BATON ROUGE, La. (April 16, 2007)--Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corporation (LWCC) will pay a $23.2 million dividend to qualifying policyholders later this month, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon and LWCC President/CEO Kristin W. Wall announced today.

LWCC's board of directors declared the dividend for the calendar year 2006, and the Louisiana Department of Insurance approved the dividend on April 4, 2007. This is believed to be the largest single dividend ever paid in Louisiana by a workers' compensation insurer, topping the $19.6 million that LWCC returned to policyholders last year.

"This announcement of LWCC's sizable dividend is a testament to the health and stability of the Louisiana workers' compensation market," Donelon said. "All employers and employees in the state are benefiting from a viable, competitive workers' compensation system."

LWCC (www.lwcc.com) is a private, nonprofit mutual insurance company. Since its creation by the legislature in 1991, it has become the largest writer of workers' compensation insurance in Louisiana, covering about 22,000 policyholders. The company carries an "A" (Excellent) rating from A.M. Best and, for the fifth year in a row, was named one of the top 50 property and casualty insurance companies in the nation--out of more than 3,000--by Ward Group, the leading authority on insurance industry benchmarking.

"LWCC is a financially strong company that works hard to drive down costs by operating as efficiently as possible," said LWCC Chairman Aubrey T. Temple, Jr. "We are committed to excellence in customer service, and we are happy to reward our loyal policyholders."

Temple added, "We also appreciate the strong support of our agent partners who have contributed to our financial success and, along with our policyholders, have helped to make Louisiana workplaces safer."

Over 20,000 policyholders will receive a portion of the dividend. Individual dividend awards are based on a calculation that takes into account policyholders' premium payments and longevity with LWCC over the last five years.

"It has been a year and a half since the devastating hurricanes of 2005, and this has been a period of recovery for many Louisiana businesses," Wall said. "We are pleased to be able to return a substantial dividend to our policyholders and hope that by redirecting that money back to the business community, the state's economic condition will continue to stabilize and strengthen."

With this latest dividend, LWCC will have paid dividends to its policyholders for four consecutive years, totaling $68.8 million. In keeping with its commitment to provide policyholder value, the company also has lowered rates by more than 34 percent since it began operations in 1992.