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In New South Wales (NSW), workers’ compensation is a legal requirement for all employers. Workers’ compensation insurance is designed to provide financial assistance to employees who are injured or become ill as a result of their work. This insurance covers medical expenses, lost wages, and other expenses related to the employee’s injury or illness.
However, not all employers comply with this requirement, and some may not have workers’ compensation insurance in place. Fines and heavy penalties apply to employers or businesses who hire workers but do not have a valid policy in place to cover them.
If you are injured on the job and your employer does not have workers’ compensation insurance, don’t worry, because all workers in NSW are covered for work-related injuries and illnesses under state legislation. Even if your employer is uninsured, you can still make a claim through iCare workers insurance.
It is obviously no fault of your own that your employer did not have a Policy in place to cover you, as a result, an injured worker whose employer does not have Workers Compensation Insurance is covered by the governments safety net, iCare Insurance – Uninsured Liability Indemnity Scheme. This scheme then becomes the nominal insurer liable for claims lodged by you against the uninsured employer.
To make a claim through iCare workers compensation, you will need to provide a copy of the WorkCover Certificate of Capacity. This certificate is obtained from your treating doctor and provides medical evidence of your injury as a result of your employment, and any incapacity for employment suffered due to your injury.
When reporting the incident, you should have the following available:
- Your employer’s details.
- Contact details of your treating doctor.
- Description of the incident and your injury.
- Details of any time off work.
Once you have notified iCare, iCare may conduct investigations before accepting liability to help determine liability and/or gather additional information. The purpose of these investigations is to determine:
- The actual employer who hired you
- Whether the employer who employed you was actually uninsured
- Whether you are a worker as defined by the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998
- Whether the injury for which you are claiming compensation occurred while you were working for the nominated employer, and the employment was a substantial contributing factor to the injury.
Understandably, these investigations are worrying and complex for an injured worker who has been informed that their employer did not have workers compensation insurance.
Fortunately, at Jameson Law, our Workers Compensation lawyers can assist and guide an injured worker in understanding the complexities of both an uninsured and insured workers compensation claim. If you have suffered an injury at work, are concerned if your employer has workers compensation insurance or are seeking general advice, we encourage you to contact our office to seek specialist legal advice on a “No Win-No Fee” basis. One of our workers compensation lawyers can assist you in initiating a claim or providing you advice on your workers compensation entitlements. For further information please contact us on 02 8806 0866 today.
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