Understanding Workers’ Comp Non-Subscriber Compensation and Your Legal Rights in Texas
If you’ve recently been hurt on the job it is extremely important that you seek the help of an experienced legal professional who specializes in work-related injuries, especially if there are negligent parties who do not subscribe to Texas Workers’ Compensation. Without an experienced work injury lawyer, you have virtually no hope of receiving the fair compensation you deserve.
Work injury cases can be some of the most complex in the legal world. The precise approach in handling your case depends on a large number of variables. The most important point is first learning the truth of whether or not your employer subscribes to workers’ compensation. If he or she does subscribe, the employer is protected from further litigation and all you must do is file a claim through the workers’ comp program. Because it greatly benefits them, a lot of Texas employers may tell you they have workers’ comp, even when they are actually non-subscribers.
Though some aspects of workers’ comp law do apply to a non-subscriber case, a clear understanding of it is essential in your understanding of the specific strategy that your work injury attorney with our Law Firm can craft for you. So, if you want to receive every compensation dollar you deserve from a workplace injury, regardless of whether workers’ comp covers your employer or not, you must get help from an experienced attorney.
Understanding Workers’ Comp is Necessary, Even if it Might Not Apply to Your Work Injury Lawsuit
Workers’ compensation is essentially state-sponsored group insurance. It is nothing like a privately underwritten liability insurance policy that a non-subscriber to workers’ comp would purchase. Due to intense pressure by the insurance industry and their lobbyists, the legislature created and modified original (over 50-year-old) state workers’ injury compensation program. Today, workers comp is a complicated government bureaucracy. It protects employers from lawsuits and generally disregards the legal rights of employees to be fairly compensated for serious injuries when the employer is truly negligent. Workers’ comp benefits come out of a “pool” of funds that are provided by private insurance carriers. In Texas, employers may elect not to subscribe to workers’ compensation insurance.
Employers who participate in workers’ comp fund this insurance pool through the premiums they pay through the participating insurance companies which, in turn, band together to provide “umbrella insurance coverage” to the workers of the participating employers. Today, around half of Texas’ businesses participate in the state’s workers’ comp program and are virtually bulletproof when it comes to civil actions being filed against them for workplace injuries. It is assumed (but again, not required) that non-subscribers get their liability coverage from a commercial insurance carrier. So if you are injured on-the-job and your employer is a workers’ comp non-subscriber, you have every right to seek a claim from their insurance underwriter if they have private coverage, or in court from them directly through a civil action if it turns out they have no coverage at all.
Workers’ comp insurance provides some benefit to injured employees: and if their injuries are not serious, it can be pretty good for them. If your employer subscribes to workers’ comp and you are injured on the job, you will receive some reimbursement. It doesn’t matter how the accident occurred or whose fault it was because it’s “no-fault” insurance. But many times the amount of money you receive doesn’t cover the actual expenses of a serious job-related injury. And since employees of subscribers cannot file a lawsuit those employers, but still need the payment for their injuries, we have helped many identify all liable third parties from which they can receive a more equitable settlement, in addition to their workers’ comp claim. More often than not there are third parties involved in such serious injuries that an investigation by the injury attorney will reveal.
For example, if you are hurt at a construction site and your employer’s workers’ comp covers your injury claim, you can’t file a lawsuit. But many construction site injuries are often the fault of at least one third-party and maybe more. Let’s say you are hurt in a scaffolding collapse and the equipment belongs to a subcontractor who didn’t properly assemble it. The subcontractor is liable. The company that built the scaffolding might also be liable if your injuries are due to a defect in the equipment and you can likely file a product liability claim against the scaffold’s manufacturer. So even if you cannot file a lawsuit against your workers’ comp-covered employer, you may have non-subscriber options that allow you to seek fair compensation for your job-related injuries over-and-above a workers’ comp claim. Our work accident injury attorneys will help you identify all likely defendants in your case.
And don’t forget that your employer may claim to have workers’ comp when he or she in fact does not. Employers may even try to quickly pay you benefits you would receive from workers’ compensation insurance and ask you to sign what they may represent as a “standard release” in order to further their deception. Your Texas non-subscriber work injury attorney will thoroughly investigate your employer and determine whether or not he or she has workers’ comp coverage. If your employer doesn’t and you have a very strong claim, we can help you file and win a powerful non-subscriber lawsuit.
If a third party is a workers’ comp subscriber for his employees but is involved in your injury claim, you can file a work injury lawsuit against this person or company because you are not an employee, And of course, any third party may also be named a defendant in a non-subscriber lawsuit.
