On February 6, 2007 the Georgia Court of Appeals handed down a decision in what I call a two-insurer battle case. Often, there is a dispute between two or more insurance companies as to which company bears responsibility for an injured claimant’s medical treatment and income benefits. TIG Speciality Insurance Co. v. Dust-Away, Inc. is one of these cases.
The facts in this case are straight forward. In December of 2000, the claimant was injured while working for Dust-Away. At this time, Dust-Away was insured by TIG. In February of 2002, Dust-Away changed workers’ compensation insurance companies from TIG to Zenith. In May of 2002, the injured worker became unable to work due to the on the job injury and TIG began to pay income benefits to the injured worker.
The Court of Appeals holding is that the insurance company providing coverage on the date the employee was no longer able to work because of the aggravation or worsening of his or her injury bears responsibility for payment of income benefits.
