Car Accidents Happen - At Work

When most people think of car wreck cases they first think of a person driving to or from work.  However, many car wrecks happen at work.  So if you have a car wreck on the job, do you have a work comp. case or a personal injury case?  The answer –you could have both.

If you are on the job and are hit by another vehicle, you may have a workers’ compensation case and a personal injury case against the person who hit you (third party claim).  At Attorney Cody Allison & Associates, The Work Comp. Team (615) 234-6000, if no conflict exists, we will handle both the workers’ compensation case and the personal injury case.   In most cases, the workers’ compensation insurance company will step up and began paying for medical treatment.  This is because in a work comp. case you do not have to prove negligence, but simply that you were injured in the course and scope of employment. 

Personal injury cases require proof that the person who hit you was negligent.  Even in cases where it is obvious the other person hit you, the defendant’s insurance company will often not admit fault on the front end.  Therefore, they are not going to pay the medical bills for someone whom they have yet to admit they are responsible.

In the scenario above, is the workers compensation insurance company paid back? If you are able to prove fault or achieve a settlement in the personal injury case the work comp guys will be entitled to receive some payment for the bills they had to pay on behalf of the injured worker.  You see, but for the defendant (third party vehicle) hitting you, the work comp. insurance would not have had to pay for medical bills.  Thus, when the third party pays up, the work comp. insurance gets their part back.

If you have been involved in a similar scenario, please call the attorneys at Cody Allison & Associates / The Work Comp. Team (615) 234-6000, or you can e-mail me at: cody@codyallison.com.  We can help you recover from the responsible party and help put your life back together.  

Nashville, Tennessee workers’ compensation / Middle  Tennessee workers’ compensation / Davidson County workers’ compensation