Determining Workers’ Comprehensive Coverage is The First Step

Thanks to our lawmakers (and the insurance lobby who buys their lunches) it is much more difficult to understand workers’ compensation laws. No employer is required by the state of Texas to purchase workers’ comp. Right now, approximately one in two subscribe to the program. This leads to a situation where workers’ comp injury cases are divided into two distinct types. Each requires a wholly different method and strategy to resolve than the other classification. Employers who carry worker’s comp are known as “subscribers.” Those who don’t are “non-subscribers.” In order to know how to proceed with your claim, you must first determine whether or not your employer is one or the other.

Workers’ comp benefits originate from a funding “pool. The private insurance carriers that participate in the program contribute to it, although it is maintained by the State. A great benefit of this pool is the protection if offers subscriber-employers from lawsuits. But it generally disregards the full legal rights of employees to be fairly compensated when the employer is truly negligent. This is because it limits, or “caps,” the monetary benefits an injured employee can receive from this pool. If your employer subscribes to workers’ comp, it provides some compensation to employees who are injured on the job site. It’s basically “no-fault” insurance because those covered by workers’ comp are reimbursed, no matter how the accident occurred or whose fault it was. But many times the amount of compensation you receive doesn’t cover the true expenses of an on-the-job injury if it is a severe one. And we’ll go over that in more detail in a bit. more on this website

But on the other hand, in order to receive restitution from a non-subscriber to workers’ comp, an injury victim must file a lawsuit in civil court. Fortunately, for the injured party, the conditions that have been established to encourage companies to subscribe to “no-fault” workers’ comp insurance are not as stringent when determining if those injuries qualify. And these same lower standards of proving subscriber negligence, also apply against a non-subscriber in a civil case. So it’s not as difficult to assess true liability against a non-subscribing employer for on-the-job accidents.

Since workers’ comp is cheaper than traditional employer liability insurance, you would think that all companies would be smart and purchase workers’ comp instead of the more expensive traditional liability insurance. But many times that is not the case. So many employers still choose to walk around a shooting gallery unprotected and take the risk of being a non-subscriber. Then, when the odds catch up with them, many will try to avoid a lawsuit and misrepresent themselves as having workers’ comp (which they don’t) once an employee of theirs is injured. These employers may try to quickly pay you some cash benefits you would receive from workers’ comp and ask you to sign a “standard release” in order to further their deception and get off the hook. But it’s a well-tried trick. So don’t fall for it.

This is one of many examples of how you benefit from an experienced Texas injured worker lawyer to get to the bottom of your company’s workers’ comp status, so you know what legal recourse is available to you. Once we have identified the nature of your employer’s workers’ comp standing, we can then move your case or claim to bring deliver your rightful and just injury compensation.

An experienced Texas work injury attorney with our Law Firm helps injured Texas employees deal with their challenging work-injury cases. We have spent decades accumulating the expertise required to help injured workers just like you to receive the compensation they deserve for their medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering, and disability.

You have the opportunity to put our experience to work for you. If you want to know what your rights are, how to proceed with your claim and how much compensation you can reasonably expect to secure, then we can answer your questions. Call our Law Firm now at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free) for a free consultation and find out how we can help you.

Don’t let those who negligently caused your work accident injury to victimize you and your family even further.