Workers’ Compensation
One common type of no-fault systems in the United States are workers’ compensation systems. Workers’ compensation systems are a form of no-fault insurance set up by state governments and imposed upon employers and employees. If an employee is hurt while “on the job,” his or her medical bills and lost wages will be paid by the workers compensation system.
Because workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, an injured employee gets paid whether the injury was caused by the negligence of the employer, a third party or the employee himself. The employee need only show that he or she was injured while on the job or developed a disease because of their job.
On the other hand, the employee does not have the option of suing the employer even if the injury or disease is the result of negligence on the part of the employer. The employer is “immune” from lawsuit. The only remedy available to an injured employee is the workers’ compensation system.
However, in some states, there are a few occasions when an injured worker is not limited to the workers compensation system and can sue an employer for negligence.
First, in many places an employer can be sued if the employer failed to pay the required premiums or fees to the workers’ compensation system. This does not necessarily mean that the employee cannot use the workers’ compensation system; it just means the employer does not benefit from immunity from being sued.
Also, in some states, an injured employee is not limited to the workers’ compensation system if the employer intentionally hurts him or if the employer’s conduct reaches a particularly high level of recklessness.
Finally, workers’ compensation systems only protect employers (and fellow employees) from being sued for their negligence. If an employee is injured on the job by a third party, not related to the employment, that third party can be sued. For example, if an employee is at work and is negligently hit by a delivery truck and the delivery company is not affiliated with the employee’s employer the injured employee can sue the delivery company for his or her injuries.
Because the employee was at work, he or she could collect workers’ compensation benefits and sue the delivery company, although the workers’ compensation system may have to be paid back if damages are collected from the delivery company.
Workers’ compensation systems are frequently complicated and difficult to navigate. Because of that, if you have difficulty with your claim, you should have an personal injury attorney represent you in your claim. Also, it’s a good idea to consult an personal injury attorney about whether there is anyone who is not protected by workers’ compensation immunity that might be liable to you for your injuries.
Property Damage in car accidents
Property damage is not in and of itself a personal injury. However, I believe that no introduction to the law of car accidents would be complete without a summary of issues involving property damages to your car.
Many people do not know their rights with regard to damages to their car. Remember that different states have different rules, so you should look into the particular rules in your state governing property damage in order to know what will apply to you.
I’ll go over the different categories of damages that you should know about and mention some particular areas of interest within each category.
The types of damages that you can claim when your car is damaged often vary, depending on whether the accident was your fault or someone else’s. In general, when the accident is your fault, you can recover whatever damages your own insurance policy provides and based on what coverages you have paid for. Keep in mind that your state’s law may have certain things that your insurer must cover if you have purchased coverage.
When the damage is the fault of the other driver, you are typically entitled to recover damages from him or her in several categories. First, and most obvious, you are entitled to have your car fixed or if it is not cost effective to fix the car the insurance company may elect to “total” the car and simply pay you for its value. In some states, if the estimate to repair the car exceeds a certain percentage of the “book” or market value of the car, then the car must be totaled.
For example, the law might provide that if the cost to repair a damaged vehicle exceeds 80 percent of the value of the car, then the insurance company must declare the vehicle totaled. In that example, if a car is worth $10,000 and the cost to repair the vehicle is more than $8,000, the car has to be declared totaled.
Another issue that you may want to pay particular attention to if the insurer elects to repair the vehicle is the use of aftermarket or used repair parts. Aftermarket parts are parts manufactured by companies other than the manufacturer of your car. Used parts typically come from the non-damaged portions of otherwise totaled and “junked” cars which are sold off for parts.
Insurance companies can save a lot of money by purchasing aftermarket or used repair parts rather than new parts from the car’s original manufacturer. These cheaper parts may or may not be as good as new original manufacturer’s repair parts. Your state’s law might allow the insurance company to repair your vehicle with used parts, especially if your car is older.
However, some states require that new parts made by the vehicle’s manufacturer be used under certain circumstances, such as when the vehicle is within a certain number of years old and/or under a certain mileage.
Check your state’s laws to see when or if the insurance company is entitled to use cheaper parts before you accept such repairs.
If the insurance adjuster declares your vehicle a “total” loss, then the adjuster must pay you the value of the vehicle, as provided by law. In many states, insurance companies must pay you the value as determined by some government approved used car valuing guide, such as the NADA (National Automobile Dealers Association) guide, and they often must pay retail.
In addition, the insurance company often must pay you an additional percentage of the value of the car to cover sales or use tax, plus any other typical government motor vehicle type fees.
Another category of damages that you may be entitled to in some states and that often insurance companies fail to point out to you if you do not know about it is “diminution in value” damages. This type of damage applies when another party is at fault and your vehicle is repaired rather than declared a total loss.
The concept of diminution in value damages is relatively simple. You have most likely had the experience of trading in a car at the dealership and had the salesperson ask you whether your car has ever been wrecked. They ask you this because if the vehicle has ever been wrecked, even if it was properly repaired, its value is reduced, especially if there were repairs to the frame.
Thus, they will give you less money for your trade-in than if it had never been wrecked. Since this is a loss that was the fault of the other driver, you are entitled to make a claim at the time of settlement with the wrongdoer’s insurance company for this lowered vehicle value, called diminution in value.
A common way to prove the amount of diminution in value is to get a letter from the trade-in appraiser at a car dealership indicating how much less the vehicle is worth because it had been previously damaged.
Finally, a property damage claim would also include any damages to items within the car. For example, suppose the car is rear-ended and that destroys a guitar in the trunk. The property damage claim would include the value of the guitar.
Also be careful to make sure that you are properly paid for the value of expensive aftermarket additions to your car, such as custom wheels or an expensive stereo added by you after the car was initially purchased. The “book” value applies to the originally equipped car including its original factory or dealer added options.
You may not be entitled to additional payment for tires that happened to have been recently purchased because tires are a usual part of the car and the “book” value usually assumes the car has tires of reasonably new condition. On the other hand, if you put new rims on the car, which are much more valuable than the car’s original rims, you may be entitled to additional money (or you could keep the new rims and put the old rims back on).