Missouri Insurance Lawyer Blog

If you are a business owner and employ workers, you may wonder if you are required to carry Workers' Compensation coverage. As a general rule, employers with five or more employees must carry it. For the purposes of Workers' Compensation, an employee is any full or part-time worker, including seasonal and temporary workers. There are exceptions for a small group of service employees, such as farm laborers, domestic servants and commercial motor-carrier owner-operators. Another exception is that a contractor must carry the coverage, even if they only have one employee because of the high likelihood of workplace injuries.

Failing to provide coverage when required is a class A misdemeanor. The penalty fine is equal to three times the annual premium you should have paid, up to $50,000. In addition to the criminal charge and fines, you will also be held responsible for the costs of any injuries your employees sustained at work during the time you were not covered. Repeat violations can earn you a class D felony.

If you are a business owner and you aren't sure about whether you are required to provide Workers' Compensation coverage for your employees, you can call the Division of Workers' Compensation at 573-751-4231 or 888-837-6069 for assistance. You can also visit their website.

Continue reading "Who Is Required To Carry Workers' Compensation Coverage?" »

Missouri has a state-mandated insurance program called Workers' Compensation. Most companies whose businesses are in Missouri are required to carry the Workers' Compensation insurance on their employees. The employee can file a claim against it in the event they are injured on the job. Workers' Compensation is supposed to cover medical treatment related to the workplace injury. It also provides temporary disability payments equal to up to 2/3 of the employees average weekly wage after 3 days of work are missed. In the event that the employee has a permanent impairment or is unable to return to work, additional payments are required. If the injury resulted in the employee's death, the benefits are paid to the surviving dependants. In return for providing their employees with Workers' Compensation coverage, the employers are protected from most civil lawsuits over workplace injuries.

The Division of Workers' Compensation of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations is the regulatory division of our state government that oversees the Workers' Compensation program. When an employee is injured, the claim is filed with the Division of Workers' Compensation, through which any disputes are also handled.

For more information regarding Workers' Compensation and injured workers, visit the Missouri Division of Workers' Compensation website.

Continue reading "What is Workers' Compensation?" »

Many people are worried that their insurance company will not renew them if they make a claim. In today's market there are numerous other choices if your insurance company denies your claim. However, if you have been refused a renewal by your company and you wish to stay with the company you do not have to accept their decision.

Insurance companies usually refuse to renew policies because of claims against the policy or when they have dropped the line of insurance as a product line. If you have no claims on your policy and you believe your insurance company unfairly refused to renew your policy because of false claims information, you should contact your insurance commissioners consumer service division. If your carrier refuses to renew your policy even after working with the commissioners consumer service division and you are having a difficult time finding coverage elsewhere you may wish to contact an attorney to discuss your legal rights.

For more information on insurance in Missouri, visit the MO Department of Insurance website.

Directors and officers insurance liability coverage provides insurance to the directors and officers of companies for a wide variety of claims. Typically these claims include negligent acts, omissions or misleading statements made by directors and officers of the corporation that results in claims or lawsuit against the business. Directors and officers coverage is offered by different insurers with too many different options to discuss fully in this blog post. However, it can generally be purchased to provide the corporation with coverage to cover claims made against the company, or to specifically cover directors and officers if the company does not offer indemnity to the directors or officers or is not required by law to do so with the type of entity for which they work. In addition, it can be purchased so that it reimburses the company for their expenses and indemnifying the directors and officers.

Notably, these types of policies may not include a duty of the insurer to defend the insured, but does have an obligation to pay for the associated costs, subject to and applicable deduction and exhaustion of a policy limits. Many of these policies have terms which require notice and consent prior to incurring defense costs. Thus, the prudent policy holder will inform the insurer not only of the claims, but notify any of the attorneys who are defending the claim and seek consent both on the choice of lawyers and confirm the incurring of the defense costs.

It is important that the policyholder complies with the coverage terms. However, if a dispute about coverage arises some provisions of the policy may not bind the insured. It is important to consult with an attorney if you have a claim made against you under your directors and offices insurance policy.

When an insurance company goes broke, state government steps in to the gap to help protect policyholders. Unfortunately the state guarantee funds are only able to cover each claim up to a limited amount per claim. Amounts vary from state to state. This article from the New York Times discusses the fear many people have had about their own insurance company going broke.

Your Money - What Happens When Your Insurer Goes Under? - NYTimes.com.

For decades life insurance companies have hammered home the necessity of having life insurance to protect your family. This marketing campaign by the insures has become such a common part of the fabric of life in the United States, that it is uncommon that a married couple will not have some form of life insurance on at least the primary wage earner. Many families have life insurance on both spouses and sometimes even there children.

Life insurance is widely sold in the United States and it is unfortunately not always easy to collect. Some large insurance companies will deny claims hoping that the grieving spouse with children will be unable to challenge the insurance company's decision. Life insurance companies know that they can take advantage of people who do not have a lawyer because they do not know the law. Depending upon how the policy is sold, the law may also favor the life insurance company making it even harder for an unrepresented person to collect the benefits under the life insurance policy.

Continue reading "Missouri Life Insurance Claims Denials" »