You have a third party claim if you are injured on the job by someone who is not your employer or a co-employee. For example the working delivery driver who is rear ended on the highway, by someone who is not his employer or co-employee. He has both an L&I claim and a third party claim. The same is true of a subcontractor injured by the general or a different subcontractor.

A third party claim can be a good thing because you can have two claims, both L&I and third party. Some third party claims can be worth a lot of money.

The downside of a third party claim is that L&I or the insurance company has a lien on your third party recovery. That means because they have paid money on your L&I claim they will get some of that money back from you when you recover on the third party claim. The exact amount they get from you is subject to the worksheet formula, and possible compromise. Compromise is difficult because L&I or the self insured has lien rights which are stronger than state subrogation rights. Sometimes the amount they take is shockingly large. Sometimes the third party settlement will ruin the remaining L&I claim. Understand how this formula applies to your case before you consider settling any third party claim.

To figure out the value of a third party claim use the worksheet formula. If your numbers aren’t set yet you can make estimates. You can also request L&I third party section to do the calculation for you.

Still got questions? Give us a call 206-343-1988.