DWC Annual Report of Inventory Due April 1
This week the DWC issued a memo to California workers’ compensation claims managers reminding them of the April 1 deadline for filing the Annual Report of Workers’ Compensation Claims Inventory, per CCR §10104. The regulation requires insurers, TPAs and self-administered, self-insured employers and JPAs to complete an annual report form for the preceding calendar year for each adjusting location, and to submit it to the DWC Audit Unit by April 1. Each adjusting location must file an inventory even if that location had no claims reported to it in the prior year, and regardless of whether they received an inventory form from the Division. Please note: failure to submit the report by April 1 may result in penalties of up to $500 per adjusting location.
The state’s Electronic Data Reporting regulations do include the provision [CCR 9702 (i)(3), www.dir.ca.gov/t8/9702.html ] that a claims administrator’s obligation to submit the Annual Inventory will be satisfied once the DWC Administrative Director determines that the claim administrator has demonstrated the capability to submit complete, valid and accurate data via the Workers’ Compensation Information System (WCIS). Toward that end, DWC announced last year that it would cross check the data from the CY ’06 inventories against the data submitted to the WCIS and issue written exemptions from future filings to adjusting locations whose WCIS data met the “complete, valid and accurate” standard.
The exemptions were to begin with the report due April 1, 2008. The Institute contacted DWC this week to inquire about the exemptions and was told that the Division has ongoing concerns about WCIS reporting – particularly Subsequent Report of Injury (SROI) reporting — and at this point it has granted no exemptions, though a few could be issued before April. Bottomline: At this point, all workers’ compensation claims adjusting locations in the state must still file the Annual Report of Inventory by April 1, even though they have been reporting to the WCIS.
The memo from the DWC Audit Unit Manager, including more detailed information, instructions and the 2-part inventory form (DWC-AU-851, Rev. 01/08), is posted at www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/Audit_Inven.pdf Any questions regarding the Annual Report of Inventory should be directed to the Audit Unit in Sacramento by calling (916) 263-2710.
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