No UIM benefits from self-insured employer for injuries covered under workers’ compensation benefits.

The issue as framed by the court was whether the claimant could pursue the UIM claim against her self-insured employer for essentially the same injuries for which she had already received workers’ compensation benefits. The court noted that other cases had dealt with a similar issue and allowed claimants to collect both workers’ compensation and UIM benefits in cases where the claimant had purchased their own UIM policy. However, the court stated that this case presented an issue of first impression since it was one in which the workers’ compensation insurer and the UM/UIM insurer were the same entity, namely, the State of Delaware. The court concluded that Section 2304, the exclusivity provision of the Act, barred the claimant from recovering the UIM benefits.

The court reasoned that the basic purpose of the UM/UIM coverage was to ensure that individuals have the ability to be compensated for their injuries beyond what may be available from a negligent tortfeasor’s policy. The court noted that for individuals who have access to workers’ compensation benefits, those benefits are in essence providing the same benefits they would receive under a UIM policy. The court concluded that the phrase “exclusion of all rights and remedies” in Section 2304 of the Act prohibited the claimant from having access to the employer’s UM/UIM policy in this situation. Accordingly, the employer’s motion for summary judgment was granted.

_{Case Law Alerts, 3rd Quarter, July 2016}

_{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 © 2016 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.}