Some Maine logging contractors say that the requested rate increase for Workers’ Compensation insurance should be denied until the insurance companies start to provide all of the services required by law.

Specifically, the contractors say that the insurance carriers haven’t provided loss-control consultations that could help companies prevent costly accidents.

At hearings on the insurance industry’s request for a 26 percent rate increase, several logging contractors have voiced their opposition and have said that state insurance officials should make the companies abide by the state regulations. The contractors have been supported by the Maine Forest Products Council.

Contractors say that the insurance companies haven’t helped them implement safety policies, haven’t conducted on-site inspections, haven’t held safety meetings or training assistance, and haven’t helped with first-aid training.

State insurance regulations stipulate that such services must be provided to companies with Workers’ Compensation premiums in excess of $25,000 a year.

At Hanington Bros. in Macwahoc Plantation, Workers’ Compensation insurance premiums total about $395,000 a year. Cheryl Russell, the company’s treasurer and office manager, says that the company went through 1987 and 1988 without getting any of the required services. In 1989, she said, she “threw a fit” and got some help from her insurance company.

“With the high cost of the insurance, companies can’t afford to do this on their own,” she said. And Russell’s rates are high. For each $100 of payroll for its logging workers, Hanington Bros. has to pay $45.50 in Workers’ Compensation premiums.

Steven Mason, a logging contractor in Greenville, agrees with Russell’s assessment of the situation.

“We need expertise from outside,” Mason said. “We’re paying for it and when you pay for something, you expect to get it.”

Both Mason and Russell lament the fact that the Northern Woods Logging Association of Jackman had to go out of business in 1986. The association had to drop the Workers’ Compensation business because it couldn’t find a company to help underwrite its risks.

But Russell says that the association knew how to handle Workers’ Compensation insurance. The frequent safety meetings and loss-control studies conducted by the association helped reduce accidents, she said.

Between 1978 and 1986, Hanington Bros. had a loss ratio of 62 percent, Russell said. This meant that for every $100 in insurance premiums paid by Hanington, claims amounted to $62. This is an admirable ratio for an insurance program consistently beset by losses.

But when the Northern Woods Logging Association went out of business, Russell found the insurance companies that replaced it less helpful.

Future meetings conducted by the state’s insurance superintendent, Joseph Edwards, will determine the fate of the rate increase. On Tuesday, Edwards refused to comment on the issues raised by the logging contractors. He said a comment would be inappropriate because he was deliberating over the rate-increase hearings. Efforts to get a statement from the insurance companies also were unsuccessful.

But one thing is clear, the loggers don’t think they’re getting what they’re paying for. And, they say, loss control should be the most important concern of both the insurance companies and the logging companies.

Edward I. Johnston, executive director of the Maine Forest Products Council, says that loss control and safety engineering are the best way to prevent accidents. And preventing accidents help reduce insurance costs, he said.

“We deserve to get what we pay (the insurance companies) for,” Johnston said, “and when we don’t, they don’t deserve to get the rates they’re asking for.”