OADA Reminder: BWC Information on Acquiring Another Business

OADA Member:

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) recently published the following article with reminders about acquiring another dealership or business. As we enter the enrollment period for group experience rating for 2016, it is especially important to realize how the acquisition of another dealership can affect your rates. If you have any questions, are in the process of purchasing another dealership, or want more information about OADA’s group rating and retrospective rating plans, please call Don Boyd at (614) 923-2232 or Sara Bruce at (614) 923-2243 for assistance.

Acquiring another business? BWC’s AC-4 form can help prevent business transfer headaches

Are you a business owner who’s thinking of purchasing all or part of another existing business? Do you know the impacts the purchase can have on your workers’ compensation costs?

When these transactions occur, the purchaser (or successor) inherits the rate and liability of the business it has acquired. That’s because BWC combines the workers’ compensation history (also known as the experience) of the acquired business with the purchaser’s experience to determine the premium rate it charges to the purchaser.

This transfer of experience can have a major impact on the purchaser’s current and future BWC premium rates. It can also jeopardize a purchaser’s ability to participate in certain BWC employer programs and group-rating plans offered by group sponsors.

At BWC, we want to help business successors avoid unpleasant surprises when it comes to the workers’ compensation history of a business it may acquire. At the request of the acquiring business, we will provide a limited release of information about the business being acquired. To help facilitate these requests, BWC created the Request for Business Transfer Information (AC-4) form. 

Visit BWC’s Successorship liability page for more information and to access the AC-4 form. If you have additional questions, please send questions via email to policyprocessing@bwc.state.oh.us, or contact your local BWC customer service office.