How Your Experience Mod Affects Your Farm Workers' Comp Premium

Workers' compensation is required for most farm employers in Wisconsin. And if you've had a claim in the past three years, you've probably noticed your premium increased. That increase is largely driven by your experience modification factor — the ex-mod.

What the experience mod is

The experience mod (or ex-mod) is a multiplier applied to your workers' comp base premium. An ex-mod of 1.00 means you pay the standard rate. An ex-mod of 1.20 means you pay 20% more. An ex-mod of 0.85 means you pay 15% less.

It's calculated based on your actual claim history versus the expected claim history for your type of operation — over a rolling three-year window. The formula rewards operations with fewer and smaller claims, and penalizes those with more or larger ones.

What affects your ex-mod most

Two things drive your ex-mod more than anything else:

• Claim frequency — multiple small claims hurt your mod more than one larger claim, because frequency signals a safety problem
• Claim severity — large claims affect your mod, but the formula caps individual claim impact to prevent one catastrophic event from permanently damaging your mod

Open claims — claims that haven't been closed — are counted at their full reserves, which can significantly inflate your mod even before a final settlement. Getting claims closed promptly matters.

What you can do about it

1. Review your loss runs annually. Make sure every claim on your record is accurate. Errors happen — a claim coded to the wrong employer or kept open after it should have been closed can inflate your mod incorrectly.
2. Work with your carrier's loss control resources. Most workers' comp carriers offer free loss control consultations. A farm safety review costs you nothing and can prevent the claims that drive your mod up.
3. Report injuries promptly. Delayed reporting often leads to higher claim costs. Early medical intervention typically reduces both the injury severity and the claim cost.

A well-managed ex-mod can meaningfully reduce your workers' comp cost over time — sometimes by 20–30% compared to a poorly managed one.