On December 23, 2025, Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Commissioner Carter Lawrence signed an order approving a National Council on Compensation Insurance voluntary workers’ compensation loss-cost filing. The order is captioned In the Matter of: National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc. Workers’ Compensation Loss Cost Filing, No. 25-64. It approves an overall decrease of two percent (−2.0%) in the loss-cost level for the state voluntary workers’ compensation insurance market. The workers’ compensation voluntary loss cost and rating values are approved and became effective March 1, 2026.
That is not the October 1, 2026 4.8% increase. It is not the April 1, 2026 medical fee schedule. It is not a household auto or homeowners row on TDCI’s monthly consumer tables. A 2.0% loss-cost filing is not a 2.0% bill for every Tennessee employer. This article is informational only. It does not promise coverage, price, eligibility, or that any particular policy moved 2.0%.
By All Seasons Insurance Group
What did Tennessee approve in Order No. 25-64?
The order says NCCI submitted its annual Tennessee workers’ compensation voluntary loss-cost filing and rating values on September 24, 2025, with a proposed effective date of March 1, 2026, recommending an overall decrease of two percent (−2.0%) in the loss-cost level for the voluntary market.
The matter was presented under Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-402(b). That statute requires the Commissioner to consult with the Advisory Council on Workers’ Compensation before approving any workers’ compensation loss-cost filing made by the designated rate service organization, and to approve, disapprove, or modify the filing within ninety days of receiving it. The Advisory Council met on November 5, 2025. By letter dated November 19, 2025, the Advisory Council recommended an overall decrease of two and seven-tenths percent (−2.7%) — a greater decrease than NCCI proposed.
The Commissioner reviewed the information provided by NCCI, the information presented to the Advisory Council by the Advisory Council’s actuary, and the Department’s consulting actuary, and determined to APPROVE the NCCI filing recommending an overall decrease of two percent (−2.0%). The order is signed Carter Lawrence, Commissioner, entered December 23, 2025.
| Item | Detail from Order No. 25-64 |
|---|---|
| Matter | No. 25-64, NCCI workers’ compensation voluntary loss-cost filing |
| Filed | September 24, 2025 |
| Advisory Council meeting | November 5, 2025 |
| Advisory Council letter | November 19, 2025, recommended −2.7% |
| Approved change | −2.0% overall voluntary loss-cost level |
| Effective date | March 1, 2026, new and renewal policies |
| Entered | December 23, 2025, Commissioner Carter Lawrence |
Source: TDCI 2026 Order Approving Workers’ Compensation Voluntary Market Loss Cost Filing, Matter No. 25-64, posted on TDCI’s Workers Compensation page. Figures and dates copied from that PDF. No other percentages added.
TDCI’s February 11, 2026 news release summarized the same March 1 change as the 13th consecutive year of workers’ compensation premium declines for most Tennessee businesses. Governor Bill Lee and Commissioner Lawrence are quoted on that page. The news release is a public summary. It is not a substitute for the order.
Does a 2.0% loss-cost decrease mean every Tennessee employer’s premium went down 2%?
No. Not from this order. Order No. 25-64 approves NCCI voluntary loss costs and rating values. A loss cost is not a finished premium. Insurers in the voluntary market still apply their own loss-cost multipliers, schedule rating, experience rating, and other rating values that the order does not print as a household or payroll-level bill.
Do not copy a 2.0% workers’ compensation figure onto an auto renewal. Do not copy it onto a homeowners row. Do not treat it as a 2.0% decrease for an employer whose policy is not in the Tennessee workers’ compensation market described in the order. The order does not print a class-code list, a payroll example, or a new-business versus renewal split beyond the March 1, 2026 effective date on new and renewal policies.
The current information page prints the premium in force. The renewal offer prints the new premium. This article does not forecast what any employer paid on or after March 1, 2026, or will pay after October 1, 2026.
How is the March 1 decrease different from the October 1 4.8% increase?
On August 25, 2026, Commissioner Lawrence signed Order No. 26-54 approving NCCI’s June 8, 2026 voluntary loss-cost and assigned-risk filing as a four and eight-tenths percent (+4.8%) increase from the loss costs and assigned-risk rates that became effective March 1, 2026. That increase takes effect October 1, 2026. Our October 1 4.8% post covers that order. This piece is the March 1 baseline named in that later order.
Do not paste +4.8% onto a policy whose rating effective date is still March 1, 2026. Do not paste −2.0% onto an October 1 renewal. The April 1, 2026 medical fee schedule is a third document. It is not Order No. 25-64.
What did Tennessee approve for the assigned-risk plan on March 1, 2026?
A separate order, Matter No. 26-03, entered January 16, 2026, addresses the assigned-risk plan. NCCI submitted its annual assigned-risk rate filing on September 24, 2025, proposing a one and one-tenths percent (−1.1%) decrease from the assigned-risk rates effective March 1, 2025, and a nine-tenths percent (+0.9%) increase in the assigned-risk loss-cost multiplier. The LCM moved from 1.809 to 1.826, effective March 1, 2026.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-5-114(c)(6)(B) requires the Commissioner to establish that multiplier. The Commissioner provided notice of intent to increase the LCM to the Advisory Council on December 17, 2025, with no objection or comment submitted. The assigned-risk rate filing is APPROVED and decreases the Tennessee assigned-risk plan rates effective March 1, 2025, by 1.1%, becoming effective March 1, 2026.
