You sometimes have to drive for work, and it just so happens that you were driving to get to a client’s site when another vehicle T-boned you. You were hurt badly, and the emergency team rushed you to the hospital.
Today, you’re unable to go back to work, but you’re worried about making ends meet. With a concussion and several other injuries, there’s just no chance that you can be on the job.
What can you do if you’re hit while driving for work?
The first thing to remember is that you’re hit while on the job. As a result, that means that you should be covered by workers’ compensation so long as driving was part of your job that day. For example, if you are driving from your workplace to another client’s site, that’s a work-related incident. If you’re driving from home to work, it may not be.
Proving that this is a work-related accident should be simple in your case since you were between jobs and performing your duties. As such, you should be entitled to workers’ compensation for your medical care and for the replacement of at least some of your wages.
How do you handle a crash while on company time?
When you’re in a car crash while on the job, you need to get in touch with your employer. In cases where you’re intending to meet clients or driving to different sites for work, people may notice you haven’t shown up, but you should do all you can to alert them that you’ve been involved in a collision.
Regardless of fault, your workers’ compensation insurance will kick in to cover your medical care. If the other driver is at fault, their insurance should cover losses that your workers’ compensation insurance may not. If the crash is your fault, you or your employer may be liable, depending on the specifics of the case. In either situation, your workers’ compensation insurance still protects you and your medical needs, provides financial support and gives you other benefits.
There are some gray areas in car crashes involving employees who are on the job, so it’s a smart choice to talk to your employer and attorney about what to expect. In cases where you can easily prove that you were on the job, you should have no trouble accessing the workers’ compensation benefits that should be provided for your care.