Connecticut Workers' Comp Loss Costs Fell Again. Why Your Premium Did Not.

A Statewide Decrease, and a Renewal That Went the Other Way

Connecticut approved a statewide decrease in workers' compensation loss costs effective January 1, 2026 — the twelfth consecutive year of a decrease, following an NCCI rate filing the Connecticut Insurance Department approved largely as submitted. Voluntary market loss costs fell an average of 3.8% overall, with assigned-risk rates down 0.4%. By industry, manufacturing saw the largest voluntary-market reduction at 5.6%, contracting fell 4.9%, and goods and services fell 4.0%. Office and clerical classifications were the exception, with voluntary-market loss costs rising 1.3%.

If you own a Connecticut business and your workers' compensation premium went up at your last renewal despite this statewide decrease, that gap is not a mistake, and it is not the market working against you generally. It is a specific, diagnosable reason sitting in your own account.

What "Loss Cost" Actually Means, and Why It Is Not Your Premium

The loss cost filing sets the baseline rate per classification code that insurers use as a starting point — it is a market-wide input, not your bill. Your actual premium is that baseline multiplied by your payroll, adjusted by your classification codes, and then adjusted again by your experience modification factor, before any credits, debits, or program-specific loading a carrier applies on top. A statewide decrease in the baseline can be entirely offset, or reversed, by movement in any of those other factors.

The Three Places to Look If Your Bill Went Up Anyway

• Your experience modification factor. A single serious claim, or a run of smaller ones, can push your mod above 1.0 and increase your premium regardless of what the statewide baseline did. This is the single most common driver of a premium that moves against the market trend.
• Payroll growth. Loss costs are applied per $100 of payroll. Growing payroll, even with a falling per-unit rate, can still produce a higher total premium — which is a healthy problem, but worth understanding rather than mistaking for a rate increase.
• Classification code drift. Employees whose actual duties have shifted since your last audit, or a business that has added a higher-hazard operation, can be coded into a classification with a higher applicable rate than the one your policy was originally written on.

Manufacturing, contracting, and goods-and-services employers saw the largest statewide reductions this cycle — if your business sits in one of those classes and your renewal still rose, that is a particularly strong signal that the driver is your own experience mod or payroll mix rather than the market. See our guides to Connecticut workers' compensation requirements for small business and, if you are in manufacturing specifically, our manufacturing insurance coverage overview.

The Conversation This Should Actually Trigger

A renewal that goes against the statewide trend is a legitimate reason to have your experience mod, payroll allocation, and classification codes reviewed line by line — not just to shop the account for a lower quote. An independent agency can pull your mod worksheet apart and tell you specifically which factor is driving your number, which is usually more useful than a renewal comparison alone. Contact New England Insurance to review your workers' compensation program and find out exactly why your premium moved the way it did.