| Winter 2009
Texas Mutual presidentRon Wright
President's Message
Rest Easy - Your Agent Gave You Good Advice
This summer, two injured workers who suffered catastrophic injuries successfully sued their employers for a combined $32 million. The verdicts would have been unlikely if the employers carried workers’ compensation coverage.
You can rest easy. Your agent gave you good advice when he or she recommended that you purchase workers’ compensation insurance. Your Texas Mutual® coverage provides the best available protection for you and your injured workers.
Under Texas law, workers’ compensation benefits are the injured worker’s sole source of recovery from an employer who carries workers’ compensation coverage. That means in most cases, injured workers cannot sue their employer for pain and suffering damages resulting from workplace injuries. Employers who purchase occupational accident policies or other alternate coverage do not have the same legal protection.
Workers’ compensation insurance also takes care of your injured employees. Your policy will pay for their related medical expenses and replace a portion of their lost wages, for life if necessary. Alternate coverage, on the other hand, typically puts a cap on injured workers’ benefits, which can hit home hard in cases of severe accidents that require extended medical treatment and time off work.
In addition, most alternate coverage has a “sunset” clause that provides a limited time to report the claim. If the policy expires and the employee claims injury after the sunset date, the policyholder has no coverage. Your workers’ compensation policy has no such clause.
Of course, in business, the bottom line is the bottom line. Fortunately, Texas workers’ comp rates fell 30 percent between 2003 and 2008, according to the Texas Department of Insurance.
Texas Mutual offers employers the opportunity to further lower their premium by joining a group discount program and enrolling in our workers’ compensation health care network. We also offer deductible policies to qualifying policyholders who want to assume some risk for a lower price.
Your agent is an expert on insurance-related matters. Texas Mutual is the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance. Together, we are here to protect the best interests of your business and your employees.
Ron Wright
President
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President's Message:
Rest Easy - Your Agent Gave You Good Advice
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