Insurance; self-insurance; exemptions
Sec. 34. (a) As used in this section, "person" does not include:
(1) an owner who contracts for performance of work on the
owner's owner occupied residential property; or
(2) a nonprofit corporation that is recognized as tax exempt
under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (as
defined in IC 6-3-1-11(a)) to the extent the corporation enters
into an independent contractor agreement with a person for the
performance of youth coaching services on a part-time basis.
(b) Every employer bound by the compensation provisions of this
chapter, except the state, counties, townships, cities, towns, school
cities, school towns, school townships, other municipal corporations,
state institutions, state boards, and state commissions, shall insure
the payment of compensation to the employer's employees and their
dependents in the manner provided in this chapter, or procure from
the worker's compensation board a certificate authorizing the
employer to carry such risk without insurance. While that insurance
or certificate remains in force, the employer, or those conducting the
employer's business, and the employer's occupational disease
insurance carrier shall be liable to any employee and the employee's
dependents for disablement or death from occupational disease
arising out of and in the course of employment only to the extent and
in the manner specified in this chapter.
(c) Every employer who, by election, is bound by the
compensation provisions of this chapter, except those exempted from
the provisions by subsection (b), shall:
(1) insure and keep insured the employer's liability under this
chapter in some corporation, association, or organization
authorized to transact the business of worker's compensation
insurance in this state; or
(2) furnish to the worker's compensation board satisfactory
proof of the employer's financial ability to pay the
compensation in the amount and manner and when due as
provided for in this chapter.
In the latter case the board may require the deposit of an acceptable
security, indemnity, or bond to secure the payment of compensation
liabilities as they are incurred.
(d) Every employer required to carry insurance under this section
shall file with the worker's compensation board in the form
prescribed by it, within ten (10) days after the termination of the
employer's insurance by expiration or cancellation, evidence of the
employer's compliance with subsection (c) and other provisions
relating to the insurance under this chapter. The venue of all criminal
actions under this section lies in the county in which the employee
was last exposed to the occupational disease causing disablement.
The prosecuting attorney of the county shall prosecute all violations
upon written request of the board. The violations shall be prosecuted
in the name of the state.
(e) Whenever an employer has complied with subsection (c)
relating to self-insurance, the worker's compensation board shall
issue to the employer a certificate which shall remain in force for a
period fixed by the board, but the board may, upon at least thirty (30)
days notice, and a hearing to the employer, revoke the certificate,
upon presentation of satisfactory evidence for the revocation. After
the revocation, the board may grant a new certificate to the employer
upon the employer's petition, and satisfactory proof of the employer's
financial ability.
(f)(1) Subject to the approval of the worker's compensation board,
any employer may enter into or continue any agreement with the
employer's employees to provide a system of compensation, benefit,
or insurance in lieu of the compensation and insurance provided by
this chapter. A substitute system may not be approved unless it
confers benefits upon employees and their dependents at least
equivalent to the benefits provided by this chapter. It may not be
approved if it requires contributions from the employees unless it
confers benefits in addition to those provided under this chapter,
which are at least commensurate with such contributions.
(f)(2) The substitute system may be terminated by the worker's
compensation board on reasonable notice and hearing to the
interested parties, if it appears that the same is not fairly
administered or if its operation shall disclose latent defects
threatening its solvency, or if for any substantial reason it fails to
accomplish the purpose of this chapter. On termination, the board
shall determine the proper distribution of all remaining assets, if any,
subject to the right of any party in interest to take an appeal to the
court of appeals.
(g)(1) No insurer shall enter into or issue any policy of insurance
under this chapter until its policy form has been submitted to and
approved by the worker's compensation board. The board shall not
approve the policy form of any insurance company until the company
shall file with it the certificate of the insurance commissioner
showing that the company is authorized to transact the business of
worker's compensation insurance in Indiana. The filing of a policy
form by any insurance company or reciprocal insurance association
with the board for approval constitutes on the part of the company or
association a conclusive and unqualified acceptance of each of the
compensation provisions of this chapter, and an agreement by it to be
bound by the compensation provisions of this chapter.
(g)(2) All policies of insurance companies and of reciprocal
insurance associations, insuring the payment of compensation under
this chapter, shall be conclusively presumed to cover all the
employees and the entire compensation liability of the insured under
this chapter in all cases in which the last day of the exposure
rendering the employer liable is within the effective period of such
policy.
(g)(3) Any provision in any such policy attempting to limit or
modify the liability of the company or association insuring the same
shall be wholly void.
(g)(4) Every policy of any company or association shall be
deemed to include the following provisions:
"(A) The insurer assumes in full all the obligations to pay
physician's fees, nurse's charges, hospital supplies, burial
expenses, compensation or death benefits imposed upon or
accepted by the insured under this chapter.
(B) This policy is subject to the provisions of this chapter
relative to the liability of the insured to pay physician's fees,
nurse's charges, hospital services, hospital supplies, burial
expenses, compensation or death benefits to and for such
employees, the acceptance of such liability by the insured, the
adjustment, trial and adjudication of claims for such physician's
fees, nurse's charges, hospital services, hospital supplies, burial
expenses, compensation, or death benefits.
(C) Between this insurer and the employee, notice to or
knowledge of the occurrence of the disablement on the part of
the insured (the employer) shall be notice or knowledge thereof,
on the part of the insurer. The jurisdiction of the insured (the
employer) for the purpose of this chapter is the jurisdiction of
this insurer, and this insurer shall in all things be bound by and
shall be subject to the awards, judgments and decrees rendered
against the insured (the employer) under this chapter.
