I would sure appreciate comments from some small business owners in California re: their savings of late as this study may be more reflective of large businesses and their savings.
Our rates have gone down for our apartment managers, but no where near down to 1996 levels. A real problem has been that each individual job description gets a different rate (allegedly based upon the danger/likelihood of injury on the job). Right now our apartment managers, who collect rent/ show vacancies are designated the same rate as a roofer. Makes no sense.
Also, our liability insurance on our properties has gone up dramatically since 1996. These rate increases, plus the number of insurance companies pulling out of CA or refusing this type of coverage, gets little press coverage.