Expert premium audit dispute & analysis
Your audit isn't final.
It's disputable for 3 years.
Up to 60% of audits contain errors — see if you're overpaying.
Illustrative worksheet. Codes and rates shown for demonstration only.
Did you know?
The size of the problem
At least $8 billion dollars of premium rests on numbers nobody checked.
Annual workers' compensation premium written in the United States by private carriers.
California runs the strictest bureau in the country. Yet a carrier earns a satisfactory rating if 80% of the audits pulled for review pass.
Many carriers outsource audits to third-party vendors and offshore teams, where error rates run as high as 60%.
Roughly $8B in premium sits on audits that would not pass review.
80% passing means 20% failing is acceptable — and that is the standard in the strictest jurisdiction.
Four errors drive most additional premium.
None of them appear on the invoice. They sit inside the detailed worksheet, which is why the abridged summary a client usually receives is worthless for spotting them.
Standard exception classes folded into a higher-rated code
Clerical, outside sales and telecommuter payroll swept into the construction or manufacturing class — payroll that should rate at pennies rating at dollars. The most common finding, and often the largest.
Incorrect governing classification
One judgment call about your whole operation. Two codes a page apart can differ 3:1 on rate, and a wrong one carries forward for years.
Incorrect or missing deductions
Tips, Section 125 contributions, severance, wage caps and state-specific exclusions all reduce the payroll base. Each is the auditor's job to apply, not yours to request.
Contractor payments included as payroll
Subcontractor payments charged into your payroll over a certificate nobody located. On a subcontractor-heavy account, a five-figure difference.
Case Studies
A contractor with no direct labor, rated as a carpentry operation
A California homebuilder working entirely through subcontractors, holding a design and engineering license. Payroll sat in two codes only.
Project managers on supervisory work, laborers on warranty work and qualifying office staff each belonged in classifications that had never been applied.
Reclassified and disputed across three policy years. The corrected assignment carried forward into renewal.
An R&D operation rated as electronics manufacturing
A large Bay Area robotics company classified as electronics manufacturing since inception.
The company wasn't manufacturing at all. The operation was research and development, which carries a materially different classification and rate.
We guided the client through the dispute and the operation was reclassified.
Client identities withheld for confidentiality. Figures reflect actual engagements. Outcomes depend on the facts of each audit and are not a prediction of results.
Find out if it's worth disputing. Free, in 24 hours.
We don't quote analysis on an audit that shouldn't be disputed. Step one tells you whether there's a case — at no cost. Nothing below is billed unless you read that answer and decide to proceed.
Five class codes or fifty. One state or all states. One entity or a hundred. The rate doesn't change.
The preliminary report will give you an estimate. No guesses, and the same rate applies regardless of what we recover for you.
The preliminary review is free. We will tell you within 24 hours whether there is anything worth disputing. We only ask for payment if you decide to move forward with the full analysis.
Single state, single entity, up to five WC class codes. Most audits land here.
Single state, single entity, six or more class codes.
One or more entities operating across multiple state jurisdictions.
Large multi-state, multi-entity operations with complex or incomplete records. Scoped before we start.
Estimated hours are based on full analysis and review for one audit period.
Two documents, 24 hours. Then you'll know if you overpaid.
The preliminary review is free, with no obligation.
All we need is the audit worksheet and the final bill.