Work Comp Risk Retention Group Anyone familiar with this?

I had an agent quoting me business insurance today. For W/Comp he presented a type of policy I am not familiar with. The way I understand it you are put in a group with other similar risk businesses and your frinal rate is based on the amount of the group pooled loss ratio. I was quoted a range of possible final costs from $11,500 in the unlikely effent that there are no claim costs to a maximum of $47,000. Interestin concept but it feels like quite a gamble. The estimate that they give me a cost of $28,750. for the year. This estimate is around $10,000. less than I have been paying the last few years. I am still waiting for renewal costs from my current agent. I am just wondering if anyone has heard of this or had any experience with it. Anybody?>>>

The state is the WC carrier here in Washington. You can enroll in a group that pools the risk and get a refund of about a third of your premium if claims are low. The group I'm in is the local chapter of the HBA.>>>

Not with w/comp Gerry, but I have with CGL. Typically rrg's are far from being first-tier insurance and are a gamble. Bear in mind that the historical basis for this type of insurance involves businesses who got tired of being raped and decided to establish a method of self-insuring that involved setting up an independent entity and allowed them to control their own destiny a little more. The key to that was limiting who got to participate, allowing only safety-minded, like-minded people in on the party. The RRG stuff I've seen has been predicated on taking anybody, selling cheap (actually very expensive cheap when you read the fine print) and undercutting the premier, higher-rated insurers. I've never heard of anybody ever getting a dividend as 'part owner' of the ins. company even though that is how it is usually structured. If they go bk you lose the policy and technically could even end up on the hook for additional premium. I've only gone that way when all other reasonable roads were closed to me. Since 1974 I've gone with RRG on four occasions. I always breathed a huge sigh of relief when ins. softened enough for me to get back with a real carrier. But...read the fine print to find out exactly how the variables are administered and take it to a trusted attorney for review. Might be ok. jmho.>>>