loss dollars/claim counts.
  • Nearly 50% of loss dollars and claim counts within the Fracture/Crush/Dislocation NOI have resulted from the Fall/Slip COI.
  • Over 40% of loss dollars within Other Trauma are associated with injuries impacting Multiple Body Parts. The Fall/Slip and Motor Vehicle COIs are the top contributors within Other Trauma, accounting for over 50% of the loss dollars.

Lost-Time Claim Severity for Selected NOI

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Loss and Claim Shares over Time

Additional Injury Characteristics

Part of Body (POB)

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Key Insights

  • Arm/Shoulders:
    • These injuries are the top contributor to total loss dollars/claim counts of all POBs.
    • The average severity for this POB tracks closely with that for all claims.
  • Head/Central Nervous System:
    • The shares relative to total loss dollars/claim counts for these injuries have been increasing slightly over time.
  • Lower Back:
    • This POB has historically contributed about 15% to total loss dollars/claim counts; shares of both have been declining over time.
    • The average annual change in severity for this POB has been closer to unity, contrary to the modest average annual increase for all claims.
  • Multiple Body Parts:
    • These injuries account for the second largest share of total loss dollars of all POBs.
    • In recent years, the share relative to total claim counts has decreased, while the share relative to total loss dollars has remained consistent over time, thus causing the severity for this POB to trend upward at a rate higher than the average annual increase for all claims.

Additional Insights:

  • The Other Trauma NOI accounts for over 50% of loss dollar share and nearly 50% of claim count share within the Multiple Body Parts POB.
  • Strain COI and NOI make up the majority of both loss dollars and claim counts within the Lower Back POB.

Lost-Time Claim Severity for Selected POB

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Loss and Claim Shares over Time

Additional Injury Characteristics

Injury Severity Rankings

Lost-time claim severities displayed are for Policy Year 2021.

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Cause of Injury (COI)

Nature of Injury (NOI)

Part of Body (POB)