who are faced with much higher rates due to the potential for injury on the job. A dental practice is a reasonably safe place to work, so carriers rate accordingly. Premiums are estimated at a rate per $100 of payroll. Therefore, because workers’ compensation premiums are estimated, the state requires an audit to be completed at the end of each policy year.
WHY AUDITS ARE IMPORTANT
A workers’ compensation audit provides an opportunity to report your actual payroll as compared to the originally estimated payroll at the beginning of the policy period. This helps ensure you are not over or underpaying for your exposure. These audits are required by the state, and it’s your responsibility as the insured to make sure you comply with the terms of your policy by completing your audit when requested by the carrier. Keep in mind, an audit may result in an additional premium to reflect new hires or raises, or it could generate a refund if your employee count dropped, or payroll was reduced for any reason.
Failure to comply with a carrier’s audit request will likely result in a penalty as- sessed by the carrier. This is called an audit noncompliance charge and is intended to compel you, the insured, to comply with the requirements necessary to conduct an audit on your workers’ compensation policy at the end of the policy period. Failure to cooper- ate with the audit process could result in a penalty assessed by the carrier (usually a sig- nificant increase in premium) or cancellation of coverage. These audit reports are easy to complete by using your 941 quarterly reports and following their instructions, which typi- cally take 15-20 minutes to complete.
Workers’ Compensation insurance is there to protect your practice and your employees; are you protected?
Contact Lindsey at MDIS to review your workers’ compensation coverage or to get protected today. She is a licensed agent and the MDIS Practice Insurance Manager. Email info@
mdis4dds.com or call 800-944-7550.
ISSUE 2 | SUMMER 2025 | focus 19
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