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New businesses often have special needs, among them the ability to handle claims made when an employee is hurt or injured on the job.
A variety of choices for workers’ compensation insurance are available, but new businesses sometimes have trouble getting written.
Since 1992, Louisiana businesses have had the option of signing with the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation. LWCC is a private, nonprofit mutual insurance company that is the largest workers’ compensation carrier in the state.
It was created under the administration of Gov. Mike Foster, to revitalized a workers’ comp system on the verge of collapse.
LWCC provides an option not just for new companies, but others who might have difficulty securing affordable comp insurance otherwise, perhaps due to prior claims or other problems. Insurance agents say that LWCC is also a good option for businesses that are not in special categories. Over the years they say, LWCC has grown to become a leader throughout the state.
Kelly Thibodeaux , whose Terrebonne Insurance Agency, wjich she owns with her sister Kitty, is an independent brokerage supplying many insurance options, for automobile, home and other forms of coverage, and is pleased to have the LWCC option.
“They have grown and they got rated,” said Kelly, who began operating the agency after the retirement of their father, the late Fred Thibodeaux, who founded the firm in 1960. “They can give you the coverages you need because you might not have been in business long or have no prior experience.”
There may be special circumstances because of the nature of a business, like inshore marine companies requiring longshoreman’s compensation coverage.
Providing LWCC as a coverage option, Kelly said, helps fulfill her firm’s mission of giving local customers a wide range of choices, and that gives her a lot of satisfaction.
“We can be a person helps a business start to provide what they need,” Kelly said. “We have a lot of small and medium sized customers and we try and develop personal relationships and grow with them.”
As with other comp insurance companies, LWCC provides services that include in-house attorneys who specialize in handling defense and pursuing fraud investigations.
“Our legal team has an in-house attorney dedicated to second injury fund claims litigation, which has resulted in significant claims expense reduction,” promotional materials for LWCC state. “LWCC’s special investigations unit aggressively fights fraud, which has saved policyholders millions of dollars since its inception.” •
