Injured in a Car Accident While Working in North Carolina? Your Legal Options

A Work-Related Car Accident Can Create Two Different Claims

When a North Carolina employee is injured in a collision while performing job duties, there may be two separate sources of compensation.

The first is a North Carolina workers’ compensation claim. Under North Carolina law, a compensable injury generally must arise out of and occur in the course of employment. Workers’ compensation is designed to provide certain medical and disability benefits without requiring the employee to prove that the employer caused the accident.

The second may be a third-party personal injury claim. If someone other than your employer caused the collision — for example, another motorist who ran a red light or rear-ended your vehicle — you may also have a negligence claim against that person.

North Carolina law specifically recognizes that receiving workers’ compensation benefits does not automatically eliminate an injured worker’s right to pursue a responsible third party.

Attorney Perspective: Why the Two Claims Need to Be Coordinated

When workers’ compensation and an auto injury claim arise from the same accident, treating them as completely separate matters can create problems later.

Medical bills may initially be paid through workers’ compensation. Wage-loss benefits may also be paid while you are unable to work. If you later recover compensation from the at-fault driver, the workers’ compensation carrier may have reimbursement or lien rights against part of that recovery.

That does not mean you should avoid pursuing one claim because the other exists. It means the two claims need to be evaluated together from the beginning so that medical treatment, insurance negotiations and any eventual settlement are handled with the full picture in mind.

 

When Does Workers’ Compensation Cover a Car Accident?

Under North Carolina General Statute § 97-2, an injury generally must arise out of and in the course of employment to qualify for workers’ compensation.

A vehicle accident may fall within workers’ compensation when the employee was driving as part of the job. Examples can include traveling between work locations, making deliveries, transporting equipment, visiting customers, attending an off-site assignment or performing another task for the employer.

The fact that you were driving your own vehicle rather than a company vehicle does not necessarily determine whether the accident was work-related. The more important question is generally what you were doing and why you were traveling when the collision occurred.

What About an Accident During Your Normal Commute?

Ordinary travel between home and a regular workplace is treated differently.

North Carolina courts generally apply what is known as the “coming and going” rule, under which an accident during a normal commute ordinarily does not arise out of and in the course of employment.

There are exceptions, however. Coverage may depend upon facts such as whether the employee was performing a special errand for the employer, traveling as an essential part of the job, using employer-provided transportation under the employment arrangement or otherwise carrying out work duties during the trip.

For that reason, an employee should not assume that a claim is either covered or excluded simply because the accident happened away from the employer’s physical premises.

 

What Can Workers’ Compensation Pay After a Work-Related Crash?

If the accident qualifies for workers’ compensation, available benefits may include authorized medical treatment and wage-replacement benefits when the injury prevents the employee from working or reduces earning capacity.

Depending upon the injury and its long-term effects, additional disability benefits may also be available under North Carolina workers’ compensation law.

Workers’ compensation does not, however, provide the same categories of damages available in an ordinary personal injury lawsuit. In particular, workers’ compensation does not award damages simply for pain and suffering.

That distinction becomes especially important when another driver caused the collision.

 

When Can You Also Bring a Claim Against the Other Driver?

If a driver who is not your employer caused the accident, you may have a separate third-party injury claim in addition to the workers’ compensation case.

For example, suppose you are driving between customer locations for work when another motorist crosses the center line and hits your vehicle. The accident may qualify as a work-related injury, but the negligent driver may also be legally responsible for the damage caused by the collision.

A third-party North Carolina car accident claim may seek compensation for losses that are not fully addressed through workers’ compensation, potentially including:

• Medical expenses attributable to the crash
• Past and future lost income
• Reduced earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Permanent impairment or disfigurement
• Property damage and other recoverable losses

The value and availability of those damages will depend upon the facts of the accident, the severity of the injuries, insurance coverage and the evidence establishing liability.

Contributory Negligence Affects the Third-Party Claim Differently

This is an important distinction from the old version of this article.

