AnalysisSeptember 7, 2026

Rhode Island Workers' Comp Loss Costs Fall 2.5% for 11th Consecutive Year, Effective August 1

The R.I. Department of Business Regulation approved the NCCI advisory filing, extending the state's unbroken streak of annual loss cost reductions and marking a cumulative 75.8% decrease since 2015.

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The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation's Insurance Division approved a 2.5 percent reduction in average workers' compensation advisory loss costs for industrial classifications, effective for policies written on or after August 1, 2026, according to the NCCI advisory loss cost filing posted on the department's website. The National Council on Compensation Insurance submitted the filing on behalf of Rhode Island's workers' compensation insurers. The same filing carries a 12.9 percent decrease for federal-employee classifications (the "F" class) and no change to Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act rates.

The August 1, 2026 change is the 11th consecutive annual advisory loss cost decrease approved in Rhode Island; cumulative voluntary market loss costs have declined approximately 75.8 percent since 2015, according to the department's filing data. Department of Business Regulation Director Elizabeth Kelleher Dwyer commented on the approval: "This latest average rate reduction signals a healthy insurance market in Rhode Island."

The NCCI filing identifies continued improvement in claims experience as the primary driver of the proposed decrease. On a technical note, the filing also transitions the expression of advisory loss costs and Expected Loss Rates to three decimal places for all classification codes and statistical codes — a refinement that enables more granular, classification-specific adjustments in future filings.

Rhode Island is an advisory loss cost state. NCCI files advisory loss costs with the DBR, and individual carriers file their own loss cost multipliers on top of that benchmark to arrive at the actual premium rates they charge policyholders. The DBR reviews and must approve both the advisory loss cost level and each carrier's individual multiplier filings before they may be used.

What it means

For carriers and underwriters writing Rhode Island workers' compensation, the differentiated rate actions within this single filing deserve separate treatment. The 2.5 percent advisory decrease for industrial classes is the headline number — but the 12.9 percent decrease for federal classifications is materially larger and applies to a distinct exposure set. Carriers writing any significant volume of federal-classification exposure in Rhode Island need to assess their loss cost multipliers against each class of business independently. A carrier whose federal-class LCM was filed against the prior higher loss cost base may find its effective rates out of market once the new advisory level is applied. With 11 consecutive annual decreases behind the current filing, the compounding effect on accumulated advisory rates is now substantial: a multiplier set conservatively in a prior year may have drifted to an uncomfortable competitive position without a recent review.

For brokers and agents, the August 1, 2026 effective date is the key planning horizon for Rhode Island account renewals. The 11-year streak of decreasing advisory rates has been consistently favorable for buyers — but the magnitude of individual annual decreases has moderated over the cycle, and this 2.5 percent action is relatively modest compared with earlier double-digit reductions in the streak. Brokers should manage account expectations accordingly: the directional story remains positive, but individual net premium outcomes continue to depend heavily on the carrier's filed LCM, the account's experience modification factor, and payroll trends. Accounts with deteriorating experience modifications will partially or fully offset the advisory rate decline at renewal.

For TPAs and third-party claims administrators managing Rhode Island programs, the filing's attribution of the rate decrease to improved claims experience is an external market benchmark to compare against managed accounts. Administrators should assess whether accounts in their Rhode Island books are tracking at or above the statewide improvement trend, or lagging it. Those trailing the market trend face compounding exposure: experience modifications move upward, advisory decreases provide less relief at renewal, and carrier appetite can narrow for accounts running above-trend loss ratios in an otherwise favorable market. The three-decimal precision change for loss costs and ELRs is primarily technical, but it signals NCCI's intent to make future filings more responsive to individual classification experience — which can cut both ways for accounts concentrated in higher-frequency class codes.

For self-insured employers and risk managers in Rhode Island, the market context created by 11 consecutive years of advisory decreases is relevant to self-insurance economic analysis. With voluntary market advisory rates now 75.8 percent lower on a cumulative basis than in 2015, employers evaluating the commercial market as an alternative to self-insurance will find it significantly more competitive than it has been historically. The practical question for self-insureds is whether their own per-unit loss costs have declined at a comparable pace; if they have not, the cost advantage of retaining risk in a self-insured structure has narrowed. Excess coverage renewals for self-insureds should also reflect this context — excess market carriers benchmarking against the primary advisory rate trend will incorporate the sustained frequency improvement into their pricing, creating incremental favorable pressure on excess attachment point costs.

Primary source

https://dbr.ri.gov/sites/g/files/xkgbur696/files/2026-04/INS_RI%208_1_2026%20Filing.pdf

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Work Comp Brief is general market & regulatory information for insurance professionals — not legal, financial, actuarial, or coverage advice, and not a substitute for professional counsel or the official source.

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