Partner David Stern and Attorney Susan Nanes Reveal how Insurance Companies use Unnecessary Investigations to Delay Benefits in The Legal Intelligencer
Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) December 18, 2016 -- In their latest article in The Legal Intelligencer, Partner David Stern and Associate Susan Nanes discuss insurance companies’ abuse of the Temporary Notice of Compensation Payable (TNCP) in workers’ compensation cases. TNCPs were originally devised to allow insurance carriers an additional 90-day period to investigate less-than-certain claims. While conceived as a compromise between the rights of the claimant and the needs of the insurance company, in reality it is used by insurers to delay benefits to injured workers as a matter of course.
“Sadly, this piece of legislation that had good intentions is being grossly abused by the insurance industry. Since the law is not policed nor its abuse penalized, why wouldn’t they take advantage?” the article explains. “…The thinking is, why ‘buy the claim’ under any scenario? Always issue a TNCP since it gives an out for 90 days. That is unequivocally the approach of the insurance industry at this point.”
Since a TNCP does not require an insurer to accept liability for an injury while they investigate, they are given a 90-day grace period before they are required to pay full benefits to the injured worker. While intended to be a way of insuring the law works for everyone, it has instead been used to tip the scales in favor of insurance companies.
The article "Further Investigation Unnecessary in Many Workers' Comp Cases" originally appeared in The Legal Intelligencer on 12/9/16: http://www.thelegalintelligencer.com/columns/id=1202774367086?slreturn=20161116104741.
Riina Corrigan, Pond Lehocky Stern Giordano, LLP, http://www.pondlehocky.com, +1 267 507 6375, [email protected]
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