Legal Question in Workers Comp in Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Workers Compensation Act has extra-territorial provisions that make out of state employer's liable in certain circumstances. Trucking companies have higher exposure under these rules than other types of industries.

I once recovered several hundreds of thousand of dollars for a trucker who lived in OH, drove out of an OH depot, was injured in W. Va. and did the majority of his driving in PA. Although the company was a PA company, the extra-teritorial provisions applied because the injury occurred out of state. They had to pay PA beneifts in additon to OH benefits because the driver spent a substantial majority of his time in transit in PA and use the companies PA terminals.

If you are finding yourself on the wrong side of a claim without insurance you should hire independent counsel to review your policy and make sure that you cannot argue that it provides coverage. If it does not, you should consult your counsel about bringing an errors and ommissions claim against your insurance agent. You may be able to argue that the agent was neglignet for not obtaining PA coverage, especially if your trucks often transit in or through PA.

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