Like most in Saint Charles, you likely make assumptions about certain situations in life. One of those may be that if you are in a car accident, your auto insurance will help pay for your accident expenses. Another may be that workers’ compensation will cover the cost of any injuries that you suffer while at work. Yet many come to us here at the Hale Injury Lawyers asking who pays if they are involved in a car accident while on the job?
It is a fair question, given that according to information shared by the National Safety Council, a car accident occurs every five seconds in the U.S. Thus, it is not unreasonable to think that you could be involved in a collision while performing some sort of work-related activity. If you are driving a company vehicle when such an accident occurs, then it is likely that your company maintains insurance on the vehicle. Workers’ compensation would likely then pay for whatever injuries you suffer.
Yet what if you are driving your own vehicle? Your auto insurance company may require that workers’ compensation be billed before it makes any coverage available. Whether workers’ compensation will cover the costs of your accident depends on both what you were doing when it occurred and what sort of expenses you incur. If your task was not entirely related to your work (e.g., you being in an accident while on your lunch break), workers’ compensation may not cover it. Workers’ compensation will also typically only cover injury costs, not damages to your vehicle or those that you might have caused. Having a business rider added to your auto insurance policy may provide such additional coverage.
More information on covering the costs of workplace accidents can be found here on our site.
