GAEL Rate

General, Auto, and Employment Liability (GAEL) Rate

The University of California, Office of the President (UCOP) assesses each campus, and ANR, to fund the University’s self-insurance program for general liability (GL), Auto Liability (AL), Auto Physical Damage (APD), and Employment Practices Liability (EPL). Together, this assessment is referred to as “GAEL.”  This assessment is calculated based on actuarial analysis of claims history, both on a systemwide and individual campus level. Thus, the GAEL rate can increase systemwide due to frequent or substantial claims from the campuses, as well as outside influences in the cost of managing risk claims. Similarly, an individual campus’ assessment may go up or down depending on that campus’ claims history and expected liabilities. ANR Risk Services reviews these annual actuarial reports and works with the actuary and UCOP Risk Services to ensure that the allocation of insurance program costs are fair and accurate.

The ANR GAEL Rate is calculated as an assessment per $100 of payroll and every unit in the Division is assessed this ANR GAEL Rate.

Over the past two years, the program assessments for ANR have increased due to overall program costs, as well as actuarial review of ANR's claims experience. As a result, the GAEL rate has increased. ANR Risk Services and Financial Services has reviewed the data with the actuary and have been successful in keeping the increases as low as possible by correcting some of the actuarial assumptions that drive the cost of risk, such as employee FTE count, number of vehicles, etc. However, ANR was still facing a significant increase in the GAEL rate, so with the approval of UCOP Risk Services, we were able to implement a phase-in plan to increase the rate to the expected level of funding required by the actuarial analysis. 

The GAEL rates for the past 5 years, along with the current rate and projected rate for the next two years, are shown below. It should be noted that these rates compare favorably with other UC campuses that allocate insurance expenses in a similar manner, with current campus rates ranging from $0.39 to $0.60 per $100 of payroll.

* Projected future GAEL Rate

If you have any questions about the GAEL Rate, you may contact Brian Oatman, Director - Risk & Safety Services (baoatman@ucdavis.edu) or Federico Gomez, Assistant Director - Financial Services (Federico.Gomez@ucop.edu).