What happens if you’re injured at work and your employer does not have Workers’ Compensation insurance In Pennsylvania?

• Owner
• 08/20/2018

It’s a felony for an employer in Pennsylvania not to carry Workers’ Compensation insurance for its employees, but despite the risk of criminal penalties, many employers foolishly fail to maintain insurance. So what happens if you injure yourself at work, and when you report it to your boss, you are told the company has no workers’ compensation insurance? This will complicate your workers’ compensation claim, and in order that your rights are protected, you should contact Pearson Koutcher Law so that one of our knowledgeable and experienced Workers’ Compensation lawyers can represent you and guide you through the process.

Fortunately, in 2006, a state fund was established, the Uninsured Employers Guaranty Fund (the “UEGF” for short), to ensure that injured workers whose employers do not have workers’ compensation insurance, will be paid the wage loss and medical benefits to which they are entitled. For you to receive benefits from the UEGF, the law requires that a process be followed. A petition on your behalf must be filed against your uninsured employer. Further, a claim against the UEGF must be filed in two steps. First, a notice of a claim against the UEGF must be filed. Then, after at least twenty-days have passed, a petition against the UEGF will be required.

Your case will be assigned to a workers’ compensation judge who will hold a series of hearings. A lawyer will represent the UEGF. Your employer may or may not hire a lawyer to represent its interests in your claim. If the judge issues a decision and awards you benefits, your employer will have thirty days to pay you your benefits. If they don’t – and they probably won’t because if they didn’t have the wherewithal to carry workers’ compensation insurance, they’re unlikely to pay you thousands of dollars in workers’ compensation benefits – then the UEGF will step in and pay you the benefits that you’re awarded – both your money for lost wages and your medical bills.

You should also keep in mind that if the UEGF is brought into your case because your employer does not have insurance, it will be more difficult for you to enter into a settlement of your claim. Because the UEGF is funded by the state, it does not have the financial resources of a large insurance company like Liberty Mutual, Travelers, or PMA. Therefore, the UEGF usually is unable to offer much money in the way of a settlement. That being said, if you hurt yourself on the job and your employer doesn’t have workers’ compensation insurance, you should still hire Pearson Koutcher Law to file claims against your employer and the UEGF so that you can receive the maximum wage loss and medical benefits possible.