California advisory pure premium rates reflect a projection of losses and loss adjustment expenses per $100 of payroll for each of the approximately 500 standard classifications used in California. The data used to calculate the pure premium rates proposed by the WCIRB are derived, in part, from aggregate financial data collected from insurers who have workers’ compensation underwriting and claims experience in California. Aggregate financial data also allows the WCIRB to monitor changes in claim frequency, claim costs, and other measures for studies and reports provided to the California workers’ compensation community. The WCIRB collects the aggregate financial data through various data calls each year requesting California workers' compensation insurance premiums, losses, claim counts and expenses at a high level. It is similar to the level of information insurers provide on their statutory financial statements, however, there are some differences.
Below are descriptions of the data calls administered by the WCIRB along with a brief description of how the data is used by the WCIRB's Actuarial department. At the end of each data call section are the data call instructions and a sample set of data call forms. The actual forms can be found in the eSCAD® application.
Following are the data calls described on this page:
Quarterly Call (CA-QT-xQyy)
Large Deductible Call (CA-LD-20yy)
Aggregate Indemnity and Medical Costs Call (CA-IM-yyyy)
Expense Call (CA-EX-yyyy)
Data Certification Form (CA-DC-yyyy)
Abridged Call (CA-NC-yyyy)
Special Call for Terrorism Information (CA-TR-yyyy)
Email questions about the aggregate financial data calls to [email protected].
Quarterly Call (CA-QT-xQyy)
This data call is issued every quarter, requesting premium data pertaining to a calendar quarter (Premium Exhibit) as well as loss, claim count and allocated loss adjustment expense data by accident year as of the end of the same calendar quarter (Accident Year Exhibit). The fourth quarter call also contains a Calendar Year Exhibit that is the sum of the Premium Exhibit data from the corresponding four quarters for that calendar year. For example, Quarterly Call as of December 31, 2015/Fourth Quarter Calendar Year 2015 (CA-QT-4Q15) requests the Premium Exhibit for the 10/1/15 to 12/31/15 calendar period, the Accident Year Exhibit as of 12/31/15 and the Calendar Year Exhibit for the 1/1/15 to 12/31/15 calendar year period.
The Quarterly Call contains some of the most significant information collected by the WCIRB. Data from the Quarterly Call is used to summarize trends and projections in loss costs presented to the WCIRB’s Actuarial Committee each quarter and forms the basis of advisory pure premium rate recommendations submitted to the California Insurance Commissioner. In addition, data from the Quarterly Call is used for various quarterly or annual reports on California workers’ compensation costs and actuarial studies of ratemaking methodologies.
Quarterly Call as of March 31, 20yy/First Quarter Calendar Year 20yy (CA-QT-1Qyy)
Sample Forms Instructions (Updated: January 2023)
Quarterly Call as of June 30, 20yy/Second Quarter Calendar Year 20yy (CA-QT-2Qyy)
Sample Forms Instructions (Updated: June 2023)
Quarterly Call as of September 30, 20yy/Third Quarter Calendar Year 20yy (CA-QT-3Qyy)
Sample Forms Instructions (Updated: August 31, 2022)
Quarterly Call as of December 31, 20yy/Fourth Quarter Calendar Year 20yy (CA-QT-4Qyy)
Sample Forms Instructions (Updated: December 12, 2022)
Large Deductible Call (CA-LD-20yy)
The data call form and instructions for the Large Deductible Call as of December 31, 20yy are analogous to the Premium Exhibit and Accident Year Exhibit of the Quarterly Call as of December 31, 20yy, with the exception that they apply only to the experience of policies with deductible amounts of at least $100,000.
For each calendar year-end evaluation of data, member insurers must submit either (a) their large deductible experience on the Large Deductible Call or (b) a Request for Waiver of Submission (the eligibility requirement of which is outlined on the “Request for Waiver of Data Call Submission” form). Reporting of large deductible experience is mandatory for insurers that generated $1,000,000 or more in earned deductible credits from policies with deductibles of $100,000 or greater in any calendar year since calendar year 2000. Reporting of large deductible experience is optional for insurers that generated less than $1,000,000 in earned deductible credits from policies with deductibles of $100,000 or greater for each of the calendar years since calendar year 2000; however, insurers who are not required to and elect not to report this experience must instead submit the Request for Waiver of Submission by the due date of this call.
