Workers’ compensation is a type of insurance that pays medical expenses and wage replacement to workers injured on the job, in exchange for the mandatory surrender of the worker’s legal right to sue his/her employer for the resulting tort of negligent hiring. Iowa workers compensation lawyer will prevent undue hardship on employers by helping them cut costs by limiting their exposure to personal injury lawsuits. Providing compensation for workers is intended to help mitigate the economic burden of work-related injuries. The idea is to make it more difficult for an employer to intentionally inflict harm on an individual through employment.
State Law
As with other areas, workers’ compensation issues are determined by state law. Different aspects of workers’ compensation issues include treating injuries as seriously as possible, preventing further injury, minimizing pain and suffering, and guaranteeing reasonable economic recovery. Some workers, under the prevailing state law, may have limited options on how to pursue claims. Others may not even be eligible to file. In addition, some states allow for a limited period of time for filing claims; others require the filing to be done immediately.
Reporting Injuries
As employers, there are several challenges associated with workers compensation insurance. To begin with, not all types of injuries must be reported immediately to the insurer. A worker might not have an obvious injury until later, when it becomes apparent that he cannot return to work because of his injury. In addition, some employers will try to hide the fact that an employee has a workers compensation policy from other coworkers.
Avoiding Liability
Employers may avoid liability by making sure they are properly maintaining their employees’ compensation policies. One way to do this is to allow a broker-agent to become an advisor on the policies. The broker-agent can advise the policyholder on whether or not the employer has a Workers’ Compensation Coverage Determination Letter from the U.S. Department of Labor or whether the employer has filed a claim. If not, the broker-agent can advise the policyholder on how to proceed.
Broker-Agent Representative
One of the advantages to allowing a broker-agent to represent the policyholder is that he is often not required to pay the premiums on behalf of the client. This is typically the case with most insurance agents. Brokers receive commissions for all policies they sell, but not all policies sold are the same. Therefore, they are not required to pay the premiums on behalf of the employer unless they sell a product that is explicitly allowed by the employer.
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