What Happens If Your Employer Goes Bankrupt After Your Accident?
While it’s not common, there’s always a chance that your employer could go bankrupt after you’ve suffered a workplace injury. If your employer shuts down or files for bankruptcy after your accident, you might feel a bit of panic, but it’s important to know that this doesn’t mean your workers’ compensation benefits will vanish. Workers’ compensation is designed to protect injured employees, regardless of the financial health of their employer.
If your employer closes its doors, the workers’ compensation insurance they’ve paid into is still responsible for covering your claim. In many cases, state workers’ compensation funds or other mechanisms exist to ensure you still receive the medical care, wage replacement, and other benefits you’re entitled to. An Atlanta and Savannah workers’ compensation attorney can help you obtain the money and support you need.
Employer Bankruptcy After an Injury
If your employer shuts down following your accident, the insurance carrier should pay the remainder of benefits through the middleman, which is the workers’ compensation system. However, there is the potential for the insurer to halt benefits, including those all-important indemnity payments you depend on to pay the bills and survive during this difficult chapter of your life.
The fact that employers no longer pay insurance premiums due to bankruptcy should not prevent you from obtaining your benefits. If you find your claim is paused, canceled, or reduced in terms of benefit payouts, reach out to our attorney for assistance.
Our legal team will investigate your case in an attempt to restart benefits. As an example, we sometimes find the remainder of the benefits might be available through SISF. SISF is an acronym for self-insurers security fund.
If your employer failed to obtain workers’ compensation coverage, benefits through UEBTF might be available. UEBTF is short for uninsured employers’ benefits trust fund.
Business and Insurance Carrier Insolvency
There is also a chance both the employer and the insurance carrier will become insolvent. If such an unlikely event occurs, there might be the option of obtaining benefits through an insurance guarantee association.
Taking legal action in the form of a lawsuit is the last resort in such an unlikely instance. However, if a lawsuit is necessary, we will file it on your behalf to help you get the benefits you need and deserve.
Payments Might be Delayed
Workers’ compensation benefit payments might be delayed after your employer’s bankruptcy. Those benefits are much more likely to be delayed if a third-party administrator processes the payments.
As an example, if the claim was recently filed after the employer went bankrupt, the insurer might be in the midst of conducting an investigation. The claims might also be delayed if the insurer is looking for more information about your individual claim or cannot reach a representative from your previous employer. It might be difficult and time-consuming to obtain that information as the company is now out of business.
Remain optimistic, tap into the expertise of our workers’ compensation legal team, and we’ll help you obtain the benefits you need and deserve. Most people in your situation eventually receive their workers’ compensation indemnity payments, albeit a couple of weeks or months after originally expected.
Learn More During a Consultation With Our Atlanta and Savannah Workers’ Compensation Attorneys
Are you the victim of a workplace injury? If your injury is even slightly causally related to your workplace duties, our Atlanta and Savannah workers’ compensation attorney will help you obtain benefits. Learn more about workers’ compensation benefits today by scheduling a consultation with our law office.
