Fuller Insurance Blog

Help Me Understand! - Florida Worker's Compensation Insurance Guide

Do you have Florida workers compensation insurance or are your considering buying workers compensation insurance? Do you want to better understand what workers compensation insurance is and what you are getting for your money?

Take a look at our new Florida Workers Compensation Insurance Guide. This guide will show you what workers compensation insurance is and why your small business needs this coverage. The guide will also help you create a checklist that you can use when discussing Florida Workers Compensation insurance with your insurance agent.

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Workers' Compensation Essentials for the Business Owner

 
Do you need to better understand workers compensation insurance? The Hartford put together a webinar that will answer these questions for you:

• Who is an Employee?
• Which Employees are "Exempt"?
• When is an injury work related?
• How are injuries outside of the state handled?

If you have additional questions about workers compensation insurance, feel free to call us at Fuller Insurance.

Morgan Fairchild Stars In "Workers Comp" - A New Television Sitcom

Who would have thought workers comp insurance would be entertainment? Morgan Fairchild stars in a new television sitcom pilot that is being shot on location in Bradenton, Florida.

Fairchild plays an overbearing mother who can't let go of Pinnacle Insurance Company to her sassy daughter. The show centers around the wacky injuries and workers comp claims the employees of Pinnacle Insurance Company encounter.

If the show gets picked up by a network, future shows will be shot in Southwest Florida requiring the actors to move there.

What kind of wacky workers comp claims have you heard about?

Florida State Unemployment Tax Rate Increasing 1/1/2011

Our friends at Bankers Employers Services let us know that the Florida Department of Revenue is raising the State Unemployment Tax Rate (SUTA) effective 1/1/2011.

The increase in the SUTA rate along with the average 7.8% increase in Florida workers comp insurance means increased expenses for Florida employers in 2011.

Fuller Insurance offers workers compensation and payroll services with several different insurance companies. Call us at 622-5283 for a competitive quote on payroll services and workers comp insurance.

Florida Workers Comp Insurance Rates Going Up In 2011

For the first time since 2003, the rates Florida businesses pay for workers compensation insurance are going up. The average rate increase across the state will be 7.8% and will be effective January 1, 2011.

FUBA Workers Comp reports that even with this new rate increase, Florida workers compensation rates are down more than 60% since the 2003 workers compensation reform law was passed. Florida now has the lowest workers compensation rates in the southeast United States.

 

Contractor vs Employee: Helpful Info from Bankers Employer Services

Here is some helpful information for our small business customers from Bankers Employer Services. Bankers Employer Services is our workers comp and payroll business partner:

This is a very easy to use reference pamphlet from the IRS concerning the difference between the classifications of employee vs.. contractor (1099).  The IRS as well as the DOL are looking at inconsistencies on client payrolls but also that of individual employees W-2's.  The IRS can also launch an investigation into how a client pays its employees if they deem it is necessary.  It only takes 1 employee to start an investigation and clients can pay dearly for this misclassification.

 

The misclassification of employees as contractors can be extremely costly and quickly domino into penalties, fines, taxes owed by the client.  Instead of paying just the normal portion of 7.65 of FICA the client could be held responsible to pay both the employer and the employee side, as well as part of the employees federal taxes.  In addition the client will be responsible for paying back SUTA, FUTA and workers compensation.  As you can see this could quickly become a very costly situation for the client.

 

Quick tip.  Ask these 2 questions:  1) If the person can either quit or be terminated while on the job, 2) and gets paid on a regular basis (weekly - bi-weekly etc.) then they are an employee. 

 

A contractor  (1099) will usually be paid upon completion of the project, has no work station and pays all his own expenses, and unless  gross contractual misconduct occurs they can not quit or be fired from a job.

Florida Workers Comp Insurance Rate Decrease Effective 1/1/10

FUBA Workers' Comp reported this week that Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCartyissued an order approving the proposed rate decrease submitted by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) for workers' compensation insurance rates.

The NCCI filing submitted August 20, 2009 includes an overall average statewide rate decrease of 6.8 percent effective January 1, 2010.

The rate decrease is the seventh consecutive decline in workers’ compensation rates since the Legislature passed sweeping reforms in 2003.  The cumulative overall statewide average has decreased by 63.2 percent.

Before the 2003 reforms, Florida had the first or second highest workers’ compensation rates in the country. Last year, Florida dropped to the 28th highest; the most recent round of rate reductions will place Florida among the lowest 10 states in the country.

Fuller Insurance writes workers compensation insurance in Florida and represents FUBA Workers' Comp. For more information please call 850-622-5283.

Bankers Employer Services Offers Employee Leasing

Bankers Employer Services, a division of Florida-based Bankers Insurance Group, offers small business owners the opportunity to setup a co-employment arrangement or employee leasing arrangement thru local independent insurance agencies.

Bankers Employer Services is a Professional Employer Organization (PEO). Bankers Employer Services is a competitor to other well known Florida PEO companies such as Simple HR, Payroll Management Inc (PMI), and Landrum Professional Employer Services.

Bankers Employer Services provides these benefits:

• No Gap in Coverage for New Hires
• Insurance Data Tracking for Sub Contractors
• All Statutory Cut-Offs (SUTA and FUTA) Honored
• Administration Fees Lower than Most PEOs
• No Set-up Fees. No Start-up Fees. No Audit.
• Safety Program for Clients of All Sizes
• No Charge for Workers'Comp Overtime Pay
• Bankers is the Workers' Comp Carrier - No Third Party
• Expert HR and Payroll Services In-house
• Superior In-house Claims Department

Fuller Insurancerepresents Bankers Employer Services in the communities of Destin, Miramar Beach, Santa Rosa Beach, Panama City Beach, and Freeport, Florida.