The best outcome for your workplace injury produces a fair settlement for you without having to go to trial. But if a trial is necessary, we are more than willing to vigorously argue your case in order to win the fair judgment that you deserve from ALL defendants. We represent you to the best of our skill and ability. And if we’re able to secure fair compensation for you without taking your case to court, you can get back on your feet faster and resume living your life.
So if you or someone you love has been hurt on the job, our attorneys can help you collect the compensation you need and deserve, and bring those responsible for your work injuries to justice. Call us at 1(800) 862-1260 for a free consultation.
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How Workers’ Comp Works: Sometimes it Doesn’t Work Very Well for Those Who Are Seriously Injured
Think of workers’ compensation as a form of state-managed insurance. It is nothing like a normal business liability insurance policy.
Thanks to recent tort reform on the part of business and insurance lobbyists, workers’ compensation are now designed to protect employers from lawsuits filed by their employees by basically eliminating their right to seek high compensatory damages directly from their employer and their insurance companies.
Workers’ compensation benefits are paid from a state-managed fund; even if the insurance policies themselves are provided by private insurance companies. Not all Texas employers subscribe to workers’ compensation insurance.
This insurance “pool” can benefit injured employees, but only to a point. If you are injured on the job and your employer subscribes to workers’ compensation, then you will likely be compensated; regardless of how the accident occurred or whose fault it was. The downside for you, the employee, is that the amount of money a seriously injured worker receives through workers’ compensation is VERY limited and doesn’t always cover your medical bills, nor all of you lost wages due to the injury. So if your injury is a major one and you’re not able to work for several months, workers’ compensation can produce hardship for your family. Workers’ comp essentially works best and most efficiently for minor injuries where the injuries aren’t severe and the employee is able to return to work relatively quickly.
There might be some good news. For seldom are on-the-job injuries cut-and-dried, even if many, primarily in the insurance industry, might want you to think they are. There are often other sources of compensation revenue that do fall under the workers’ comp injury liability umbrella that may have played a part in your injury, and are legally available to compensate you for your damages. But they’re not easy to find: nor is holding the defendants accountable a simple matter.
The best outcome for your workplace injury produces a fair settlement for you without having to go to trial. But if a trial is necessary, we are more than willing to vigorously argue your case in order to win the fair judgment that you deserve from ALL defendants. We represent you to the best of our skill and ability. And if we’re able to secure fair compensation for you without taking your case to court, you can get back on your feet faster and resume living your life.
So if you or someone you love has been hurt on the job, our attorneys can help you collect the compensation you need and deserve, and bring those responsible for your work injuries to justice. Call us at 1(800) 862-1260 for a free consultation.
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Third-Party Responsibility for On-The-Job Injuries Justifies Additional Civil Action
You cannot directly file a civil suit against your employer who subscribes to workers’ compensation, and much of the time workers’ compensation cannot fully pay for your medical expenses and lost wages. This is where an experienced work accident attorney can help you find third-parties who may carry some responsibility.
We investigate every work accident site, review paperwork, interview witnesses, and collect forensic evidence that points to every liable contributor to your accident. After careful review of all of the data, most of the time we find another liable defendant or two who are treated as third party defendants to your accident. They can be sued in open court.
For example, let’s say you work in a warehouse. A truck that is owned by a transportation company hits you. You aren’t entitled to receive damages from your employer past those offered by worker’s compensation if he or she is a subscriber. You can bring a lawsuit against the transportation company for your injuries. Here’s another example: let’s say instead, that you are injured by a piece of machinery or other equipment that your employer owns. Again, you can’t sue your employer. But if the equipment that caused your injury is proven to be defective, the manufacturer is liable for damages through a product liability lawsuit.
Sometimes multiple third-parties can combine to cause your injury. And regardless of whether your employer subscribes to workers’ compensation or not, these guilty third parties have a responsibility to compensate you for your at-work accident.
Construction site injuries often involve multiple third-party contributors to a work accident. The general contractor might participate in workers’ compensation. So he’s covered. With so many other contractors and subcontractors scurrying around the job site, many accidents are bound to happen. Not all are covered through workers’ compensation. If a scaffold collapses and you are injured, the company that built the scaffolding could be liable. If defective construction equipment causes you injury, you can likely file a product liability claim against the product’s manufacturer.
The bottom line is that you may have options in addition to workers’ comp to seek payment for damages from your workplace injury. Our injury lawyers assist you in identifying all likely defendants in your case.
