Holidays are in full swing, which means package deliveries are up across the country. This also increases the chances of delivery drivers getting hurt making these deliveries.
As a personal injury lawyer in Kansas City who handles many premises liability cases, I thought it would be helpful to write a blog overviewing what options injured delivery drivers may have for compensation.
There must be negligence involved.
In order for a delivery driver to get monetary compensation for an injury while making a delivery, there must be some kind of negligence on the part of the property owner that caused the injury. This can be anything from a trip hazard in a walkway to a biting dog. If the injury was the delivery driver’s fault, then there is no way to get compensation through a negligence claim. The property owner may have special coverage for injuries on their property regardless of fault, but that type of coverage is usually limited.
The property owner must have insurance.
Though not a legal requirement, practically speaking the property owner must also have insurance for a delivery driver to get any monetary compensation for an injury on someone’s property. It is almost never worth pursuing a case against an uninsured property owner because of the difficulty in collecting a judgment. There are exceptions to this rule, but there are few. Unfortunately, there’s no database to check to see if a property is insured. The only way to find out is to ask or file suit.
Workers’ comp insurance may be entitled to reimbursement.
If a delivery driver’s injury is also covered under workers’ compensation, the comp carrier may be entitled to reimbursement out of any money obtained in a personal injury case. They usually aren’t entitled to dollar-for-dollar reimbursement, but it is important to keep that in mind when investigating a personal injury case against a property owner.