Each employer in Louisiana is legally required to ensure that its employees are provided workers' compensation coverage in the event of a workplace injury. An employer cannot require an employee to pay for her own workers' compensation policy. Neither can an employer classify an employee as an "independent contractor" for purposes of avoiding workers' compensation responsibilities. If your employer is not adequately insured for workers' compensation benefits, you may seek those benefits directly from the employer and the employer could suffer legal sanctions and civil penalties.
However, what if your employer does not give you the name of the insurance company responsible for handling your workers’ compensation claim? How are you to proceed? In the past, this proved to be a very difficult situation and further added to the difficulties encountered by the injured worker. Too often, our clients have been delayed or denied benefits because the employer refused to give her the insurance information. Now, the field has been leveled a bit.
To find the insurance company, access:
http://www.laworks.net/WorkersComp/OWC_EmployerMenu.asp
and click on “Employers’ Workers’ Compensation Coverage Verification”. Once there, you can enter all or part of the name of the employer along with the date of accident. This search will soon reveal the name of the insurance company and the insurance policy number. A quick Google search will then give you the contact information for the insurance company. Once the claim is reported to the insurance company, an adjuster is assigned and a determination is made regarding payment of benefits.
Navigating this process can often be very complicated. Call us at 225-293-9720 for help.
