My Checks Are Late!

• Jon Koutcher
• 06/25/2013

When an employee performs work for an employer, they expect to get paid timely and on a consistent basis.  That same logic is supposed to hold true when an injured worker receives Workers’ Compensation wage loss benefits after a work injury.  Insurance companies have an obligation to pay wage loss benefits in a timely manner.  Insurance companies also have an obligation to send an injured worker wage loss benefits in a consistent manner. When this does not occur, the insurance company violates Section 435 of the Workers’ Compensation Act (“Act”) and subjects itself to a penalty imposed by a Workers’ Compensation judge.

The Act allows a Workers’ Compensation judge to impose a penalty on an insurance company for violations of sections of the Act, including an unreasonable or excessive delay in the payment of wage loss benefits.  Penalties can be assessed at the sole discretion of the Workers’ Compensation judge, and can include an award up to 50% percent of the alleged amount which is the subject of the Penalty Petition.  The Workers’ Compensation attorneys at Pearson Koutcher Law aggressively file Penalty Petitions whenever they feel the insurance company is not following through with their obligations prescribed in the Act.  If a client of Pearson Koutcher Law feels they are not receiving benefits timely or on a consistent basis, a Penalty Petition is immediately filed.  The Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation lawyers at Pearson Koutcher Law will present evidence to the workers compensation judge illustrating the manner in which the insurance company has violated the Act, including testimony from the injured worker, testimony from the workers compensation insurance adjuster and payment logs showing when the checks were processed by the workers compensation insurance company.

Insurance companies will tend to blame the reason for the check being late on the mail.  Often this excuse is nonsense.  When the injured worker does not have a problem receiving other items in the mail and has not changed addresses, this defense will be seen as baseless.  Another common excuse for the check being late is that the injured workers’ name fell off the repetitive pay system internally at the insurance company.  Through cross-examination of the workers’ compensation insurance adjuster many times this excuse can be exposed as baseless as well.  In reality, there are times when the mail is slow, and there may be a problem with the insurance company’s computer system.  But when wage loss checks are late repeatedly and arrive on different days of the week, patterns of conduct develop, and what the insurance adjuster tells you is a mistake and an isolated incident becomes harder to believe and accept as a sincere explanation.

If you are having difficulty receiving your workers’ compensation wage loss checks in a timely and consistent manner, contact the Philadelphia workers’ compensation lawyers at Pearson Koutcher Law.  Let our combined three decades of experience handling Pennsylvania work accident claims help get you the workers compensation wage loss benefits you deserve.

Jonathan B. Koutcher, Esquire
Pearson Koutcher Law
Email Jon: Jon@pearsonkoutcherlaw.com