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MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SELECTED THE FULL TORT AND UNINSURED/UNDER INSURED OPTIONS ON YOUR INSURANCE POLICY TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS.
Everyone knows automobile accidents can cause devastating injuries to the occupants of a motor vehicle. However, many Pennsylvanians who are seriously injured in an auto accident are now unable to receive any compensation for their pain and suffering because they failed to elect Full Tort coverage and Uninsured and Under insured Motorist coverage on their insurance policies. Although Full Tort coverage is slightly more expensive than Limited Tort coverage, Full Tort coverage allows you to recover for any and all of your pain and suffering sustained in an auto accident. Limited Tort coverage, to the contrary, makes it almost impossible for an insured and his or her family members to be compensated for their pain and suffering unless their injuries are catastrophic or cause death. Although you may be hospitalized and disabled for an extended period of time, you may not be permitted to recover for your pain and suffering if you select the Limited Tort option on your insurance policy.

Limited exceptions to Limited Tort status apply including where the injured person was a passenger in a commercial vehicle, when the other vehicle is registered out-of-state, when the driver of the other vehicle was drunk or when the driver of the other vehicle was uninsured.

Similarly, if you fail to purchase Uninsured Motorist coverage and are hit by an uninsured driver you may not be able to recover for your pain and suffering. This is especially true in the Greater Philadelphia Area where many people are driving without insurance. Similarly, Under insured Motorist coverage protects you from drivers who carry only minimal liability policies by providing you with additional coverage for your pain and suffering.

If you would like a free brochure explaining what to do if you are injured in a vehicle accident, please call, fax or e-mail us and we will be happy to mail it to you.

BEWARE OF THE 1996 AMENDMENTS TO THE WORKERS? COMPENSATION ACT!
General
The purpose of the Workers? Compensation Act (the ?WCA?) is to provide benefits for employees who suffer job-related disabilities, injuries, or death. Similarly, the occupational Disease Act (the "ODA?) covers workers who suffer disabilities or death from specified occupational diseases (associated with certain toxic chemicals and asbestosis) acquired in the course of their employment.

Earning Power and Job Availability
For work injuries occurring on or after June 24, 1996, our legislature has enacted new Workers
Compensation law which drastically affects the wage and medical benefits of injured workers. An employer may now decrease a worker?s wage benefits by using a vocational expert to testify that the worker could fill job listings from public or private employment agencies, newspaper advertisements, etc. The employer does not have to show actual job availability. After a worker receives total disability benefits for 104 weeks, the employer can force the employee to submit to a medical examination which can result in a finding of only partial disability if the employee is found to be less than 50% impaired under the American Medical Association?s ?Guide to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment.?

Health Care Providers
An injured worker must first be treated by one of six health care providers posted by his or her employer at his or her place of employment. The worker must now treat with the employer?s choice of physicians for at least 90 days as opposed to the previous 30 days. There are technical requirements involved in posting the physician list which employers usually violate. It is important that the worker contact our firm to discuss this. The Act specifies that the employee can go to a physician of his own choosing if the employer has not received written acknowledgment from the employee that he or she has been informed and understood his or her rights under this portion of the Act.

Employee Work Verification
For the first time, employees are now obligated to report to the employer, earnings from alternative employment including dates of employment, amounts of earnings, nature and scope of employment, and any other information relevant to determining entitlement to or the amount of compensation. The insurer can submit a verification form to the employee to be completed with the above information. If the form is not accurately completed and returned to the employer within 30 days of receipt by the employee, the insurer may, at its discretion, suspend compensation benefits unilaterally, until it receives the completed verification form.

Settlements
For the first time, actual settlements are allowed of all issues in the Workers' Compensation case. A worker may now settle both his medical and wage claims for one lump sum. This Compromise and Release Agreement must be approved by the Workers' Compensation Judge and is normally irreversible. Nevertheless, many workers favor these settlements since they put an end to litigation and allow the worker to use the settlement money to retrain in a new field of work and as a "nest egg."

Offsets to Workers' Compensation Benefits
The new act specifies offsets to workers' compensation wage benefits including 50% of Social Security retirement benefits, severance benefits, and pension benefits. The interpretation of these offsets can be tricky. Please call our firm if you have any questions in this regard.

If you would like a free brochure explaining what to do if you are injured in a work accident, please call, fax or e-mail us and we will be happy to mail it to you.

Note: This article is designed to provide general information. All legal concerns should be discussed directly with an attorney as every legal issue has different facts that must be directly applied to ever-changing Pennsylvania statutes and case law.

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For questions, email us at kingtort2@comcast.net