DIBS are paid when you are an eligible beneficiary of a worker who either died on the job, sustaining a compensable death, or died as a direct and natural result of the original compensable injury.
Death benefits are 75% per week of the pre-injury average weekly wage. This is more than the 70% typically paid for temporary income benefits and impairment income benefits, and more than the 64% of average weekly wage for supplemental income benefits, but equivalent to the percentage for lifetime income benefits.
Eligible beneficiaries are typically the surviving spouse, child, or dependents, as defined by statute. Common law spouse can qualify for benefits, but will need to provide evidence of the common law marriage status.
An attorney may not charge a beneficiary a fee in a death benefit case if the claim is paid without dispute. However, most insurance carriers will dispute the death claim in order to get adjudication on beneficiary status to avoid a situation where additional beneficiaries come out later and demand payment.
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