September 29, 2017 by Cortney Ranta

Lending a Helping Hand: Workers’ Compensation & Out of State Coverage

When disaster strikes, it’s common to see people come together to help out their fellow neighbor, community, state or even country. The recent weather events, specifically in Texas & Florida, have proven yet again the spirit of human kind is not lost. There will be many people traveling across the country to lend a helping hand in the recovery efforts with most of them being contractors. It’s important to keep in mind before you head south to review your Workers’ Compensation policy and give your agent a call to be sure you avoid any gap in coverage as each insurance company responds differently.

Some carriers will add the appropriate state(s) to Coverage 3A of the Workers’ Compensation policy while others will not provide coverage at all, as they may not be licensed to do business in the affected states. Some states, Florida being one, can issue penalties of $1,000/day if the proper coverage is not in place. There are also other issues to keep in mind such as unfamiliar working conditions (i.e. flood waters, contamination & downed power lines). Be sure to do some research in order to maintain high safety standards for you and your employees. In addition to notifying your agent, below are some helpful resources on Workers’ Compensation rules for TX, FL, LA & MS along with a bulletin from OSHA on various hazards & protective measures during disaster recoveries. To those that will be volunteering their time to help with the relief efforts down south, be safe & thank you!

Division of Workers’ Compensation

Texas Department of Insurance

7551 Metro Center Drive

Austin, TX 78744-1609

Telephone (512) 804-4000

http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/wc/indexwc.html

Division of Workers’ Compensation

200 East Gaines Street

Tallahassee, FL 32399-4220

1-800-742-2214

http://www.myfloridacfo.com/division/wc

Office of Workers’ Compensation