Blog Authored by: Garry Watts, CPCU
Remember “Report Card Day” in grade school? I was always kind of excited to get my report card. I was never the model student, but I did well enough to be proud of what I usually achieved. The expectation from my parents was that I was capable of earning “A” and “B” grades. And when I didn’t get an “A” or “B,” my father usually sat down and talked to me about how I needed to do better. There was always something I could do to achieve more, and he would help me figure out what it was.
Applying the letter grade system to your work comp experience modification factor is an easy way to understand where you are at. A 1.00 experience mod is the average mod for companies in your industry. A 1.00 mod is a “C” letter grade – average, right in the middle.
A mod higher than 1.00 is leading towards a “D” or even an “F” as a letter grade. Debit mods, like a 1.25 or 1.50, cost your firm more money. There are definitely things you can do to improve your mod. (See “Eleven Ways to Improve Your Mod.”)
A credit mod, which is a mod less than 1.00 such as a .90 or .75, gets you to a “B” or an “A” letter grade. The ultimate “A” grade would be to achieve your lowest legal mod possible. So do you know what that is for your firm?
Is your firm better or worse than a “C”? What do you want to achieve?