Friday, June 6, 2008

New case law on obtaining UIM from your employer for a work related auto accident.

On June 4, in Heller v. Pennsylvania League of Cities, the Commonwealth Court reversed the trial court's decision that it is a violation of public policy to exclude anyone eligible for workers' compensation benefits from also recovering underinsured motorist benefits. In Heller, the injured victim was in the course and scope of his employment in his employer’s vehicle when a car accident occurred.

The injured worker recovered the third party coverage and then sought UIM coverage on his employer’s policy. There was an exclusion in the UIM provision of the employer's policy and instead of just ruling that the exclusion was not valid under the MVFRL, the trial court found that the exclusion violated public policy. The Commonwealth Court in this 2-1 decision holds that the exclusion does not violate public policy and reverses.

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