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The “Ins and Outs” of Workers’ Comp in Crane Accident Cases
Thanks to our lawmakers (and insurance company lobbyists) understanding workers’ comp laws is not as easy as it once was. No business in Texas is required to purchase workers’ comp insurance. So, workers’ comp injury matters are divided into two distinct types that require totally different methods and strategies to resolve. 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, the first target of any workplace injury claim, is a subscriber or a non-subscriber. More Information here
Workers’ comp benefits come out of a “pool” of funds provided by private insurance carriers that participate in the program. This pool protects subscriber-employers from lawsuits, but generally disregards the full civil rights of employees to be fairly compensated unless the employer is grossly negligent. These compensation limits, or “caps,” severely limit the monetary benefits an injured employee can receive.
If your employer subscribes to workers’ comp, it delivers some compensation when you are injured on the job site. It’s basically “no-fault” insurance because those covered by workers’ comp are automatically reimbursed, no matter how the accident occurred or whose fault it was. But many times the money you receive doesn’t cover the actual expenses of an on the job injury. We’ll explain why that is and what we can do about it in a bit.
But in order to receive restitution from a non-subscriber to workers’ comp, an injury victim must file a lawsuit. Fortunately for the injured party, most of the lower standards of proving workers’ comp subscriber negligence also apply in non-subscriber civil cases in Texas. So it’s much easier to assess true liability to a non-subscribing employer, general contractor or subcontractor for crane accidents on the job site. We’ll also talk about negligence when it comes to workers comp subscribers’ in a minute because that’s a very important exception that might dramatically benefit your case.
Since construction is such a dangerous industry, especially when cranes are involved, you’d think all companies would be smart and purchase workers’ comp insurance just because it’s moderately less-expensive than traditional liability insurance. But so many employers will roll the dice and take the risk of not subscribing to workers’ comp. Then, when an employee’s injured, they try to avoid a lawsuit by offering to quickly pay you the benefits normally received from workers’ comp and ask you to sign what they may represent as a “general liability release” in order to further their deception and evade a lawsuit.
This is one of many reasons why you need an experienced Texas crane accident attorney 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 worker’s compensation standing, our attorneys will know how to represent you.
An experienced construction accident attorney with our Law Firm will help you deal with your challenging crane-injury case anywhere in Texas. We have spent over 30 years accumulating the expertise and skill you desperately need to help win the compensation you deserve. If you want to know what your rights are, how to proceed with your claim and how much compensation you can secure, then we can answer your questions. Call our Law Firm now for a free consultation and find out how we can help you.