Departmental Charges for Insurance - How Premiums are Determined
Workers’ Compensation, General Liability and Employment Practices
The Office of the President (UCOP), Office of Risk Services (ORS) allocates costs for UC’s self insured Workers' Compensation and Liability Programs to each campus by using professional actuaries. The actuaries use UC Merced’s claim costs/history for three prior fiscal years and FTE/payroll to estimate the program costs for the coming fiscal year, and establish a base rate for the campus. This campus distributes the cost based on payroll expenditure posted in each FAU for all fund sources EXCEPT federally funded programs. General Liability and Employment Practices costs for federally funded programs are funded centrally by the Budget Office.
Transportation and Parking Services pays entire auto insurance premium.
Property insurance costs for UC Merced are calculated by UCOP ORS by estimating the costs of self insured losses and purchased insurance policies for the coming fiscal year. This is charged to the campus based on payroll expenditure, and the campus distributes the cost accordingly.
This program is funded through rebates and discounts received on various insurance programs. Campuses are encouraged to use available funding for risk mitigation proactively.
UC Merced’s Workers’ Compensation Rate Additive
UC Merced also maintains a Workers’ Compensation Rate additive program which funds a variety of initiatives on campus designed to mitigate claim costs. This is charged to the campus based on a flat rate which does not vary by department.
Special Item Insurance Costs
Miscellaneous costs for coverages such as Crime, Aviation, Marine, Fine Art and Indentured property are allocated using a variety of methods, and are directly charged to the operating unit.
Deductibles
For most programs, departments are assessed deductibles for individual claims. Deductible amounts remain constant, so departments should consider how a deductible or series of deductibles would impact cash reserves if a large loss or series of small losses were to occur.
