You are making a delivery when another driver runs a red light and hits your car. Your doctor tells you to stay home while you recover. Now you have medical bills and no paycheck coming in. You might be unsure whether your employer or the other driver will help pay your costs.
In Indiana, you may qualify for workers’ compensation if the crash happens while you do your job. You could also seek payment from the other driver through a separate claim.
When a drive counts as work
Workers’ compensation covers certain costs when you get hurt on the job. That includes some trips away from your usual workplace.
When your employer sends you to make a delivery, that trip forms part of your work. Your normal drive from home to work, however, usually does not.
For a covered injury, your employer or its insurer generally chooses your doctor and pays for your care. You qualify for partial wage benefits if your injuries keep you from working for more than seven days. You do not have to prove that anyone else caused the crash.
When you can seek payment from the other driver
Workers’ compensation does not pay for pain and suffering. If the other driver caused the crash through careless driving, you might have a separate injury claim. Unlike work benefits, that claim requires proof that the driver caused your injuries.
That claim lets you seek damages for physical pain and mental distress. A settlement with the driver also affects your work benefits. Indiana law gives your employer or its insurer a right to recover certain past payments from that settlement. Settling with the driver can also end future work benefits.
Before accepting a settlement
You may want to report the crash to your employer and save records that show you were making a delivery. Before settling with the other driver, it might help to ask how much of the payment would repay your work benefits. That review helps you see how much you would receive and whether your work benefits would stop.
