The Colorado Uninsured Employer Fund And Uninsured Employers – We’ve been talking about what happens if you get injured on the job in Colorado and you find out your employer doesn’t carry Workers’ Compensation Insurance. What are your options? What is the Colorado Uninsured Employers Fund (CUE) and is it worth your time? Let’s find out.
What is Workers’ Compensation insurance and how is it supposed to work?
If you’ve looked at our other blogs and videos you might know that Colorado law requires all employers to carry what’s called Workers’ Compensation Insurance. It covers medical needs, lost wages, and compensation for any permanent problems that workers have if they’ve been injured on the job. It doesn’t matter who’s at fault, if you were performing a service for your employer and got injured in the process, you are covered by Workers’ Compensation. You should get relatively quick access to medical care and payment for lost wages.
As stated, it is illegal for an employer not to carry Workers’ Comp Insurance, however, often we get calls from injured workers who find out their employer isn’t carrying this insurance. Maybe they never had it in the first place or they stopped paying the premiums and then they ignored all the notices. If you’re in this situation you might be left asking “What should I do now?” luckily, we’ve got a few answers for you.
What are my options when I have an uninsured employer?
What happens if you are stuck without Workers’ Compensation insurance because your employer doesn’t carry it? We went over two options last time, but there’s a new third option you might not know about.
Option number 1
You can sue for negligence but that’s only if you can prove the injury occurred because of your employer’s negligence.
Option number 2
You can make a claim, not against your employer directly but against the statutory employer.
Option number 3
There is a new option, if you were injured after January 1st, 2020 in Colorado with an uninsured employer, you can make a claim against the Colorado Uninsured Employers Fund (CUE). It is a new program started by the state of Colorado through Workers’ Compensation. Essentially, they collect fines and other sources of money to pay benefits to injured workers whose employers don’t carry Workers’ Compensation Insurance.
How do I get help from the Colorado Uninsured Employers (CUE) Fund?
There are a few things you have to do regarding the third option. You must file a claim against your employer who doesn’t carry Workers’ Compensation. Then, you’ll need to file an application for a hearing and attend said hearing. You’ll need an order from a judge saying you’ve been injured on the job with an uninsured employer; that is your ticket to bring up the issue with the CUE fund.
The truth is, the CUE won’t start doing anything until you’ve done all of those steps. It is not an easy process. You’ve got to go through filing a claim, waiting until it’s been denied or ignored, filing an application for a hearing, then going to the hearing to prove that you had a work injury to a judge (which if the employer doesn’t show up is somewhat easy), and then getting an order from a judge saying you’re entitled to benefits. Finally, what the CUE will do is assign you an adjuster with a company that adjusts Workers’ Compensation cases and they will pay for some, but not all, of the benefits that you’re entitled to.
What are some issues I might face when submitting my case to the Colorado Uninsured Fund?
One problem with submitting your case to the CUE is they can change who your treating doctor is without your say. This can be an issue if your personal doctor is great, they’re recommending effective care, and you have a great relationship with them. This can be especially inconvenient because the adjuster, sent by the CUE, often isn’t particular about the quality of the doctor they choose to send you to.
As mentioned, the CUE also doesn’t pay for all the benefits this might lead you to ask, “What exactly do they pay for?” Well, they list the benefits they’ll pay for in order of priority, and every year the CUE fund is supposed to look at what money they have before declaring what benefits they can pay for.
As of August 2021, they had somewhere between two and three million dollars in their fund. Right now, the only thing they’re paying for is medical benefits. Medical benefits are always at the top of the list but the other benefits they cover include funeral benefits, lost wage benefits during treatment, permanent total disability benefits, and permanent partial disability benefits.
We’re here to help
If you or someone you know has been injured on the job with an uninsured employer, or even with an insured employer, please tell them to give us a call. We are Kaplan Morrell Attorneys at Law. We’ve been helping injured and disabled workers in Colorado since 1995. We’re offering free, confidential consultations to help orient you on your rights.
Call or text us at 970-356-9898, or visit our website at https://kaplanmorrell.com/ for help and for a factsheet on how to hire a lawyer. This helpful factsheet contains information about the kind of questions you should always ask a lawyer when looking to hire one and what answers you should be listening for.
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