Often cases are referred to this insurance defense attorney where the policy was cancelled prior to the alleged date of loss. The claimant-petitioner has retained an attorney and has filed a Claim Petition in the Division of Workers’ Compensation. The petitioner’s counsel has reviewed the New Jersey Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau website and found the policy which would have been in effect at the time of the date of loss and has named that carrier. The carrier retains counsel and seeks to deny the claim for lack of coverage. The question is whether there is sufficient evidence to prevail on a Motion to Strike Carrier.
Prior to filing a Motion to Strike Carrier, there are certain steps and documents which should be reviewed between counsel and the carrier regarding the effectiveness of the cancellation. In New Jersey, there is a strong public policy favoring uninterrupted workers’ compensation coverage for all employees. As a result, an insurance carrier must strictly comply with all statutory and regulatory mandates regarding any cancellation of a policy.
It is therefore beneficial to review N.J.S.A. 34:15-81, Cancellation of Contract. The Statute lays out three individual steps which must be followed in order for cancellation to be effective. Section 81 states that no policy for workers’ compensation coverage is deemed cancelled until the following three criteria are met:
- (a) At least ten days’ notice in writing of the election to terminate such contract is given by registered mail by the party seeking cancellation thereof to the other party thereto; and
- (b) Until like notice shall be filed in the office of the commissioner of banking and insurance, together with a certified statement that the notice provided for by paragraph “a” of this section has been given; and
- (c) Until ten days have elapsed after the filing required by paragraph “b” of this section has been made.
While the foregoing three steps appear to be straightforward, there are various ways in which a potential issue may arise and therefore result in a finding of improper cancellation. The New Jersey Supreme Court has held that there needs to be strict compliance with the Statute in order for cancellation to be effective. Sroczynski v. Milek, 197 N.J. 36 (2008).
Consider an example of a policy issued to an employer for a policy period beginning on February 1, 2019 through February 1, 2020. During the policy period, the employer fails to make payments on the policy leading to a cancellation. The carrier sends a notice to the employer on July 1, 2019 stating the following:
“We hereby notify you that the policy identified above will be cancelled effective 12:01 a.m. July 30, 2019 in accordance with the cancellation condition of the policy and that all liability of the Company under such policy will cease at that time. Premium adjustment will be made to the date of cancellation and statement rendered. The reason for this action is: Nonpayment of Premium.”
With respect to the first step in cancelling a policy, a notice needs to be generated by the carrier and sent to the employer with at least 10 days’ notice of the date of the cancellation. So far, our cancellation example appears to comply with subsection (a) of the Statute as the notice is sent on July 1, 2019 and gives more than 10 days’ notice.
Subsection (a) of the Statute also states that this notice must be sent by “registered mail.” The Statute does not define “registered mail.” In practice, the carrier should send the notice to the employer by certified mail. The carrier should retain any and all transmittal information with the USPS regarding sending of the notice of cancellation as these documentary proofs are vital in the carrier’s Motion to Strike Carrier for Lack of Coverage.
The sending of the notice of the cancellation to the employer is not the end of the journey for the carrier. The carrier must also submit a “like notice” to the office of the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance. The Statute does not require “exact same notice,” but rather states “like notice.” The Commissioner of Banking and Insurance in New Jersey has designated the Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau (CRIB) as the entity to receive the like notice.
CRIB requires that the like notice be submitted electronically and has provided a reference form to be used by carriers for the submittal of like notice.
You can see from the above form that at the bottom of the submittal there is a certification for which the carrier must provide a signatory. The certification is required in the like notice submittal to CRIB. Subsection (b) of the Statute has two clauses which must be adhered to in order for the cancellation to be effective. The first is that the like notice is filed with CRIB, the second is a certified statement must be provided by the carrier that the employer was provided notice in accordance with subsection (a), i.e., that the employer was provided notice of the election to terminate via registered (‘certified’) mail with at least 10 days’ notice. These steps are required.
Finally, the Statute requires one last step for the policy to be effectively cancelled. Subsection (c) of the Statute requires that at least 10 days have elapsed since the filing of the notice with CRIB prior to the cancellation being effective.
Let us return to our example policy which is being cancelled by our hypothetical carrier. The policy period is for the year February 1, 2019 through February 1, 2020 and, due to nonpayment of premium, the policy is being cancelled. The notice of cancellation is sent to the employer via registered mail on July 1, 2019 stating that the policy will be cancelled effective July 30, 2019.
The carrier should at that time submit the like notice to CRIB that the policy is being cancelled with the effective date of cancellation being reported as July 30, 2019.
What then occurs if the like notice to CRIB is not submitted until August 15, 2019 and an injury occurs to an employee at the company on August 5, 2019 and the company did not obtain replacement coverage? In this practitioner’s experience, any issue with the filing of the like notice creates strong arguments by petitioner’s counsel that the policy was not effectively cancelled. The carrier will try to argue that the policy was effectively cancelled July 30, 2019 per the notice to the employer and that it is incumbent upon the employer to obtain proper coverage.
The New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act provides certain timelines and a procedure which must be strictly complied with in order for the policy to be cancelled. In this example, the carrier did not provide the like notice to CRIB until after the date of the loss. As a result, the carrier cannot show compliance with subsection (b) and subsection (c) of the Statute.
Let us move the date of loss then to August 20, 2019 and the like notice still is submitted to CRIB on August 15, 2019. The carrier can now show that the loss occurred after the date of cancellation and after the filing of the like notice with CRIB. However, again, this fact scenario will likely result in an improper cancellation and a covered loss. Subsection (c) of the Statute requires that at least 10 days have passed since the filing of the notice with CRIB. In this example, only 5 days have expired. As a result, the petitioner will have a strong argument that the policy was still in effect at the time of the loss despite the policy being cancelled as of July 30, 2019.
While the foregoing examples appear to result in simple solutions, Section 81 of the Statute often results in lengthy litigation regarding proper proofs of cancellation. As a result, the carrier should retain detailed documentary proofs and evidence of each step of the cancellation in order to properly seek to be stricken for lack of coverage from a pending claim. Readers with questions on cancellation can reach the undersigned at knagy@capehart.com.
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