If you have been in a car accident while on the job, you should know your legal rights to receive workers’ compensation.
There are hundreds of jobs performed by Kansas City employees that require them to be on the road in the scope of their employment. Real estate agents, delivery men, and repair personnel all spend hours of their workday behind the wheel of a vehicle. Of course, with the number of employees flooding the roadways it is inevitable that some will be injured in car accidents. If this has happened to you, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits to cover the cost of your injuries. Speak with a Kansas City workers’ compensation attorney to help you receive the compensation you deserve.
Eligibility For Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Missouri, like all states, requires that an individual must be working at the time an injury occurs to be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. Most of the time, proving that you are on the job at the time of an accident is easy, so long as you are at your work-place. When an accident takes place off-site, insurance companies will look deeper to ensure that you were indeed acting in the scope of your employment at the time of your accident. It is always a bad idea for you to try and talk to the insurance company on your own at this point. Hire a Kansas City workers’ compensation lawyer and let them deal with your employer and the insurance company.
There are dozens of reasons that your job can take you out on the road that are work-related. Your employer may ask you to run an errand, or you could be making a delivery to a customer. In some cases, driving another employee is considered work-related as is your travel time to and from work if your employer pays for it. In any of these instances, if you were injured in a car accident, regardless of who is responsible, workers’ compensation may pay for your medical care.
Settling With the Insurance Company
Car accident injuries can be extensive and expensive, leading many insurance companies to try and avoid having to pay out on them. Take the Kansas City delivery man who sustained massive trauma when he was involved in an accident while driving his employer’s delivery van. After much debate about whether or not he was on the clock at the time of the incident, the insurance company relented and offered a $150,000 settlement to pay his medical expenses and loss of work.
Filing a Third-Party Claim
Your Kansas City workers’ compensation lawyer should also discuss with you the option to file a third-party claim against the other driver. You can only do this if the other driver was at fault for the accident, but this civil claim could help you receive monies for things not covered by workers’ compensation, like damage to your car or personal pain and suffering.
If you do a lot of driving as part of your job, you should familiarize yourself with the procedures your employer has in place in the event of a car accident. Workers’ compensation involves many specific procedures. Contact The Law Office of James M. Hoffmann at (816) 399-3706 to help you through the process.
Photo credit: Graham Richardson via Flickr
