Teamsters: Maximum Benefits Available to Drivers Injured through Course of Employment

The road to recovery from automobile accidents can often be long and agonizing. Thus, it is important to make sure that you are receiving all of the benefits that you are entitled to. Picking the proper attorney from the beginning can often be the deciding factor to receiving a maximum settlement. On the other hand, picking the wrong attorney may thwart your efforts from getting the recovery you and your family deserve.

If you are injured on the road, during the course of your employment, you may be entitled to increased benefits by completing both a Workers’ Compensation and No-Fault application for recovery.

Unfortunately, however, injured employees usually do not complete the No-Fault application in conjunction with Workers’ Compensation. It is paramount to understand the intricacies of both Workers’ Compensation and No-Fault and how these two sources of recovery intersect, especially if you are a member of a Teamsters Union.

 

  

Here is how it works:

If you are injured in an auto accident during the course of your employment, you must apply for Workers’ Compensation. Workers' compensation is intended to protect workers against the vicissitudes arising from injuries that occur during the course of employment.

The employee receives money (usually $500 per month) and medical benefits in exchange for losing the right to sue his or her employer. The employer benefits by receiving protection from litigation against them by the employee in exchange for accepting limited liability.

However, you are additionally entitled to recover via No-Fault Law. No-Fault was created to make sure that insurance companies would pay for car accident related medical expenses and lost earnings, not considering who was to blame. The purpose behind the law is to expedite compensation without the necessity of lengthy litigation over fault and amounts owed.

 No-Fault insurance policies provide for 80% payment of medical bills and 60% payment of lost wages up to a cap of $10,000.00, regardless of fault, for drivers, passengers and pedestrians. It is imperative not to delay the filing of a No Fault Application, as you have 30 days from the date of the auto accident to file the application.

By filling out both applications, a Truck Driver, for example, would be able to secure  maximum recovery benefits for Union Workers alike that have been injured during the course of employment. Many injured workers, especially union members, fail to take advantage of increased benefits. Make sure to contact an attorney at Hach & Rose, LLP if you have been injured on the road, during the course of your employment, in order to obtain maximum benefits.