Doctor Claims Insurance Claims Solutions

Dear Doctor Claims,

One of our insureds called to say that a store clerks fell on the “strip mall” parking lot here in St. Louis last winter and broke her wrist. She filed a Work Comp claim against them and to their surprise she got paid for the accident. I sympathize with her situation, but I don’t really see how this is the fault of our insured. They don’t own or maintain the lot so they are at the mercy of the building manager for the clearance of snow and other maintenance. They have had very few employee injuries in their store. Why should they have the cost of this claim hurting their loss experience and forcing their premiums higher?

Answer

In a recent decision (Wells Vs Brown), the Missouri Supreme Court acknowledged that injuries that occur going to and coming from work are ordinarily not compensable, but injury-producing accidents occurring on locations “Owned or controlled by the employer” or “So appropriated by the employer or so situated, designed and used by the employer and his employees incidental to their work as to make them, for all practical purposes, a part and parcel of the employer’s premises and operation” and where” That portion of such premises is a part of the customary, expressly or impliedly approved, permitted , usual and acceptable route or means used by the workers to get to and depart from their places of labor” such injuries are compensable.

Under these circumstances the accident would be treated the same as if it had happened on the work premises and the injury would result in a compensable claim.
Doctor Claims