Getting Workers’ Comp After a Car Accident

Employees who drive need to be aware that sometimes, accidents will happen. Therefore, if they were to get injured in a wreck, they need to have the ability to get assistance covering their medical bills, lost income and other financial strains. While you might have commercial auto insurance available to you under these circumstances, you will likely have to address employee injuries under workers’ compensation insurance. 

Let’s take a closer look at how workers’ compensation insurance can apply to injuries sustained in company vehicle accidents. 

A Real-World Example 
Suppose that you dispatch one of your employees on an errand, assignment or delivery project. Though you expect their trip to go off without a hitch, you can’t guarantee that something won’t go wrong. 

If an accident were to happen, then the ramifications could be far-reaching. The employee driver might be at fault for the accident, the company vehicle might sustain damage and those involved might sustain injuries. In any event, the company will have to take responsibility for its own losses, and they can do so by filing a claim against their commercial auto insurance. 

However, employee driver injuries often fall under the scope of your workers’ compensation benefits. Though these are separate from commercial auto insurance, they are no less important when it comes to providing injured drivers with support following accidents.  

Why Businesses Need Workers’ Compensation Insurance  
Occupational injuries, even those that come from a vehicle accident, could force an employee off the job. Not only might the injured employee face significant medical bills and other recovery costs, but they might also be unable to earn their regular paycheck. 

It is workers’ compensation insurance that will help them out under these circumstances. This benefit will provide an injured employee with supplementary income, medical bill coverage and other assistance that will ease their burden throughout their recovery period. 

How Workers’ Compensation Insurance Applies to Vehicle Accidents 
An employee who is operating a vehicle a part of their working duties is performing work. Therefore, they will be entitled to workers’ compensation if they get hurt in a wreck. Even though the business owner might not be at fault for the accident itself, it still occurred on their watch. Therefore, they will need to be responsive to the driver’s losses. 

There are a couple of exceptions to this rule, however. For example, drivers will not qualify for workers’ compensation if they get injured in a wreck while commuting to work. They will also not qualify if they are driving a company car while they are officially off the clock. 

Your commercial insurance provider will be there to explain all of the technicalities of workers’ compensation to you. Don’t hesitate to ask them precisely how benefits will apply to the injuries someone sustained in a company vehicle accident.