(D) This insurer will promptly pay to the person entitled to the
same all benefits conferred by this chapter, including all
physician's fees, nurse's charges, hospital services, hospital
supplies, burial expenses, and all installments of compensation
or death benefits that may be awarded or agreed upon under this
chapter. The obligation of this insurer shall not be affected by
any default of the insured (the employer) after disablement or
by any default in giving of any notice required by this policy, or
otherwise. This policy is a direct promise by this insurer to the
person entitled to physician's fees, nurse's charges, fees for
hospital services, charges for hospital services, charges for
hospital supplies, charges for burial, compensation, or death
benefits, and shall be enforceable in the name of the person.
(E) Any termination of this policy by cancellation shall not be
effective as to employees of the insured covered hereby unless
at least thirty (30) days prior to the taking effect of such
cancellation, a written notice giving the date upon which such
termination is to become effective has been received by the
worker's compensation board of Indiana at its office in
Indianapolis, Indiana.
(F) This policy shall automatically expire one (1) year from the
effective date of the policy, unless the policy covers a period of
three (3) years, in which event, it shall automatically expire
three (3) years from the effective date of the policy. The
termination either of a one (1) year or a three (3) year policy, is
effective as to the employees of the insured covered by the
policy.".
(g)(5) All claims for compensation, nurse's charges, hospital
services, hospital supplies, physician's fees, or burial expenses may
be made directly against either the employer or the insurer or both,
and the award of the worker's compensation board may be made
against either the employer or the insurer or both.
(g)(6) If any insurer shall fail to pay any final award or judgment
(except during the pendency of an appeal) rendered against it, or its
insured, or, if it shall fail to comply with this chapter, the worker's
compensation board shall revoke the approval of its policy forms,
and shall not accept any further proofs of insurance from it until it
shall have paid the award or judgment or complied with this chapter,
and shall have resubmitted its policy form and received the approval
of the policy by the industrial board.
(h) No policy of insurance covering the liability of an employer
for worker's compensation shall be construed to cover the liability of
the employer under this chapter for any occupational disease unless
the liability is expressly accepted by the insurance carrier issuing the
policy and is endorsed in that policy. The insurance or security in
force to cover compensation liability under this chapter shall be
separate from the insurance or security under IC 22-3-2 through
IC 22-3-6. Any insurance contract covering liability under either part
of this article need not cover any liability under the other.
(i) For the purpose of complying with subsection (c), groups of
employers are authorized to form mutual insurance associations or
reciprocal or interinsurance exchanges subject to any reasonable
conditions and restrictions fixed by the department of insurance. This
subsection does not apply to mutual insurance associations and
reciprocal or interinsurance exchanges formed and operating on or
before January 1, 1991, which shall continue to operate subject to the
provisions of this chapter and to such reasonable conditions and
restrictions as may be fixed by the worker's compensation board.
(j) Membership in a mutual insurance association or a reciprocal
or interinsurance exchange so proved, together with evidence of the
payment of premiums due, is evidence of compliance with subsection
(c).
(k) Any person bound under the compensation provisions of this
chapter, contracting for the performance of any work exceeding one
thousand dollars ($1,000) in value, in which the hazard of an
occupational disease exists, by a contractor subject to the
compensation provisions of this chapter without exacting from the
contractor a certificate from the worker's compensation board
showing that the contractor has complied with subsections (b), (c),
and (d), shall be liable to the same extent as the contractor for
compensation, physician's fees, hospital fees, nurse's charges, and
burial expenses on account of the injury or death of any employee of
such contractor, due to occupational disease arising out of and in the
course of the performance of the work covered by such contract.
(l) Any contractor who sublets any contract for the performance
of any work to a subcontractor subject to the compensation
provisions of this chapter, without obtaining a certificate from the
worker's compensation board showing that the subcontractor has
complied with subsections (b), (c), and (d), is liable to the same
extent as the subcontractor for the payment of compensation,
physician's fees, hospital fees, nurse's charges, and burial expense on
account of the injury or death of any employee of the subcontractor
due to occupational disease arising out of and in the course of the
performance of the work covered by the subcontract.
(m) A person paying compensation, physician's fees, hospital fees,
nurse's charges, or burial expenses, under subsection (k) or (l), may
recover the amount paid or to be paid from any person who would
otherwise have been liable for the payment thereof and may, in
addition, recover the litigation expenses and attorney's fees incurred
in the action before the worker's compensation board as well as the
litigation expenses and attorney's fees incurred in an action to collect
the compensation, medical expenses, and burial expenses.
(n) Every claim filed with the worker's compensation board under
this section shall be instituted against all parties liable for payment.
The worker's compensation board, in an award under subsection (k),
shall fix the order in which such parties shall be exhausted,
beginning with the immediate employer and, in an award under
subsection (l), shall determine whether the subcontractor has the
financial ability to pay the compensation and medical expenses when
due and, if not, shall order the contractor to pay the compensation
and medical expenses.
(Formerly: Acts 1937, c.69, s.27; Acts 1943, c.248, s.1; Acts 1959,
c.359, s.1; Acts 1961, c.312, s.1; Acts 1963, c.388, s.16.) As amended
by Acts 1978, P.L.2, SEC.2213; Acts 1982, P.L.135, SEC.2;
P.L.28-1988, SEC.61; P.L.170-1991, SEC.23; P.L.258-1997(ss),
SEC.17; P.L.202-2001, SEC.10; P.L.201-2005, SEC.9.
Last modified: May 27, 2006