Dover – Delaware Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart announced today that the Delaware Compensation Rating Bureau, Inc. (DCRB) has filed and that she has approved a partially amended rate filing imposing workers' compensation rate reductions ordered by former Commissioner Matt Denn from his December 30, 2008 Order and Decision. This filing provides for a retroactive cut of 9.74% (in the residual market) and 11.13 % (in the voluntary market} effective December 1, 2008. Commissioner Stewart said, "We are pleased that Delaware's employers will begin to see tens of millions of dollars in savings in workers' compensation premiums while ensuring that policyholders can enjoy relief relative to medical fee schedules for worker's compensation injuries during these challenging economic times."

Commissioner Stewart continues to aggressively litigate the enforcement of the remainder of former Commissioner Denn's November and December Orders, both of which the DCRB has objected to and appealed in the Court of Chancery and the Superior Court. Commissioner Denn's Orders determined that Delaware employers were being overcharged for workers' compensation coverage because the rates currently in effect failed to properly account for certain cost containment measures required by Senate Bill 1 of the 144th Delaware General Assembly. The DCRB continues to appeal the rating discounts in the Orders - additional rate reductions totaling 6% of 2008 premium value in the current year and each of the succeeding two years and then 5% in year four.

Commissioner Stewart concluded, "Our efforts to do our part in meeting the financial and economic challenges faced by our state and nation will continue on several fronts. My administration is committed to insuring that businesses have the resources to grow and prosper, that policyholders are free from onerous premiums and that our insurance industry expands and remains healthy and solvent."

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Contacts:
Elliott Jacobson (302) 674-7303; (202) 294-3266 cell
Michael Gould (302) 674-7305