One other thing: we’ve seen many examples where employers “pretend” to have workers’ compensation, but actually don’t. This employer might even further the charade and “pay” you workers’ compensation benefits after your injury. The first thing we do is investigate your employer’s claim of being a subscriber to the workers’ comp program. If this claim turns out to be false, and again, if your injuries are significant enough to justify legal action, we will help you file a very strong non-subscriber lawsuit in civil court, and then vigorously represent you.
The best outcome for your workplace injury produces a fair settlement for you without having to go to trial. But if a trial is necessary, we are more than willing to vigorously argue your case in order to win the fair judgment that you deserve from ALL defendants. We represent you to the best of our skill and ability. And if we’re able to secure fair compensation for you without taking your case to court, you can get back on your feet faster and resume living your life.
So if you or someone you love has been hurt on the job, our attorneys can help you collect the compensation you need and deserve, and bring those responsible for your work injuries to justice. Call us at 1(800) 862-1260 for a free consultation.
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What Are the Deficiencies of Workers’ Compensation and What Are My Options?
If you suffer a job-related injury and your employer has workers’ compensation insurance, you typically receive up to 70% of your lost income. But there is a cap on this amount of $600 a week. So if you are a carpenter and earn $70,000 per year, are injured on the job and your employer has workers’ compensation insurance, you will receive only $600 per week for lost wages while you recover.
If you suffer long-term disability and can never return to work, you will STILL ONLY RECEIVE $600 per week for the rest of your life, even though you previously earned about $1400 every week. Now you might receive an additional lump sum payment at the end of your recovery, but most of the time these payments are very small when you compare them to your total lost income, or any lost future wages if the disability is permanent.
There is another disadvantage to employees who are awarded workers’ compensation claims. The amount you receive does not account for lost future potential income. Let’s say you work at a grocery store while attending graduate school at night to earn a graduate degree in business. You are seriously injured on the job, unable to work, and are also physically unable to continue your education. You will still receive ONLY 70% of your GROCERY STORE salary FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE (which is probably minimum wage or close to it) rather than the much higher salary you would have earned once you received your MBA.
This is why it is vital for you to have an experienced workplace injury attorney to investigate your case. If your employer does not have workers’ comp, you must know so that you can seek a more reasonable settlement. If your employer does have workers’ comp, you and your attorney need to immediately begin the search for third parties that are liable for the injuries suffered in your work accident, and aggressively pursue any legitimate claims you have against them. Our workplace injury legal professionals build very strong cases and fight for your right to receive the fairest compensation you are owed.
The best outcome for your workplace injury produces a fair settlement for you without having to go to trial. But if a trial is necessary, we are more than willing to vigorously argue your case in order to win the fair judgment that you deserve from ALL defendants. We represent you to the best of our skill and ability. And if we’re able to secure fair compensation for you without taking your case to court, you can get back on your feet faster and resume living your life.
So if you or someone you love has been hurt on the job, our attorneys can help you collect the compensation you need and deserve, and bring those responsible for your work injuries to justice. Call us at 1(800) 862-1260 for a free consultation.
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Third-Party and Non-Subscriber Workplace Injury Defendants Work Hard to Wiggle Out
If your employer does not subscribe to the state’s workers’ compensation insurance program, you have a right to file a traditional personal injury lawsuit against that employer to compensate you for a variety of damages. They may include:
The income you have lost for the time you spent in the hospital.
Your diminished earning capacity if the injury produces long-term disability.
All of your medical-related expenses.
Property damage.
Your physical pain, suffering, and discomfort.
If you can prove that you are suffering mental or emotional distress due to the injury, you may also receive damages to cover these expenses.
One popular defense that is used by your employer (and his attorney) if he or she does not have workers’ compensation insurance and you file suit against that employer in civil court is a very simple one. Your employer will say that you were solely responsible for your injuries: the sole proximate cause. Since the burden of proof is on you, the plaintiff in your civil injury case, it is also on you to DIS-prove all countercharges.
Employers, with the help of their experienced attorneys and insurance companies (if they are insured) usually build a case against an injured employee’s claims by alleging that you alone are at fault for your workplace injury. You and your attorney must turn these allegations and the court’s attention around to where it belongs; your employer. Employers, with the help of their experienced attorneys and insurance companies (if they are insured) usually build a case against an injured employee’s claims by alleging that you alone are at fault for your workplace injury. You and your attorney must turn these allegations and the court’s attention around to where it belongs; your employer.
