The Virginia State Corporation Commission has scheduled an October hearing to consider a request to change the premium levels charged for workers’ compensation insurance.

The request, filed by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), proposes decreasing the overall premium level for the industrial, federal and surface coal mine classifications in both the voluntary market and assigned-risk plan and underground coal mine classification in the assigned risk plan.

It has proposed an increase in the overall premium level for the underground coal mine classification in the voluntary market.

If approved, the changes to new and renewal workers’ compensation policies would take effect April 1, 2011.

For the industrial class, the new voluntary market loss costs would decrease by 12.4% and the assigned risk rate would go down 14.1%.

For the “F” (federal) class, the voluntary market loss costs would shrink by 3.8% and the assigned risk rate would fall 5.2%.

For the surface coal mine class, the voluntary market loss costs would go down 23.5% and the assigned risk rates would fall 25.2%. For the underground coal mine class, the voluntary market loss costs would increase by 0.6% and the assigned risk rate would fall 0.7% under the proposal.

NCCI, a Florida-based ratemaking organization, represents insurance companies licensed to write workers’ compensation insurance in Virginia.