The environment that the WCB operates in is most easily understood
by studying the flow of money. While the Board has little or no
influence over these flows, they describe the reality that it must
deal with: payrolls are fixed, and costs are defined by the frequency
and severity of injuries.
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Assessable payrolls are the payrolls of all companies
in B.C. covered by the Workmen's Compensation Act. While
generally an indicator of economic activity, assessable payrolls
also change with legislative changes.
Assessable payroll is read from the left-hand scale, claim
costs from the right.
The average assessment
is the amount, on average, that a company pays to the WCB as an
insurance premium. The actual assessment rate paid varies depending
on the general risk of the industry and the specific accident experience
of a company.
Claim costs are
the costs of accidents in the year they were accepted as a WCB claim.
Since some very serious accidents will continue to incur costs in
the following years, an actuarial estimate is made of those future
costs and the full amount is charged to the fund in the year the
accident occurred.
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