Q: Workers compensation contract
I don't remember signing a workers compensation contract. And I didn't want to be under workers compensation. I got ran over by a garbage truck. One of the workers compensation clients must of came in and had me sign their contracts when I was at the hospital under the fluence when I was hooked up to the I.V's. Can the contract be voided if my mind wasn't stable enough to understand what was going on? Or am I stuck under workers compensation?
A: There are not enough important details in your question to be able to get give you a good answer. For example, who owned the garbage truck? Who was driving the garbage truck? Where did this happen? You may actually have both a personal injury claim and a workers compensation claim. You should contact a lawyer that handles both personal injury and workers compensation claims to further discuss your particular situation. Most lawyers that practice this type of law do not charge you attorney fees unless they win.
Domenic J. Celeste and Tim Rose agree with this answer
A: Florida law states that workers' compensation insurance is required when a business has four or more employees, either full- or part-time. ... Sole proprietors and partners are automatically excluded from workers' comp law, but they can purchase coverage by filing for election of coverage Are you an employer? Are you sole practitioner? You should work with a lawyer to sort things out.
Domenic J. Celeste agrees with this answer
A: I'm not sure what you mean by under a workers' compensation contract. Workers' compensation insurance is purchased by your employer to provide injured employees coverage for medical care and lost wages. You don't HAVE to use it to cover your medical care, but, if your health insurance knows that you were injured on the job, it may deny you coverage since the workers' compensation insurance should be covering you. Work comp coverage is, somewhat, automatically applied when you're hurt on the job. If you were injured by a 3rd party (garbage truck here), then you could have both workers' compensation AND personal injury cases; work comp with your employer and personal injury against the garbage truck company. You don't have to choose one or the other; you can proceed with both simultaneously. I'd highly recommend that you hire an attorney licensed to practice law in Florida and who regularly handles both workers' compensation and personal injury cases, or you could hire one attorney for each. I'd recommend getting an attorney who practices both, though.
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