Oregon cos. to get dividends as workers’ comp costs fall
The SAIF board of directors on Wednesday declared two dividends for customers: a $120 million primary dividend to be paid to SAIF’s policyholders, and a $40 million safety performance dividend to be paid based on each policyholder’s safety results.
“We’re a not-for-profit insurance company. That means when we have a good year, we’re able to return premium directly to our customers in the form of a dividend,” said President and CEO Kerry Barnett. “We also want to give special recognition to customers with strong safety records. Preventing injuries through effective safety programs is the best way to keep rates low for everyone.”
This is the ninth year in a row SAIF has returned a substantial dividend to its customers. On average, eligible customers can expect to receive 28.6 percent of the premium paid in 2017. The dividends are possible because of SAIF’s overall financial results, including investment returns and favorable trends in claim costs.
In addition to dividends for SAIF’s policyholders, average workers’ compensation costs continue to fall for Oregon employers. Since 1990, Oregon has gone from having one of the worst workers’ compensation systems to one of the best. During that time, workplace safety has improved, and claims incidence have gone down 70 percent, with a similar percentage decrease in average pure premium rates.
“Think about your home, car, or life insurance–are any of those actually costing you 70 percent less than they did 30 years ago?” said Barnett. “Oregon has a real success story to tell, and we’re proud to be such a big part of it.”
A total of 47,488 policyholders are eligible for SAIF’s primary dividend. Of those, about 94 percent are also eligible to receive all or part of the additional safety performance dividend.
Checks will be mailed in October to eligible employers.
About SAIF:
SAIF is Oregon’s not-for-profit workers’ compensation insurance company. Since 1914, we’ve been taking care of injured workers, helping people get back to work, and striving to make Oregon the safest and healthiest place to work. For more information, visit the About SAIF page on saif.com.
