Workers Comp Lawyers

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Citation Details
Title: Exclusive-remedy provisions of workers’ comp statute declared unconstitutional.(Oregon)
Author: Stephanie Levy
Publication: Trial (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 1, 2001
Publisher: Association of Trial Lawyers of America
Volume: 37 Issue: 8 Page: 80

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Exclusive-remedy provisions of workers’ comp statute declared unconstitutional.(Oregon): An article from: Trial

Handle your California workers’ compensation claim and maximize your benefits!

From industrial injuries to carpal tunnel syndrome, more than a million Californians a year suffer job-related injuries or illness. For many, receiving compensation can be a nightmare, since recent laws give employers and insurance companies far greater rights and employees fewer medical benefits.

California Workers’ Comp shows you how to handle a California workers’ compensation claim from start to finish. With this plain-English guide, you’ll learn how to work with your insurance company to receive the medical treatment and benefits you deserve. Find out how to:

If you have ever run a business then you have dealtwith workers comp insurance companies. Having to deal with the non-stop threat of increased premiums will make any employer paranoid.

Chances are you already realize that there are many things that occur in your company that will cause the workers comp insurance companies to raise your premiums. Other reasons you may not realize are that there are also numerous mistakes made by the insurance carrier that have a adverse effect on your company. The following is a listing of common mistakes by businesses and workers comp insurance companies.

The following are some common mistakes made by business owners that cause workers compensation premiums to rise:

Lack of safety program for preventing injuries
Non-existent return to work procedure
Not reporting injuries to the insurance company when they occur
No direct contact with the injured worker’s doctor

The preceding are just a sampling of the common mistakes that business owners make when dealing with work comp. There are many options available that will help employers to reduce costs with minimal upfront costs. If not watched the reasons above can amount to thousands of dollars in increased premium rates.

The next list below are common mistakes made by workers comp insurance companies:

Workers given the wrong workers compensation classification code
Company’s experience mod was mis-calculated
Eligible exemptions and credits mis-applied or never applied
Mis-calculating payroll

It may be hard to believe but, these errors are just a small sample of the several mistakes that arise. A common problem is when the workers comp insurance company is calculating the overtime rate at the amount indicated on the payroll as opposed to a straight hourly rate.

Another problem is workers being put into the wrong job class category. This mistake can cost employers thousands of dollars. An example is a clerical employee being classified under the roofing class code because he is required to go to the work site on an infrequent basis.

If you have ever dealt with insurance carriers you probably know how difficult it can be to get your business’ premiums decreased. Even though you may be right, you may not have the tools you need to show them the problem so that it can be fixed. Then there’s the errors that you do not know about that are costing your company thousands of dollars. Mistakes that add up to tens of thousands of dollars over time.

Believe it or not, I have seen it first hand. I just recently saw a policy that had so many errors that the company was refunded $96,000. Essentially, the company received back $16,000 a year foreach of the six years past. I do not know about you but I could definitely use an extra $96,000.

You may think I am embellishing the story but that’s not the case. That is not even the largest refund that I’ve seen. Typically on average our company finds about $37K in refunds. Obviously it all depends on how much you’re paying in premiums but on average we usually recover about 10% of the annual premium.

Sound too good to be true? Try it and see for yourself.

Originally published here.