For independent insurance agencies
Check the audit bill before your client pays it.
Upload the audit worksheet and the client's payroll register. Premium Audit Review is built to return possible errors with citations, a rough range of the possible premium effect, with no promise the carrier will agree, and a draft dispute letter your team approves.
Built for agencies that place small commercial accounts, such as contractors, restaurants and landscapers. The goal is to keep a surprise audit bill from turning into a lost client.
Can you send the certificate of insurance for the subcontractor, with the dates of the work?
The surprise audit bill, checked line by line
A policy ends. Weeks later the carrier sends an audit bill. Your client calls you, and they are not happy.
The bill is hard to check
The audit is built from payroll by class code, and a few rules are easy to misapply.
Checking by hand takes careful work. Dispute windows can be short, and they differ by carrier and state. Employers may not know which records would settle a question. So the bill can end up paid, or the client leaves.
Class codes
The governing class drives most of the premium. Clerical and outside sales staff may qualify for lower classes. Whole payrolls can land in the top class even when the records allow a split.
Overtime
The extra pay for overtime can often be left out of payroll, but only when the records show it. A combined payroll total hides it.
Subcontractors
A sub with a valid certificate that covers the work dates should not be charged as uninsured. The cost of materials can matter too.
Payroll definitions
Some items count as payroll and some do not. Officers, tips, reimbursements and payroll from outside the policy period all need a careful look.
Examples of what a review looks for
These are examples of the kinds of errors a review checks. They are not findings about any real audit. Whether a given audit has any of them is the question a review answers.
- Example
Overtime premium counted as payroll
The extra-pay portion of overtime is included when the payroll register would let it be excluded.
- Example
Excluded items counted
Tips, reimbursements, uniforms, employer-paid insurance or severance appear in the payroll total.
- Example
Payroll counted twice
The same wages show up in a ledger and in a payroll report, at two locations, or through both a PEO and direct payroll.
- Example
Payroll outside the policy period
Wages from before the policy began or after it ended are in the total.
- Example
Total does not tie to tax reports
The audit payroll does not reconcile to the client's 941 or state unemployment reports.
- Example
Uninsured-sub charge despite a certificate
A subcontractor is charged as uninsured although a valid certificate covers the work dates.
- Example
Subcontract charged on the full invoice
The charge ignores the labor and material split that the manual allows for.
- Example
Rate or arithmetic mismatch
The rate on the audit differs from the declarations page, or a discount, expense constant or minimum premium is miscalculated.
Some items need a human call, such as the right governing class or whether a worker is a true independent contractor. The agent is built to label those as judgment and leave the decision to your team.
Four steps, and you stay in charge
- Send
the audit worksheet and the client's payroll report. Mask Social Security numbers first. - Review
The agent will read both and line up the payroll with the worksheet. It will return findings with the rule cited, the worksheet line, a rough range of the possible premium effect, with no promise the carrier will agree, and a few questions for the employer. - Approve
You review each finding, edit it or drop it, and approve what stays. - Send the letter
You will get a dispute letter pack to send yourself. It should include a deadline reminder, a reconciliation, and a request for the auditor's worksheet and a written response.
What it will not do
- Contact the carrier. It is built never to send anything to a carrier. You decide what goes out, and you send it.
- Give legal advice. It is built to produce draft analysis. It is not legal, insurance, tax or accounting advice. Ask an attorney or your carrier when that matters.
- Promise a recovery. The carrier decides on any dispute. We cannot guarantee a refund, a credit or any amount.
- Cover every state yet. Workers comp in NCCI states comes first. States with their own bureaus or monopolistic funds are out for now, and general liability audits come later.
Questions
Will my client get money back?
We do not know, and we make no promise. The review is built to find possible errors and draft the letter. The carrier decides what to do with the dispute.
A refund lowers premium, and that lowers my commission. Why would I do this?
It is a fair question. If a dispute succeeds, premium drops and so does your commission on it. That is a one-time cost, and the size depends on your commission rate. A client who leaves costs you that commission every year. Audit surprises can also lead to E&O claims when estimates were not updated or the audit was never explained. Clients can also leave over an audit bill that turns out to be correct, so a clear explanation helps either way. You are the one who weighs these, and a review does not change your commission.
Which states?
Workers comp in NCCI states first. Dispute routes and deadlines differ by state and carrier, so the intake asks for the invoice date and the agent is built to flag the deadline for you to verify. Other states and general liability come later.
Does a person look at the results?
Yes. You approve every finding before it goes into a letter. At the start, we will also read each output ourselves before you see it.
What happens to our clients' data?
Please mask Social Security numbers before you send anything. Our plan is encryption, deletion 30 days after delivery, and no training on your data. We will agree the details with each agency before a real audit is shared. We are not SOC 2 certified.
Is this legal advice? What does it cost?
It is not legal advice. It is draft analysis for your team to review. On price, nothing is set. Agencies that send a first audit get a free review.
Send one redacted audit
Send one redacted audit worksheet with the payroll report for a free review. Or book a short demo first.
One question for you: what share of your workers comp insureds dispute an audit bill? Reply by email with a rough answer. It helps us decide whether to build this.
Bookkeepers and CPAs who hold payroll data can ask about it too.