Legal Question in Workers Comp in California
My husband is on Workmen's Comp. Back in March, 2009, we never received one of his checks. We notified his Claim's Rep. several times, and were finally told the check had been cashed. In September, we received a letter from the Claim's Division stating they never recovered the check, and needed to know why! We marked the box that stated we never received the check, and put a note next to it "plus late fees". My husband recently spoke with his current Claims Rep. and was told that there will not be any late fees added to the check, because the check had been mailed out back in March. Can they not add late fees because the check was supposidly mailed out, even though we contacted them, letting them know we never received the check, or do they have to provide the appropriate late fees, which is now 8 almost 9 months worth of late fees?
1 Answer from Attorneys
In situations like this the carrier can rightly argue that a check was timely sent. However, it appears there was a glitch. Given that you notified the carrier that the check was not recieved, you have standing to petition for a late fee. However, my experience is that you will probably have to set the matter for trial. When I find myself in such a position with a client, I file a penalty petition with the notion that I will use the petition as a bargaining chip at settlement. In other words, I dismiss the penalty if the carrier makes payment on something else, for example travel expenses to a physician they consider outside their MPN, or a slight increase in PD.
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