News
August 2008 - Easy premium payment options 
Don’t forget to give us your wages information before 31 August, to take advantage of our easy payment options.
We make is easy for employers to pay their premium:
- If your premium is $1100 or more you can choose to pay monthly or quarterly by direct debit. These options are interest free, at no extra charge.
- You can also pay us annually. Plus, if you choose to pay your annual premium early, we will give you a 3% discount (a minimum premium of $170 applies).
July 2008 - We’ve made it easier for employers to renew their policy
If your premium is less that $1100 we will automatically assess your premium based on last year’s wages information—as your wages probably don’t change significantly from year to year. You will not receive a Declaration of Wages form, just a Premium Notice.
You simply pay your premium by the due date or, if the wages we used to calculate your premium are significantly different to your actual wages, call us on 1300 362 128 to update your wages and we will send you an updated Premium Notice.
If your premium is over $1100 you still need to give us your wages information. We offer a number of convenient and flexible ways to tell us your wages information:
- visit our web site at www.workcoverqld.com.au and provide information online using our online services
- call our customer support centre on 1300 362 128 to give us information over the phone, or
- complete a Declaration of Wages form, and fax to 1300 651 387 or post it to us at GPO Box .
Remember to give us your wages information by 31 August.
All employers will find that renewing their accident insurance policy is easy—whatever method they use.
June 2008 - Media release - WorkCover urges employers to pay their fair share
WorkCover Queensland warns that employers who don’t have an insurance policy and those that deliberately underinsure will be penalised.
WorkCover Queensland CEO, Mr Tony Hawkins, said that WorkCover is boosting compliance activity this year, to make sure all Queensland employers are doing the right thing by declaring their true wages, and insuring all of their workers.
Mr Hawkins says that some of the key industries that WorkCover will be targeting this year include food, liquor, transport, and building and construction.
Workers’ compensation insurance is compulsory for all Queensland employers who employ workers, and the majority of employers comply with this. Unfortunately, some employers rort the system by failing to insure or by under-declaring their wages to reduce their premium.
“People would think this is not fair”, said Mr Hawkins. WorkCover Queensland strives to maintain and protect the scheme for the benefit of genuine claimants and policyholders.
Compliance will be a major focus for WorkCover Queensland this year. They will be auditing existing policyholders and potential uninsured employers to ensure Queensland employers are paying their fair share.
“Our approach is firm but fair”, said Mr Hawkins. “WorkCover Queensland comes down hard on premium fraud offenders, but we do appreciate that sometimes people make genuine mistakes rather than deliberately try to rort the system.
“Our people are available to assist if employers are unsure what to declare or who to cover for workers’ compensation”, said Mr Hawkins.
WorkCover will be sending employers their wages declarations or premium notices from July. “I strongly urge all employers to make sure they are insured for workers’ compensation and to declare their true wages to avoid penalties”.
Employers can contact WorkCover Queensland on 1300 362 128 or visit their web site at www.workcoverqld.com.au for assistance with renewing their premium.
June 2008 - Customer satisfaction results
For ten years now we have used independent customer satisfaction research to find out what our customers think of us, what their needs are, and how well we are meeting them. Over the years our customer satisfaction ratings have steadily risen.
We are pleased to announce that this year’s results are no exception—the results confirm that we are delivering excellent services to our customers.
This year, we achieved a record high rating from our injured worker customers—injured worker satisfaction with WorkCover Queensland is 80.2%, up 1.4% from last year. This year’s rating is the highest since we began the annual research in 1998–1999.
Our employer customers are also very satisfied with our service and rated us at 76.2%—while this result is slightly lower then last year’s figure of 76.7%, we don’t consider the drop significant and employer satisfaction has remained stable over the last four years.
June 2008 - New employer excess amount
Last month, we told you about amendments to the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Regulation 2003 that change the way employer excess is calculated.
QOTE is a seasonally adjusted amount of Queensland full-time adult's ordinary time earnings, as declared by the Australian Statistician. The QOTE amount has been released as $1052.80. This means that the new employer excess amount will be $690—which is 65% of QOTE, rounded up to the nearest $10.
Whilst QOTE is seasonally adjusted quarterly, the employer excess amount is set annually using the March QOTE figure—the amount will remain stable throughout the year.
The new excess amount will come into effect on 1 July 2008, and will apply to all claims with a date of injury on or after 1 July 2008. The amount payable for employer excess is set out in section 16 (Excess period—Act, s 65) of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Regulation 2003.
For more information, call us on 1300 362 128.
May 2008 - Premium rate media release
Queensland employers will continue to benefit from the lowest workers’ compensation premiums in Australia, as WorkCover Queensland maintains its average premium rate of $1.15 per $100 wages.
The announcement by WorkCover Queensland Chairman, Mr Ian Brusasco AM, gives Queensland employers a significant advantage over those in other Australian states, where premiums are higher.
WorkCover Queensland offers the lowest average premium rate of any Australian state and has done so for the last eight years. Sound financial management combined with its unique inhouse claims management practices has allowed WorkCover Queensland to maintain this premium rate, while still continuing to deliver excellent benefits for workers.
‘The last decade has seen WorkCover Queensland become a leader in its field—today we stand second to none’ says Mr Brusasco.
Despite the mandatory nature of the workers’ compensation scheme, WorkCover Queensland strives to be the insurer of choice, offering most employers a range of convenient, flexible payment options such as monthly or quarterly payments, as well as giving employers who pay their full premium early a 3% discount. WorkCover Queensland can also help employers forecast their premium, with customer advisors assisting individual employers with a tailored premium forecast.
Injured workers are also better off in Queensland, with recent legislative changes meaning even more support for workers injured at work.
Mr Brusasco says having a customer focus is important, ‘we understand that our relationship with our customers is vital to our success. We listen to our customers and plan our business around their needs’.
For more information, please call WorkCover Queensland on 1300 362 128 or visit their web site at www.workcoverqld.com.au
May 2008 - Changes to employer excess
Employer excess is very similar to the excess you pay on any other insurance policy—it represents the first payment of weekly compensation, which is paid to the injured worker by their employer.
Recent amendments to the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Regulation 2003 change the way employer excess is calculated—balancing the excess amount with Queensland’s wages growth and our low average premium rate (which has reduced 26% over the last six years, despite excess remaining stable since 1 July 2005).
The current excess amount is a flat rate of $500 or the weekly compensation rate minus $1 (whichever is less). The new amount will be calculated at 65% of Queensland full-time adult's ordinary time earnings (QOTE) rounded to the nearest $10. The QOTE figure that will be used for the new excess calculation is yet to be released, but as a guide, the current QOTE figure is $1010.
QOTE is a seasonally adjusted amount of Queensland full-time adult's ordinary time earnings, as declared by the Australian Statistician. This means that the excess amount will be adjusted annually to reflect changes in average earnings. Whilst QOTE is seasonally adjusted quarterly, WorkCover Queensland will set the excess amount annually using the March QOTE figure. We will advise you of the new excess amount in June 2008, after the QOTE figure is released.
The new excess amount will come into effect on 1 July 2008, and will apply to all claims with a date of injury on or after 1 July 2008.
Please refer to section 5, Amendment of s 16 (Excess period—Act, s 65) of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Amendment Regulation (No.1) 2008.
For more information, call us on 1300 362 128.
