Can you get workers’ compensation benefits for your car crash?

Workers’ compensation insurance offers protection to employees while they are carrying out their job duties. If those job duties included driving a vehicle — and the worker was “on the job” at the time the car crash occurred — then workers’ compensation insurance may pay for his or her medical care, time spent unable to work and more.

Here are the most important facts to be considered when determining if your accident injuries will be covered:

— Were you driving from one work area to another work area?

— Were you running errands or making deliveries for your employer/boss?

— Were you driving employees somewhere for work purposes?

— Are you based remotely, and are you paid for your travel time when driving to and from your residence?

— Did you deviate from your usual route in order to complete a personal errand?

— Did you submit a “notice of loss” to the workers’ compensation insurance provider in a timely fashion after your accident and injuries?

One area of concern for personal injury cases, which is not so important in workers’ compensation claims, is the issue of fault. It doesn’t matter if your work-related car accident was your fault or someone else’s. Conversely, the most important factor is: Did it happen on the job?

Following a work-related auto collision, injured employees may be unable to work while they receive medical care and heal from their injuries. They will also have many expensive medical bills to pay. Fortunately, if injured workers can successfully navigate their Alabama workers’ compensation claims, they can receive financial benefits to pay for their medical expenses and time spent out of work.

Source: FindLaw, “When is an auto accident injury covered by workers’ compensation insurance?,” accessed April 18, 2017