California Changes Disputes With Bill Signed By Governor Brown
The State of California changes landscape of premium audits and others disputes. Last night, I was reading over a short article that covered a new area for insureds in California Workers Comp disputes. I will actually cover more on CA over the next few weeks. The state has been very active lately on Workers Compensation law changes.
One caveat is the bill signed by Governor Brown does not say that you can actually negotiate contract provisions AFTER the policy have been signed off on by all parties. Your company must act BEFORE the policy goes into effect. This is Risk Management at its best. Insureds being able to possibly change their insurance policies provisions BEFORE the policy may be of benefit.
We usually receive calls and emails after a policy dispute has begun with a carrier. One thing that we write in all of our reports to clients is that we must follow what is in the policy. Workers Comp policies are usually created cookie-cutter style when it comes to the policy provisions. By the way, when is the last time that you or one of your staff read your WHOLE Workers Comp insurance policy?
There are certain sections of the policy that define when and how your company has to proceed with any type of dispute. There are also provisions on coverages such as states in which your company has insurance. We have seen companies having to pay out-of-pocket in CA as their employee was injured in another state and filed a claim that was accepted in another state. This happens very often with trucking/transportation companies. Do you know which states your Workers Comp policy provides coverage?
We find those provisions in the back pages of the policy. I also recommend that you read your Workers Comp policy like you are studying for a test with highlighter in hand. If you find clauses in your policy that you do not understand or question, please forward those to your agent or you can always send me an email.
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