Let’s say you suffer a lifting injury while you are at work. Your employer will probably say that, since you were working alone at the time and there are no witnesses, your injury must be your own fault. If our attorneys can link your actions and your injury back to your employer, it’s much easier to prove negligence by your employer and you the odds of winning your case rise significantly.
A couple of ways of proving employer negligence include focusing on their inability or refusal to provide proper safety training or equipment, or they didn’t find another employee to help you lift the heavy or cumbersome object. These are only two – of several – ways to possible employer negligence as a direct cause of your on-the-job injury.
In order to punish non-subscribing employers, Texas workers comp laws enable workplace accident victims to secure much greater damages than if the employer had purchased workers comp insurance. The workplace accident victim must merely prove standard negligence to win their case, which means the employer only committed a sole error or momentary inability to maintain safety. In a way, once you get them into court, you’ve won more than half the battle because you have a lower standard to prove in order to win your case. As you can guess, the laws governing these principles are extremely intricate. So in order to succeed you will need a crafty accident lawyer to assist you through every intricacy of this challenging legal process.
There are times when connecting your injury to your employer this way can involve other difficult to understand forms of legal liability. Our attorneys, who are thoroughly familiar with work injury law, know how to prove to a jury that your injuries were caused by your employer’s negligence and are not your fault but that of the defendants: non-subscribers or third-party defendants.
The best outcome for your workplace injury produces a fair settlement for you without having to go to trial. But if a trial is necessary, we are more than willing to vigorously argue your case in order to win the fair judgment that you deserve from ALL defendants. We represent you to the best of our skill and ability. And if we’re able to secure fair compensation for you without taking your case to court, you can get back on your feet faster and resume living your life.
So if you or someone you love has been hurt on the job, our attorneys can help you collect the compensation you need and deserve, and bring those responsible for your work injuries to justice. Call us at 1(800) 862-1260 for a free consultation.
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A Popular Defense Tactic: Claiming You are Not Really an Employee
The sole proximate cause defense is not the only option that non-subscribers have to deflect liability after an injury has been suffered by an employee. Many clever employers might anticipate an injury and begin avoiding liability for them even before accidents occur by trying to distance themselves from you as an employee, and their responsibility to fairly compensate you. Some even begin building that paper trail to prove their claim beginning the first day you show up for work.
Texas employers are not responsible for what happens to contractors’ on a job site injury. So many companies will claim to hire their employees as contractors. By calling you a contractor, your employer believes it’s possible to deny that an employer-employee relationship existed between you and the company, and then they will tell you that you don’t have a legal claim to compensation for your injury-related damages. Their logic is simple: why should they be responsible for an injury to a person who was technically never their employee to begin with?
While many employers try to claim their employees are contractors or temp workers who are employees of a third-party, the employer knows an actual employer-employee relationship exists in many of these cases, and an injured worker can still obtain compensation. So don’t be misled by this ploy. Even though your employer claims you are a contractor, in the eyes of the law you are likely still considered an employee, and are entitled to recover full and fair compensation for injuries that you have suffered on the job.
A skillful and well-seasoned Texas workplace injury accident attorney knows how to prove the employer-employee relationship by meeting at least one the following standards, and often more of them.
This brings another important point to mind. As we have previously told you, workers’ comp claims are less-than-adequate when major injuries are involved, including wrongful death. So the traditional way for an employee to recover fair damage compensation is to file a workers’ comp claim against the employer of record (assuming that employer subscribes) and then supplement the claim with the appropriate number of third party claims or lawsuits.
The best outcome for your workplace injury produces a fair settlement for you without having to go to trial. But if a trial is necessary, we are more than willing to vigorously argue your case in order to win the fair judgment that you deserve from ALL defendants. We represent you to the best of our skill and ability. And if we’re able to secure fair compensation for you without taking your case to court, you can get back on your feet faster and resume living your life.
So if you or someone you love has been hurt on the job, our attorneys can help you collect the compensation you need and deserve, and bring those responsible for your work injuries to justice. Call us at 1(800) 862-1260 for a free consultation.
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Your Opponents Fight Very Hard to Deny Your Accident-Related Legal Damages
In most non-subscriber and third party workplace injury claims or civil cases, defendants can have large insurance companies and lots of attorneys to oppose you. Or your employer will be “self-insured” or uninsured. Regardless, all fight very hard, to avoid paying for your injuries.
Most non-subscribers are represented by insurance companies that have attorneys who are either on-staff or on permanent retainer. They are very good at defending insurance companies from people who try to sue them. They’re especially successful against opponents who have no attorney to represent them, or those who hire an attorney who is overmatched against them. Insurance companies are in the business of collecting high premiums, and then avoid paying legitimate claims. They are confrontational and intimidating from the very beginning. They can be dangerous and frustrating. They don’t scare an experienced injury attorney like those with our Law Firm who know every trick they pull, and how to neutralize each one.
