August 29, 2014

Apex Services has learned that trucking companies who belong to mutual workers compensation self-insurance trusts have received bills from The New York Workers Compensation Board in July. As a nationwide leader in obtaining workers compensation refunds for employers, especially those in the transportation industry, Apex Services breaks down what this means for trucking companies.

The idea for these trusts originally was to pool risk and lower workers compensation premiums for trucking companies; however, they had little experience with insurance regulations. Many of these trusts are now insolvent or indebted due to liability miscalculation.

After over 20 of these trusts failed in the mid-2000s, the board set out to determine how much each member owes. Members of the defunct Transportation Workers Compensation Trust, for example, received bills between $14,000 and $33,000.

These bills will surely present dilemmas for trucking companies. One option is to sign a memorandum of understanding to pay 75% of the bill during the next year and a half. However, that would prevent trust members and the board from suing each other. There is precedence in New York that a lower court could levy an injunction against the board's efforts to collect payments from a failed transportation trust.

Receiving workers compensation refunds can offset bills that trucking companies may now have to pay as a result of insolvent trusts. Apex Services offers the quickest and easiest way for employers, especially trucking companies and the transportation industry, to lower their costs.