No UIM benefits through employer’s policy because the auto accident happened before the amendment to the Workers’ Compensation Act took effect.

After receiving workers’ compensation benefits following an auto accident, an employee settled with the tortfeasor for his policy limits. Thereafter, he made a claim for underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits through his employer’s insurance company. The insurance company denied those benefits, and when the employee filed suit, the insurance company moved to dismiss the complaint. The insurance company argued that the employee’s claim was subject to the pre-amendment version of Delaware’s Workers’ Compensation Act, in which an injured employee could not recover both workers’ compensation and UIM benefits for the same injury. The post-amendment version (which would have allowed recovery for both) took effect September 6, 2016. The court granted the motion to dismiss and held that the date of the accident “controls which version of the WCA applies to Employee’s claim.” Because his accident occurred in 2015, the employee was barred from pursuing UIM benefits as well as workers’ compensation benefits.

_{Case Law Alerts, 4^th Quarter, October 2018}

_{Case Law Alerts is prepared by Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin to provide information on recent developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2018 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.}