MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
 When an employee has an accident in a commercial vehicle, there is often uncertainty about what type of insurance will pay for the damages. While most commercial vehicles should be covered under commercial auto insurance, it may not cover everything. And things can also be complicated when workers compensation insurance is involved.
As a rule, commercial auto insurance policies should include coverage for injuries. Injuries include those suffered by the driver and their passengers, other drivers and passengers, and pedestrians. This only applies for policies that include coverage such as:
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Medical Payments Coverage: Known as Personal Injury Protection (PIP) in some states, medical payments coverage provides compensation for injuries the driver and passengers ay suffer after an accident, no matter who caused the accident. This means that even if an employee driver causes an accident, their injuries should still be covered.
Liability insurance is required for all vehicles in most states, but medical payments coverage may be optional. Make sure your commercial auto insurance policy includes medical payments coverage to protect everyone inside the work vehicles.
What Pays First: Commercial Auto Insurance or Workers Compensation?
In most cases, a business’ insurer will work to find which compensation will be best in what situation. If you have multiple insurers, they will work together to coordinate compensation. Workers compensation will generally pay first when it comes to an employee injury resulting from a commercial vehicle accident with commercial auto insurance stepping in for additional coverage if necessary.
Workers compensation only applies to the employee, however. If the employee has a passenger or multiple passengers, those injuries should still be covered under commercial auto insurance.
The main difference between medical payments coverage and workers compensation is that workers compensation insurance also helps cover wage replacement while the employee is unable to work. Wage replacement is paid based on a percentage of the employee’s original income and installed in payments according to their usual pay schedule. For example, if the employee is usually paid monthly, their workers compensation benefits will be paid monthly.
Employers should be sure to communicate with their insurance providers to discuss how their commercial auto insurance may work with other policies such as workers compensation. It is crucial to make sure you and your employees are covered in case of an accident.
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