On August 25, 2026, Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Commissioner Carter Lawrence signed an order approving a National Council on Compensation Insurance workers’ compensation filing. The order is captioned In the Matter of: National Council on Compensation Insurance, Workers’ Compensation Loss Cost and Assigned Risk Rate Filing, No. 26-54. It approves a four and eight-tenths percent (+4.8%) increase from the loss costs and assigned risk rates that became effective March 1, 2026. The increase takes effect October 1, 2026.
That is not the March 1, 2026 decrease. It is not a household auto or homeowners row on TDCI’s monthly consumer tables. It is an NCCI loss-cost and assigned-risk order. A 4.8% filing is not a 4.8% bill for every Tennessee employer. This article is informational only. It does not promise coverage, price, eligibility, or that any particular policy will move 4.8%.
By All Seasons Insurance Group
What did Tennessee approve in Order No. 26-54 on August 25, 2026?
The order says NCCI submitted a voluntary loss cost and assigned risk rate filing on June 8, 2026, with a proposed effective date of October 1, 2026. The filing recommended a four and eight-tenths percent (+4.8%) increase from the loss costs and assigned risk rates that became effective March 1, 2026.
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 July 31, 2026. By letter dated August 3, 2026, the Advisory Council recommended approval of the NCCI filing.
The order then states: “The NCCI filing is APPROVED, including the increase of the loss cost and assigned risk rates that became effective on March 1, 2026, by four and eight-tenths percent (+4.8%). This increase of four and eight-tenths percent (+4.8%) will take effect on October 1, 2026.” It is signed Carter Lawrence, Commissioner, Department of Commerce and Insurance, entered August 25, 2026.
| Item | Detail from the August 25 order |
|---|---|
| Matter | No. 26-54, NCCI workers’ compensation loss cost and assigned risk rate filing |
| Filed | June 8, 2026 |
| Advisory Council meeting | July 31, 2026 |
| Advisory Council letter | August 3, 2026, recommended approval |
| Approved change | +4.8% from the March 1, 2026 loss costs and assigned risk rates |
| Effective date | October 1, 2026 |
| Entered | August 25, 2026, Commissioner Carter Lawrence |
Source: TDCI Order Approving Workers’ Compensation Loss Cost and Assigned Risk Rate Filing, entered August 25, 2026, posted on TDCI’s Workers Compensation page as “Effective October 1, 2026 - Workers’ Compensation Loss Cost and Assigned Risk Rate Filing.” Figures and dates copied from that PDF. No other percentages added.
Does a 4.8% increase mean every Tennessee employer’s premium goes up 4.8%?
No. Not from this order. The order approves a 4.8% increase in NCCI voluntary loss costs and assigned risk rates relative to the levels that became effective March 1, 2026. 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 4.8% workers’ compensation figure onto an auto renewal. Do not copy it onto a homeowners row. Do not treat it as a 4.8% increase 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 October 1, 2026 effective date.
The current declarations page or information page prints the premium in force. The renewal offer prints the new premium. This article does not forecast what any employer will pay on or after October 1, 2026.
How is this different from the March 1, 2026 decrease?
On February 11, 2026, TDCI announced that workers’ compensation premiums would decline for most Tennessee businesses in 2026 for the 13th consecutive year. That announcement pointed to orders signed December 23, 2025: a 2% overall loss-cost decrease for the voluntary market and a 1.1% decrease in the assigned-risk rate level, beginning March 1, 2026, on new and renewal policies.
The voluntary-market order, Matter No. 25-64, entered December 23, 2025, approved NCCI’s 2.0% loss-cost decrease effective March 1, 2026. The assigned-risk order, Matter No. 26-03, entered January 16, 2026, approved a 1.1% assigned-risk decrease and an LCM change from 1.809 to 1.826, also effective March 1, 2026. Those March 1 numbers are the baseline named in the August 25 order. They are not the October 1 filing. Do not paste a 2.0% decrease onto an October 1 renewal.
What is a loss cost, and how is it different from a premium?
The August 25 order approves NCCI’s voluntary loss costs and assigned risk rates. It does not print a finished premium for a named employer. A loss cost is the advisory amount associated with expected losses. In the voluntary market, a carrier still applies its multiplier and other rating factors. In the assigned-risk plan, the approved assigned-risk rates apply as the order states. Neither sentence is a quote, a binder, or a payroll calculation.
TDCI also posts a Workers Compensation Loss Cost Multipliers listing. The copy opened for this desk is dated August 6, 2026. That listing is a separate document from Order No. 26-54. This article does not copy individual company multipliers onto the 4.8% order.
How can a Tennessee employer look this filing up?
Start on TDCI’s Workers Compensation page. Open the PDF labeled “Effective October 1, 2026 - Workers’ Compensation Loss Cost and Assigned Risk Rate Filing.” Confirm Matter No. 26-54, the June 8, 2026 filing date, the July 31 Advisory Council meeting, the August 3 recommendation, the +4.8% approval, the October 1, 2026 effective date, and the August 25, 2026 entry line.
Keep the March 1 orders in the same folder if a renewal straddles both dates: the voluntary-market loss-cost order (Matter No. 25-64) and the assigned-risk order (Matter No. 26-03). 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 4.8% order with an October 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 that will take effect on or after October 1, 2026, if one has already arrived. If it has not, calendar the renewal date against October 1, 2026.
- 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 4.8%.
- Open Order No. 26-54 and read +4.8% against the March 1, 2026 baseline, effective October 1, 2026. If the policy has not yet reached October 1, this order is not yet the explanation for that in-force premium.
- 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 4.8% forecast.
What if a billed change does not match this order?
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. 26-54, and the October 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 4.8% workers’ compensation order actually tell an employer?
It tells you Tennessee approved NCCI’s June 8, 2026 voluntary loss-cost and assigned-risk filing on August 25, 2026, as a 4.8% increase from the March 1, 2026 levels, effective October 1, 2026. 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 2.0% March 1 decrease onto an October 1 renewal, and not to paste 4.8% onto an auto or homeowners notice.
Read the order as it was 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
- TDCI Order Approving Workers’ Compensation Loss Cost and Assigned Risk Rate Filing (entered August 25, 2026; effective October 1, 2026)
- TDCI Workers Compensation page
- 2026 Order Approving Workers’ Compensation Voluntary Market Loss Cost Filing (March 1, 2026)
- 2026 Order Approving Workers’ Compensation Assigned Risk Rate Filing and Loss Cost Multiplier
- TDCI news: Tennessee Workers’ Comp Rates Decline for 13th Consecutive Year in 2026
- Procedures for Addressing Workers’ Compensation Premium Disputes
- SERFF Filing Access — Tennessee
- Get a Quote — All Seasons Insurance Group
