Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Tobey Sommer - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Tobey Sommer - SunTrust Robinson
I wanted Bill to get your perspective on workers’ comp looking out into 2009 and 2010 and maybe get your perspective on how you see the market hardening and when that may start to act you think as a stimulant to sales?
William W. Sherertz
California’s going to raise their recommended rates by 5% January 1. There was a lot of talk of 16% and 17% increases but the final guru down there limited it to 5%. They’re holding back the floodgates a little bit. We’ve seen claim costs start to move higher. Other insurers now are starting to see a pinch and I doubt that they’ll follow the recommendations. They don’t have to follow these recommendations. We don’t. We use them as a benchmark on pricing but we typically are lagging those rates unless they’re favorable to us.
I think you’re going to see over the next few years maybe not in the range that they once were of up 25% but you’re going to see a creep in certainly California and other states. As recessions and the unemployment rate goes higher more people file claims because that’s the way they survive. It’s going to be to our advantage I believe. It won’t be a strong wind but it will be a wind that will be at our back instead of our face for a while.
Tobey Sommer - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey
I apologize if I missed this detail on the call. Of the million share repurchase authorization you previously had, how much have you executed and specifically what did you execute in the quarter? I’m just trying to get at what the new authorization implies for the remaining bit.
William W. Sherertz
Jim can give you the real numbers here but we’ve used about 800,000, right Jim?
James D. Miller
We’ve used about 800,000 over the two-year period that the program’s been in place. Third quarter specifically we bought back 178,000 shares. With the 2 million increase we have about 2.2 million now that are available.
Tobey Sommer - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey
How’s your experience in the captive and how are you treating that relative to guidance? Is that something we’re still waiting for your experience to develop and we’ll hear about it in February when you report the fourth quarter?
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