In two separate rulings, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has found that an insurer in runoff and the state’s insolvency fund were both wrongly denied certain payments they are entitled from the state’s workers’ compensation fund.
The high court found that under the Massachusetts workers’ compensation act Arrowood Indemnity is entitled to reimbursements from the Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Trust Fund for some of the second injury claims that it has paid, even though the insurer is now in runoff. While a company like Arrowood in runoff is no longer issuing new policies, it continues to pay claims under its old policies.
In the second case, the court said the Massachusetts Insurers Insolvency Fund (MIIF), which pays claims on behalf of insolvent insurers, is entitled to cost of living adjustment (COLA) payments from trust fund.
In both cases, the court found that the fund administrator, the Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) ,misinterpreted the plain l…