Protective

[Code 82 Approved]

I got a bill in the mail over the weekend from a collection attorney representing Protective Ins. who paid my claim when I broke my leg on the job at Ground 22 months ago.

Should I be freaked over the 6 figure amount?
My contractor is no longer involved with FedEx.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Why wasn't that a comp claim?

 

[Purplepackage]

Why wasn't that a comp claim?

So you were on your contractors health insurance plan? We're you covered under workers comp since you worked for a contractor?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

The contractor would have been required to carry comp as well as having the option of providing health insurance to his employees.

 

[overflowed]

I got a bill in the mail over the weekend from a collection attorney representing Protective Ins. who paid my claim when I broke my leg on the job at Ground 22 months ago.

Should I be freaked over the 6 figure amount?
My contractor is no longer involved with FedEx.

Like everyone is saying this should be under w comp. I would be very concerned if I got a 6 figure collection bill.

 

[bbsam]

In defense of the contractor, once it's reported to the work comp insurance, the contractor has nothing left to do. It's all in the hands of the insurance and health providers now. I know that doesn't inspire confidence.

 

[Nolimitz]

Provided there was valid WC in place...sounds like a possible nightmare.

 

[bbsam]

I got a bill in the mail over the weekend from a collection attorney representing Protective Ins. who paid my claim when I broke my leg on the job at Ground 22 months ago.

Should I be freaked over the 6 figure amount?
My contractor is no longer involved with FedEx.

Maybe you could be a test case and sue Fedex claiming you were a "co-employee" at the time.

 

[MAKAVELI]

Maybe you could be a test case and sue Fedex claiming you were a "co-employee" at the time.

Excellent idea. Get an attorney ASAP!

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

In all seriousness, what options does the OP have in this situation? Clearly it should have been a comp claim. Is it up to the employee to make sure that his employer has comp coverage?

A derogatory mark like this will devastate his credit, although I have to wonder if he had been receiving bills all along and chose to ignore them thinking that his employer had the proper coverage.

Could he end up being responsible for a 6 digit hospital bill? How in the hell do you even begin to pay that off? Can that be dischargeable through bankruptcy?

 

[It will be fine]

I've spent a lot of time dealing with comp, never heard of anything like this. OP was covered by comp, otherwise they never would have paid the bills in the first place. It sounds like they changed their mind on covering the claim. I don't know how they could do that absent some blatant fraud on OPs part. I'd call a lawyer that specializes in comp. a couple hundred dollar appointment is worth it to save 6 figures.

 

[bbsam]

In all seriousness, what options does the OP have in this situation? Clearly it should have been a comp claim. Is it up to the employee to make sure that his employer has comp coverage?

A derogatory mark like this will devastate his credit, although I have to wonder if he had been receiving bills all along and chose to ignore them thinking that his employer had the proper coverage.

Could he end up being responsible for a 6 digit hospital bill? How in the hell do you even begin to pay that off? Can that be dischargeable through bankruptcy?

I was being serious but to answer your question, the driver was absolutely covered by work comp. It's one of those overly controlling areas that X has oversight on. If a contractor let's coverage lapse, X is immediately informed and the vehicles don't move. In fact, we've seen it happen that all of a contractors vehicles were held up for several hours whIle a paperwork glitch was fixed.

 

[Code 82 Approved]

Just to clear the air, I Am OP
And my contractor himself got squashed under one of his own trucks a few months after I broke the leg.
If anything lapsed, I'm unaware.. how could I be in that loop?
I followed every single letter of the law regarding my recovery, with doc visits and followup and physical therapy.

 

[bbsam]

Just to clear the air, I Am OP
And my contractor himself got squashed under one of his own trucks a few months after I broke the leg.
If anything lapsed, I'm unaware.. how could I be in that loop?
I followed every single letter of the law regarding my recovery, with doc visits and followup and physical therapy.

That's just it. The coverage could not have lapsed

 

[Code 82 Approved]

I have a rod in my leg that reminds me of my injury every single day I walk through the safety shack. I require a personal scan.
To suggest I am a fraud, I have documents from the tree service guys who came to my rescue, cited for heroism in their industry publication that would discredit anything phony.

 

[It will be fine]

I have a rod in my leg that reminds me of my injury every single day I walk through the safety shack. I require a personal scan.
To suggest I am a fraud, I have documents from the tree service guys who came to my rescue, cited for heroism in their industry publication that would discredit anything phony.

Didn't mean to imply you were a fraud, only that's the only way I could imagine them trying to deny the claim years after accepting it.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Had you received any billing statements prior to the account being sent to collection?

 

[Code 82 Approved]

Maybe you could be a test case and sue Fedex claiming you were a "co-employee" at the time.

I hate to think about this but I may just do exactly this for back wages. Our "test" of doing drop boxes for a year.

 

[dmac1]

If you are no longer a driver, you can sue fedex. A judge recently ruled that McDonalds corporation was liable for a franchisee's employees. In essence, your contractor was the franchisee for fedex. I bet you could get an attorney to take this with no problem. Just research class action case by drivers against fedex. I suggest contacting the original lead attorney in the fedex- Shannon Liss Riordan. The spelling is probably wrong but close enough for google. Try this- [email protected] .You may even b able to get the Teamsters involved. This would be a great opportunity for them to settle whether fedex falls under the same McDonalds ruling. If in the meantime you suffer financially, you will have a lot of damages to sue for. You could help a lot of people by pursuing this a a class action.

There was just a discussion about this in a "hypothetical" situation that some contractors said wasn't realistic.

Sounds like maybe the contractor was no longer responsible for paying coverage, and all your bills from after that point weren't covered. At the very least, since your injury occurred while the contractor was still covered, the insurer would still be liable. But maybe since his account was cancelled, you got lost in the paperwok shuffle.

 

[Code 82 Approved]

No, actually the only hint I had of this entire issue was my sis calling me telling me my niece's ex bf was contacted, and it baffled me for a few days. WTF , I broke my leg...