Retail Comp to Return More Than $7.6 Million to Participants

Once Again, 2015 Return is Largest Alabama Retail Comp Retro Return Ever

MONTGOMERY –  Alabama Retail Comp will return more than  $7.6 million to qualified participants in 2015, an increase of 17 percent over the 2014 return. The retrospective return is the largest in the fund’s 30-year history and represents the 11th consecutive year of return growth.

The board of trustees of Alabama Retail Comp, the self-administered, self-insured workers’ compensation fund sponsored by the Alabama Retail Association, voted to distribute the $7,676,962 in the 2015 fund year, which begins Jan. 1.

The 2015 retro-return will be disARC_30_yeartributed to participants as a credit on their premium contribution for 2015. The annual return can represent as much as a 20 percent to 30 percent credit toward a participants’ contribution.

“We are pleased to once again bring great economic news to our members by providing this retro return, which will help lower the costs of doing business for our members and increase the Benefit From the Value they get from their workers’ compensation coverage and their membership in the Alabama Retail Association,” said Rick Brown, the fund’s administrator and president of the Alabama Retail Association.

Since its inception in 1984, ARC has returned MORE THAN $64 MILLION – 22 percent of all premiums collected –  to its participants through its retrospective return plan. As the need to hold money in reserves to pay claims decreases in a given year, that year’s participants receive money back as a credit on their next renewal. The retrospective rating plan uses an actuarial formula that takes into account individual participants’ experience versus the experience of the fund as a whole. The amount of credit a participant receives is tied directly to the business’ loss ratio. Lower losses mean a higher retrospective credit at renewal. This acts as an incentive for participants to provide a safe work environment.

A business’ retrospective return is determined by several eligibility requirements that include:

  • Having been a participant in the fund during the fiscal year to which the return applies; and
  • Being a current participant in the fund with continuous participation from the fiscal year to which the return applies until the fiscal year of the distribution of the retrospective return.
  • Having less than a 70 percent loss ratio for the fund year(s) in which retrospective return applies.

Alabama Retail Comp, the state’s most stable, cost-effective workers’ compensation insurance program for retailers, is regulated by the Alabama Department of Labor and governed by a board of trustees who are fund participants. While ARC specializes in the retail industry, it also provides coverage to many employers in an array of different classifications of business.

“At ARC, our goal is simple,” said Fund Manager Mark Young, “To provide the most cost-effective workers’ compensation coverage to Alabama businesses with unparalleled customer service.”

For more information about Alabama Retail Comp, go to www.alabamaretail.org/comp

Media ContactMark Young | 334.551.0690 | 800.239.5423