Voluntary-market Order No. 25-64 is not assigned-risk Order No. 26-03. Read the information page for which market the policy is in, if that is printed, before you pick a percent.
How can a Tennessee employer look these orders up?
Start on TDCI’s Workers Compensation page. Open the PDF labeled “2026 Order Approving Workers’ Compensation Voluntary Market Loss Cost Filing.” Confirm Matter No. 25-64, the September 24, 2025 filing date, the November 5 Advisory Council meeting, the November 19 recommendation of −2.7%, the approved −2.0%, the March 1, 2026 effective date, and the December 23, 2025 entry line.
Keep the assigned-risk order in the same folder: “2026 Order Approving Workers’ Compensation Assigned Risk Rate Filing and Loss Cost Multiplier,” Matter No. 26-03, entered January 16, 2026. TDCI’s February 11, 2026 news release is the public summary of those March 1 decreases. It is not Order No. 26-54.
To read underlying NCCI materials that TDCI has made public through SERFF, use SERFF Filing Access for Tennessee. Saving or printing through SFA is free of cost. For an appointment at the department kiosk: (615) 741-2825 and [email protected]. Help finding a filing: (615) 741-5074, Monday through Friday during normal business hours.
What should a Tennessee employer actually do this week?
Do the paperwork, not the guesswork. A 2.0% order with a March 1, 2026 effective date is still a public order. The current information page and the next renewal offer are the two documents that matter.
- Pull the current workers’ compensation information page or declarations page — the page, not a cropped photo of a premium total. Confirm the issuing company, the policy number, the rating effective date, and whether the policy is voluntary-market or assigned-risk if that is printed.
- Pull the renewal offer. If the rating date is on or after October 1, 2026, use Order No. 26-54 (+4.8%) as the later public baseline, not this March 1 decrease.
- Line them up: classification codes that are printed, payroll or other exposure bases that are printed, experience-mod if printed, and the premium.
- If the only material change is the premium, compute the percent change. Do not estimate. Do not round. Do not assume the percent must be 2.0% or 1.1%.
- Open Order No. 25-64 and read −2.0% against the voluntary loss-cost level, effective March 1, 2026. If the policy is assigned-risk, open Order No. 26-03 and read −1.1% and the LCM of 1.826.
- A free policy review or quote is available from All Seasons Insurance Group at asigtn.com/get-a-quote or 865-263-1400. That is not a coverage promise and not a 2.0% forecast.
What if a billed change does not match these orders?
TDCI posts Procedures for Addressing Workers’ Compensation Premium Disputes on the same workers’ compensation page. Use that path for a premium-calculation dispute. Separately, TDCI Consumer Insurance Services exists to educate consumers and mediate insurance-related disputes. Consumers who have an issue with their insurance company can file a complaint on the online insurance complaint form, or print the form and mail or fax it. The policy must have been written in Tennessee. Mail goes to Consumer Insurance Services, 500 James Robertson Parkway, 10th Floor, Nashville, TN 37243. Questions: 615-741-2218 or 1-800-342-4029.
Bring the two premiums, the percent change, the information page, the renewal offer, Matter No. 25-64 or 26-03, and the March 1, 2026 effective date. Do not send an AI-generated summary as the complaint. TDCI warns that AI tools can generate inaccurate information about insurance topics and that incorrect AI material can slow a complaint because the Division has to fact-check it.
What does a 2.0% March 1 loss-cost order actually tell an employer?
It tells you Tennessee approved NCCI’s September 24, 2025 voluntary filing on December 23, 2025, as a 2.0% loss-cost decrease effective March 1, 2026, even though the Advisory Council had recommended 2.7%. It tells you a separate assigned-risk order cut that market 1.1% and moved the LCM from 1.809 to 1.826. It does not tell you what one payroll will cost. It does not promise coverage, eligibility, or price. It tells you not to paste a 4.8% October 1 increase onto a March 1 information page, and not to paste 2.0% onto an auto or homeowners notice.
Read the orders as they were printed. Then put the next renewal next to the current information page.
Seasons change. So should your coverage.
All Seasons Insurance Group can sit a current information page next to a renewal offer and walk the public order. That is a free policy review or quote — not a coverage promise and not a guarantee of eligibility or price. Call 865-263-1400 or request it at https://asigtn.com/get-a-quote/.
This article is informational only. It does not promise coverage, price, eligibility, or that any filing will change a specific reader’s premium.
Source links
- 2026 Order Approving Workers’ Compensation Voluntary Market Loss Cost Filing (Matter No. 25-64)
- 2026 Order Approving Workers’ Compensation Assigned Risk Rate Filing and Loss Cost Multiplier (Matter No. 26-03)
- TDCI news: Tennessee Workers’ Comp Rates Decline for 13th Consecutive Year in 2026
- TDCI Workers Compensation page
- TDCI Order Approving Workers’ Compensation Loss Cost and Assigned Risk Rate Filing (entered August 25, 2026; effective October 1, 2026)
- Procedures for Addressing Workers’ Compensation Premium Disputes
- SERFF Filing Access — Tennessee
- Get a Quote — All Seasons Insurance Group
