The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) receives approximately 4,000 online ownership requests via WCIRB Connect^® each year from insurers, third-party entities (TPEs), and agents and brokers. 

The majority of these submissions are reporting to the WCIRB ownership changes for their policyholders. The remainder of these submissions are to notify the WCIRB when two or more entities are combinable or are not combinable for experience rating purposes. Visit the How to Determine Combinability for Experience Rating Purposes page for more information.

The WCIRB also receives submissions that are neither reports of ownership changes nor requests to combine or separate coverage. The following is a list of examples for which online ownership requests should not be submitted to the WCIRB. They should, however, be reported to the insurer of record.

Please note that for all examples, the owners listed do not have majority ownership in any other California entities.

3 Reasons to NOT Submit Ownership Information to the WCIRB

1. A business’s name changed, but its ownership did not. This includes changes to both the entity name and/or the DBA (doing business as). 

Example 1 
Prior to January 1, 2021, Rosie Smith was the sole owner of Rosie Smith Inc. (DBA) Oakland Express Delivery. On January 1, 2021, Rosie changed the name of her business to (DBA) RS Express Delivery. She did not change the name and the ownership of the original entity, Rosie Smith Inc. 

Example 2 
Prior to March 4, 2021, Louis Mackey was the sole member of LMNO Produce LLC (DBA) LMNO Produce. On March 4, 2021, Louis changed the name of his entity to Mackey Produce LLC. He did not change the ownership of the LLC or the name of the DBA.

Example 3
Prior to February 28, 2021, June and George Preston owned J&G Printing Inc. (DBA) J&G Printing, and each owned 50 percent of the stock in the corporation. On February 28, 2021, J&G Printing Inc. changed its name to Preston Printing Inc., and (DBA) J&G Printing changed its name to (DBA) Preston Printing. They did not change the ownership of the corporation.

2. The name of a newly created business was added to an existing policy. A newly created business is defined as an entity that did not acquire its operations from another entity. This only includes newly created businesses that are combinable with the businesses that are currently listed on the existing policy.

Example 4
Prior to January 22, 2021, Lana and Clark were the sole partners in Kent Protection Services, a general partnership located in Oakland. On January 22, 2021, Lana and Clark created a new legal entity called Kent Flying Academy LLC, of which they are the sole members. Kent Flying Academy LLC rents out office space in South San Francisco, near the San Francisco International Airport. Lana and Clark build all operations for Kent Flying Academy LLC from the ground up, having never purchased any of its business operations.

Example 5
Prior to March 17, 2021, Blanche was the sole owner of SL Bakery Inc. (DBA) Silver Ladies Bakery. On March 17, 2021, Blanche purchased the space next to Silver Ladies Bakery to expand her operations. The previous tenant of this space operated a retail store. Blanche created a new legal entity called SL Coffee Inc. (DBA) Silver Ladies Coffee and purchased all new equipment. She did not purchase anything from the previous tenant. 

3. The type of legal organization (entity) of a business changed, but it is still owned by the same person or persons. For a list of all entity types, visit the Determining Ownership page.

Example 6
Prior to March 8, 2021, Suzy Sanderson was a sole proprietor and operated her business under the (DBA) Suzy’s Dark Chocolate Factory. On March 8, 2021, Suzy decided to incorporate her business and created a new legal entity called Sanderson Inc., of which she is the 100 percent shareholder. 

Example 7
Prior to February 10, 2021, Andy and Opie were the sole joint venturers of Griffith Construction JV. On February 10, 2021, Andy and Opie decided to change the legal entity of their joint venture and call it Griffith Construction, a general partnership. Andy and Opie are the only two general partners in the new partnership.

Reporting Ownership Information to the WCIRB

If none of these examples apply, ownership information may need to be submitted online to the WCIRB via WCIRB Connect for review. Insurers, TPEs, and agents and brokers may submit a Request of Change in Ownership or a Request to Combine or Separate Coverage via WCIRB Connect. More information on this process can be found on the WCIRB Connect^® Ownership Information Submission Tool page.