North Carolina workers’ compensation is not an ordinary fault-based negligence system. An employee does not generally lose workers’ compensation merely because the employee may have contributed to causing an automobile accident.

A third-party personal injury claim is different.

North Carolina follows a contributory negligence rule. If an injured person’s own negligence contributed to causing the collision, that can potentially prevent recovery against another negligent driver.

Insurance companies may therefore investigate the same accident very differently. The workers’ compensation carrier may focus on whether you were acting within the course of your employment, while the automobile insurer may focus heavily on who caused the crash.

 

What Happens If Workers’ Compensation and the Auto Claim Both Pay?

Receiving workers’ compensation benefits does not mean the at-fault driver receives a financial benefit from the fact that you happened to be working when the accident occurred.

North Carolina General Statute § 97-10.2 provides a mechanism for coordinating a workers’ compensation case with a recovery from a liable third party.

The employer or workers’ compensation insurance carrier may have a lien or right of reimbursement for certain benefits it paid because of the accident. How that lien is handled can directly affect the amount ultimately received by the injured employee.

This is one reason an injured worker should be cautious about settling the automobile claim independently without considering the workers’ compensation case. A release signed with the auto insurer can create complications if workers’ compensation reimbursement rights have not been properly addressed.

 

What If Your Employer or a Coworker Caused the Accident?

The rules can change again when the person allegedly responsible for the accident is the injured worker’s own employer or someone acting in the employer’s business.

For employers that are subject to and complying with the North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Act, workers’ compensation is generally the employee’s exclusive remedy against the employer for a covered workplace injury.

That means an injured employee ordinarily cannot simply convert the case into a conventional negligence lawsuit against the employer in order to seek pain-and-suffering damages.

There can also be situations involving multiple businesses, contractors, vehicle owners, manufacturers or other potentially responsible parties. Determining whether someone qualifies as the employer, a protected party or an independent third party can therefore be important before assuming that only one source of recovery exists.

 

Report the Accident Promptly and Protect Both Claims

A work-related motor vehicle accident should be reported promptly both as a traffic collision and as a workplace injury.

North Carolina law generally requires written notice of a workplace accident to the employer within 30 days, subject to certain exceptions. A workers’ compensation claim is also subject to separate filing requirements and deadlines. The underlying car accident claim may have a different statute of limitations.

After a work-related crash, practical steps can include:

• Report the accident to law enforcement and obtain the crash report.
• Tell your employer promptly that the accident occurred while you were working.
• Document where you were traveling, why you were traveling and what job task you were performing.
• Preserve photographs, witness information and vehicle evidence.
• Obtain appropriate medical care and clearly explain that the injury resulted from the collision.
• Keep records of missed work, restrictions and communications with both insurance companies.
• Do not assume one insurer is responsible for protecting your rights against the other.

North Carolina’s written-notice requirement can be reviewed in G.S. § 97-22.

 

When a Work-Related Car Accident Becomes Complicated

Some work-related accident cases are relatively straightforward. Others can involve disputes over whether the trip was actually part of the employee’s job, whether another driver was negligent, which insurer should pay particular expenses, the value of a workers’ compensation lien or whether additional parties share responsibility.

Those issues become even more important when the injuries are serious enough to affect the employee’s ability to return to the same job or earn the same income in the future.

The objective is not simply to file as many claims as possible. It is to identify every legitimate source of compensation, protect the deadlines and evidence associated with each claim, and coordinate them so that one part of the case does not unnecessarily reduce or compromise another.

 

Injured in a Car Accident While Working? Talk to Kellum Law Firm

If you were injured in a motor vehicle accident while performing your job in North Carolina, Kellum Law Firm can review both sides of the case — the workers’ compensation issues and any claim against the driver or other third party responsible for the collision.

Understanding those rights early can be especially important when two insurance companies are involved and each is evaluating the accident under a different set of rules.

Contact Kellum Law Firm for a free case evaluation. We’re With You All The Way.