Claim Settlements

Settlements can help you manage costs and bring closure to your injured workers. A settlement is an agreement between you, the injured worker and BWC.

A settlement can include one or more claims. When a settlement becomes final, the injured worker receives a lump sum payment. Injured workers receive no additional compensation and/or benefits once their claim(s) has been settled.

There are two types of settlements, partial and full.

• Partial settlement means settling only certain conditions and/or benefits, either medical or indemnity (compensation). Although a claim may be partially settled a reserve still exists. A reserve is the estimated future value of a claim.
• Full settlement means settling all allowed conditions and benefits, both medical and indemnity (compensation).

Settlements may also reduce claims costs, which impact premiums. A settlement fixes the claim cost, which then allows the premium to reflect the settlement amount and possibly reduce the employer's premium. Settlements also reduce the number of claims BWC has to manage, thus, reducing overall administrative costs.

Should I agree to settle?
You should consider the following before pursuing a settlement:

• Determine whether the injured worker is still employed or disabled;
• Evaluate whether it's in your best interest to settle the claim to resolve premium or non-premium issues, which the settlement might impact, such as claims management and/or morale of employees with similar claims;
• If you are experience rated, find out each claim’s reserve, located on the experience exhibit BWC issues to you or by reviewing the Employer claim cost screen on OhioBWC.com for the latest quarter evaluation of the claim. If the claim is still within your experience period, assess how a settlement will affect your premiums;
• Keep in mind that although full settlement of a claim will reduce the reserve (projected future costs) to zero, BWC will allocate the settlement amount for that claim as compensation paid;
• Contact your employer services specialist to discuss the merits of pursuing a settlement.