Were you injured in a car accident in Monroe, Georgia and workers comp paid for your medical bills?
If so, you may be wondering if you have to pay workers’ comp back if you receive a settlement from the at-fault driver. Please see below Georgia law on when you must pay back workers’ compensation.
GEORGIA WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAW
O.C.G.A. § 34-9-11.1 governs when an accident victim has to pay back workers’ comp after a settlement with an at-fault driver.
The only way a workers’ compensation insurer can require you to pay back what it paid for your medical bills is if the workers’ compensation carrier can show you have been fully and completely compensated by your settlement from the at-fault driver.
O.C.G.A. § 34-9-11.1(b) states:
The employer’s or insurer’s recovery … shall only be recoverable if the injured employee has been fully and completely compensated, taking into consideration both the benefits received under this chapter and the amount of the recovery in the third-party claim, for all economic and noneconomic losses incurred as a result of the injury.
It is difficult for workers’ compensation insurers to prove a settlement fully and compensated the accident victim, because almost all settlements require some sort of compromise by both sides to come to a settlement agreement.
Because of this, it is hard for the workers’ compensation insurer to say an accident victim was “fully and completely compensated.”
When a case goes to trial, however, and a verdict is awarded by a jury, it is easier for a workers’ compensation insurer to then prove the accident victim was fully and completely compensated.
CONTACT BARTLETT BENTON
If you have been injured in a car accident in Monroe, Georgia and would like a free case evaluation, please call Bartlett at 770-365-6414.
Benton & Benton
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