Self-insured employers or those who have no insurance whatsoever, who are liable for workplace injuries are a different animal and very hazardous to your case. They resort to anything that will work for them once an injured worker takes legal action to recover damages. Some of their tricks are shameful while others can be viewed as downright illegal.
You will be seeking a settlement from an officer of this self-insured company or maybe even directly from your employer if it is a small company. In either event, the salary of whomever you deal with is certainly tied directly to company profits. So, any damage amount paid to you for an injury comes directly out of company income, not a policy or security bond. So when he or she compensates you, your employer literally takes money out of his own pocket. We stopped being surprised long ago when we see a sneaky, self-insured company officer use any and all means to deny your claim in order to protect his company’s (and his personal) assets.
Self-insured companies have been known to deliberately dispose of evidence as well as a bribe or intimidate witnesses; maybe even you. They sometimes resort to physical threats. This is why every time we represent a client against a self-insured company, the first thing we do is to file motions in court that prevents anyone with the company from behaving inappropriately against our clients. Sometimes these motions include a clear demand that they make no attempt to communicate with our clients in any way without one of our attorneys present.
The best outcome for your workplace injury produces a fair settlement for you without having to go to trial. But if a trial is necessary, we are more than willing to vigorously argue your case in order to win the fair judgment that you deserve from ALL defendants. We represent you to the best of our skill and ability. And if we’re able to secure fair compensation for you without taking your case to court, you can get back on your feet faster and resume living your life.
So if you or someone you love has been hurt on the job, our attorneys can help you collect the compensation you need and deserve, and bring those responsible for your work injuries to justice. Call us at 1(800) 862-1260 for a free consultation.
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Win the Compensation Your Deserve from Your Job-Related Accident by Hiring an Experienced, Local Workplace Injury Attorney with our Law Firm
Our lawyers can help you effectively seek fair compensation for being hurt on the job, through no fault of your own. If your employer has workers’ compensation insurance (or not), we will help you identify, then seek the proper compensation from liable third parties; even if their liability can only be proven based on obscure legal case law. If your employer does not have workers’ compensation insurance, we can help you build the strongest non-subscriber lawsuit possible and counter the arguments that are used time and again by these employers and their shifty defense lawyers who help them avoid liability. We will immediately and thoroughly investigate your employer to clearly establish whether or not he or she has workers’ compensation insurance, and plan an effective strategy once that is learned.
But for your sake, please consider this bit of “free” advice.
Before you speak with an insurance company, or accept even a single dollar of payment or compensation from your employer, or sign anything, or attempt to file a lawsuit on your own, you MUST contact a competent lawyer. If you don’t do this, then you will be at the mercy of those who wish to deny you your rights to fair injury compensation.
If you contact us for a free consultation, we will be able to quickly tell you what your legal options are and how we can help you recover the appropriate compensation for your work-related injury.
The injury attorneys at our Texas Law Office have regularly secured fair and just compensation amounts for injured workers who were refused assistance by other firms. Not long ago we successfully handled a case for a worker who was injured on the job but had initially signed-on to his job as an independent contractor. Eight different law firms told him he had no case because the company that hired him used contract workers. And yet, our firm still was able to successfully establish an employer-employee relationship. Because of that small fact, we won a seven-figure settlement for this injured – and very grateful – worker.
The legal professionals at our Texas Law Office have been helping injured workers receive the compensation they deserve for over 30 years. We have successfully investigated and resolved hundreds of high-profile work injury cases in our clients’ favor. We have faced-down virtually every major insurance carrier and work injury defense firm in the state. These corporations know how successful our attorneys are. Based on this, they often offer our clients sizable – yet fair – settlements once we take on the case. This is because past experience tells them they don’t want to face our lawyers in court.
The best outcome for your workplace injury produces a fair settlement for you without having to go to trial. But if a trial is necessary, we are more than willing to vigorously argue your case in order to win the fair judgment that you deserve from ALL defendants. We represent you to the best of our skill and ability. And if we’re able to secure fair compensation for you without taking your case to court, you can get back on your feet faster and resume living your life.
So if you or someone you love has been hurt on the job, our attorneys can help you collect the compensation you need and deserve, and bring those responsible for your work injuries to justice. Call us at 1(800) 862-1260 for a free consultation.
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