Challenging Times Call for Preparing for Your Worker’s Comp Audit

During a tough economic climate, it requires you as a business owner to be on top of your expenses.

That includes your Worker Compensation Audit, but if you know what you’re doing, then it’s easy to prepare for them and make sure that everything is in order. Follow these steps to be sure that your business is ready for your next worker’s compensation audit.

Step One: Point of Contact

Generally speaking, it’s better to have one person work with the auditor and the person has experience in the auditing process.  The benefit of this is your contact will know how the process works and will be able to communicate better with the auditor.  Be sure your point of contact is familiar with your current policies and the exposures your company had for the prior policy year if you are prepared for discrepancies in payroll or job classifications it will make it easier when working with the auditor. Preparing your point of contact properly tends to make things faster, easier, and better for everyone – which is why it’s the first step in your preparations.

Your point of contact should have full access to records, documents, copies of certificates, and anything else that the auditor may need in order to do their job. If you’ve had a worker’s compensation audit in the past, they should also have a copy of the results and be familiar with both the final results and any problems that may have occurred.

Step Two: Gather the Records

Nobody wants to spend all day hunting down obscure files so that minor facts and figures can be double-checked. It’s far better to gather the records beforehand and leave them in one place for the audit… or, even better, file your information in a way that ensures everything will be ready when you need it and you can simply pull out the stack anytime.  The auditor you are working with will appreciate the fact you took the time to prepare before the meeting so his time is used more efficiently.

If your record-keeping needs are more complicated than that, consider either filing more than one copy (one for your normal needs, one for audits) or switching to an electronic records system that can simply print out only the necessary files at any given time.

Step Three: Review the Records

Everything on the records should be clearly labeled and displayed in a way that will make sense to the auditor. This is a great time to speak with your insurance agent and get more information on precisely what they’re going to require to complete the audit. If you know what information they need, you can compile it in a way that will drastically speed up the entire auditing process – and the transparency this provides will make any disputes easier to resolve.

In most cases, your documents will need to have each category broken down; again, speak with your insurance agent to find out the specifics as they apply to your business.

Step Four: Check for any Certificates of Insurance

This is especially important if you’ve hired subcontractors and other workers who may have needed insurance, but not received it from your business. If you are unable to provide documentation of their own insurance, then you will pick up that exposure on your policy and be charged for the time they were working for you… and that’s a cost that can build up pretty high if you have used a lot of subcontractors.

Also, be sure that the certificates of insurance you have received coincide with the period of time the contractor actually worked – it’s no good to get a current certificate if it doesn’t cover the time that actually needed to be insured. The little details on documentation are more important than a lot of businesses expect and checking to be sure they’re correct really can save you a lot of time and money.

If you have questions in terms of your audit, our Certified Insurance Consultants are here to help.  Schedule a time to speak with us today by completing the form below.