Introduction
If you have been in a car accident while working on the job, you could be in for some big settlements. Obviously, you can claim workers’ compensation benefits, but you can also bring a claim against an at-fault driver’s insurance company. Always consider consulting with a personal injury lawyer in Louisville if you find yourself in an accident due to someone else’s fault.
Tracy’s Story
Let me tell you how this can work by telling you the story of my past client, Tracy. I was at my home office one day in the fall of 2020 when I got a call from Tracy. I was working remotely solely from my home office due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tracy informed me she was injured in a motor vehicle accident. She was on the clock, traveling for her job as a traveling nurse for her employer when the accident occurred. She was driving straight on a two-lane road when someone pulled out in front of her from a side road, fishtailed, and struck her vehicle, knocking her vehicle off the roadway into a brick sign on the side of the roadway.
Immediate Actions and Medical Treatment
Tracy was transported by ambulance to the hospital. After being discharged from the hospital and getting subsequent medical treatment, an MRI about a month after her accident revealed that the most significant injury she sustained was a tear of the rotator cuff in her right shoulder. After conservative treatment did not help her pain, she underwent surgery to repair the tear in her right shoulder. This was followed by a couple of months of physical therapy.
Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Since Tracy was working on the clock when this accident occurred, she was entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. In Kentucky, the main benefits one can pursue under a workers’ compensation claim are payment for their medical bills, payment for two-thirds of their lost wages, and a workers’ compensation award due to any permanent or partial disability caused by their injuries in the accident. The workers’ compensation insurer for Tracy’s employer covered her medical bills and two-thirds of her lost wages when she was unable to work. Tracy’s doctor, who performed her surgery on her shoulder, assessed Tracy with a whole-person impairment rating of 5% using the fifth edition of the American Medical Association guidance. Tracy was entitled to compensation for workers’ compensation benefits due to this impairment rating by her surgeon.
Filing a Claim Against the At-Fault Driver
To kick things off with the other driver’s insurance company, I sent a demand letter to the insurance adjuster, along with all of the evidence we had gathered in support of Tracy’s claim. I demanded the insurance company pay the policy limits. The insurance company delayed providing us with a response to the policy limits demand, so I filed a lawsuit. This got the insurance company’s attention. They then agreed to pay out their insured driver’s policy limits of $100,000.
Underinsured Motorist Coverage
But we weren’t done. Tracy was driving a company-owned vehicle that had a significant amount of underinsured motorist insurance coverage on it. Underinsured motorist insurance, also known as UIM insurance, is insurance coverage you can get on your car insurance that protects you and anyone in your car in the event the person who caused an accident with you does not have enough insurance to cover all your damages. After we settled the claim with the other driver’s insurance, we pursued our claim against the underinsured motorist insurer, who we had also sued in the lawsuit I filed. I had to fight hard to get a fair and reasonable settlement with the UIM carrier for Tracy. After months and months of litigating the case, we were finally able to settle the UIM portion of the case for $165,000, bringing the total settlement for Tracy to $265,000.
Handling the Workers’ Compensation Claim
Tracy and her husband were happy, but what about the rest of her workers’ compensation claim? Remember, earlier I said Tracy could recover additional compensation in her workers’ compensation claim since her surgeon had assessed her with a whole-person impairment rating of 5% due to her injuries. These types of awards can be significant, but we ended up agreeing with the workers’ compensation carrier not to pursue the claim for Tracy’s impairment any further.
Strategy with the Workers’ Compensation Lien
Why would we do that? Since the workers’ compensation insurer had paid for all of Tracy’s medical expenses for treatment related to the accident and two-thirds of her lost wages, they had a lien against Tracy’s injury case for all the amounts they had paid and were entitled to be reimbursed out of the settlement with the other driver’s insurance company. Rather than pursue the rest of Tracy’s workers’ compensation claim, Tracy and I decided it was best to simply agree to waive pursuing any more workers’ compensation benefits; in exchange for that agreement, the workers’ compensation insurance company agreed to waive the lien it had on Tracy’s injury case. This strategy may seem counterintuitive, but it was in Tracy’s best interest to take this route because she likely received more money in her pocket by not having to pay back the workers’ compensation insurer for the amounts they paid.
Complex Nature of On-the-Job Car Accidents
What you choose to do is highly dependent on the nature and extent of your injuries following your car accident while working on the job. These types of cases can be quite complex because you are dealing with not only a potential third-party liability claim against the other driver’s insurance company but also a workers’ compensation claim with your employer’s insurance carrier. The goal is to maximize the amount you receive in your pocket, and if you play your cards right, you can do just that.
Conclusion
If you were injured in a car accident while on the job, it can lead to a big payday. But in order to have any idea of how much your damages may be worth, you have to be able to calculate the value of your car accident injury settlement. In this video about to pop up here, I’ll tell you how lawyers and insurance companies go about calculating the value of car accident injury settlements. Lastly, if you’ve been injured in a car accident, slip or trip and fall accident, or dog attack incident in Kentucky, remember: don’t wait, call Tate.
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