A key concept Colony West tries to convey to its customer is that workers’ compensation is not true insurance coverage, but rather a very expensive way to finance claims.

One of the only insurance products a business is legally required to carry, workers’ compensation, is hallmarked by how generally misunderstood it is by both buyer and seller. Colony West reduces its customers’ workers’ compensation costs with the following 4-tiered strategy with the specific intent to lower your overall insurance costs:

1 | Reduce Your Risk Profile

Workplace risk to reduce both the frequency and severity of workplace incidents: “Failure to plan is a plan for failure.” Reduce both the frequency and severity of workplace incidents. Colony West customers lean on us to bring data analytics, understanding and effective strategies that have proven to reduce the number and severity of claims that occur in even the most endemic and stubborn workplace cultures.

2 | Manage Claim Outcomes

We provide expert claim management once incidents do occur: We often hear from frustrated employers that most of their claims are fraudulent. Our experience shows that claim and employee mistreatment (mistreatment not by the employer but by the system) is more often the cause. Fraud is definitely a pervasive problem, but more so on the provider side. We help our customers convert 87% of their incidents into First Aid Treatments, this single strategy alone is so very important to reducing ongoing costs.

3 | Audit Payments

We audit workers’ compensation premiums and experience modifications to eliminate the frequent overbilling that occurs in workers’ compensation. Once we discover that the typical small and medium-size business has no or very unsophisticated audit procedures in place we jump into action to provide essential services that have helped recover millions of dollars. Most think that work comp billing is rather straightforward – it is not. While estimates of various studies differ slightly, they all are clear that workers’ compensation overpayments occur in over 70% of all businesses!

4 | Speciality Underwriting Process

We leverage our buying power and underwriting expertise to bring you the best price. It may seem like an obvious position but it’s incredible how often we find new customers who aren’t getting proper market representation. Colony West not only has contracts with insurance companies that most of our competitors lack, but we bring an aggressive and specialized underwriting process to play that ensures a frenzied “best foot forward” approach by the markets for even hard to place risks.

Sub-Categories of workers’ compensation

Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (USL&H): This is federal workers’ compensation law that applies to anyone working on or over navigable waters. We procure this coverage through specialty insurance companies. This does not apply however to sailors, seamen, masters and crews of any ship, vessel or watercraft. Workers covered under USL&H are generally NOT eligible for state worker’s compensation coverage. However, it does not apply to:

• Recreational facilities such as yacht clubs or resorts
• Small vessels less than 18 tons
• Workers engaged in the repair of recreational vessels provided they are subject to coverage by state workers’ comp law

Defense Base Act: Established in 1941, the primary goal of the Defense Base Act was to cover workers on military bases outside the United States. The act was amended to include public works contracts with the government for the building of non-military projects such as dams, schools, harbors and roads abroad. Colony West procures this coverage for our customers through specialty insurance companies.

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