The Large Deductible Call data allows the WCIRB to monitor changes in large deductible experience and to determine whether there are significant differences between large deductible experience and non-large deductible experience that warrant further research on the impact of large deductible experience on pure premium ratemaking. This information is presented to the WCIRB’s Actuarial Committee on an annual basis.
Large Deductible Call as of December 31, 20yy/ Calendar Year 20yy (CA-LD-20yy)
Aggregate Indemnity and Medical Costs Call (CA-IM-yyyy)
The Aggregate Indemnity and Medical Costs Call requests calendar year paid indemnity and medical losses segregated by individual benefit type. In addition, earned premium for the calendar year is also requested. This data call helps the WCIRB analyze changes in indemnity and medical costs by benefit type. In addition, this data is used in the WCIRB’s annual report on California workers’ compensation losses and expenses pursuant to Section 11759.1 of the California Insurance Code.
Aggregate Indemnity and Medical Costs Call – Calendar Year 20yy (CA-IM-20yy)
Expense Call (CA-EX-yyyy)
The Expense Call requests calendar year premium, loss and expense information (loss adjustment expenses, acquisition expenses, general expenses and other expenses) with detail that is similar to the expense information reported on statutory annual statements. The Expense Call also contains a Reconciliation Report Exhibit that ties the data between the Expense Call and the insurer’s annual statements. Data from the Expense Call is used to project the loss adjustment expense component of the proposed advisory pure premium rates submitted to the California Insurance Commissioner. In addition, data from the Expense Call is used in the WCIRB’s annual report on California workers’ compensation losses and expenses pursuant to Section 11759.1 of the California Insurance Code.
Expense Call – Calendar Year 20yy (CA-EX-20yy)
Sample Forms Instructions (Updated: January 2023)
Data Certification Form (CA-DC-yyyy)
While not technically an aggregate financial data call, the WCIRB Financial Data Certification (Data Certification Form) is necessary to ensure that member insurers are submitting aggregate financial data in accordance with WCIRB requirements. The Data Certification Form is required of all insurers who report Quarterly Call data to the WCIRB. In this certification, a company officer or actuary attests that the data submitted to the WCIRB on annual data calls evaluated as of the preceding calendar year and the Quarterly Call evaluated as of March 31 of the same calendar year in which the certification is due conforms to the instructions and definitions set forth for these data calls by the WCIRB. A link to the issued Data Certification Form is available in the eSCAD online application. While the Data Certification Form can be downloaded from the eSCAD application, the completed and signed form must be submitted to the WCIRB outside of the eSCAD application. The Data Certification Form is important to the WCIRB to ensure that the data call information used in its pure premium rate filings is accurate and reliable.
Data Certification Form - Through December 31, 20yy (CA-DC-20yy)
Abridged Call (CA-NC-yyyy)
The Abridged Call collects premium and losses for the calendar year. New member insurers of the WCIRB not currently writing or planning to write significant workers’ compensation business in California may be required to submit only the Abridged Call, in lieu of the above seven more detailed data calls. New members may contact the WCIRB at [email protected] to determine which data call requirements they are eligible for.
Abridged Call – Calendar Year 20yy (CA-NC-20yy)
Special Call for Terrorism Information (CA-TR-yyyy)
In regard to Section 111 of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (TRIPRA) of 2015, which authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, beginning in 2016, to annually collect data on terrorism exposure from insurers, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is requesting insurer-specific workers’ compensation data related to terrorism from 11 states, including California. This data request from the NAIC has been made to each Data Collection Organization (DCO) in these 11 states on behalf of their member insurers.
In order for the WCIRB to provide the NAIC with the compiled information by insurer for California, some additional data will need to be obtained from insurers that when combined with data that is currently being collected in accordance with the California Workers’ Compensation Uniform Statistical Reporting Plan—1995, will allow the WCIRB to provide the NAIC the requested information. The Special Call for Terrorism Information collects this additional data on a policy year basis.
Special Call for Terrorism Information (CA-TR-yyyy)