New Death Benefits Rule is Now Effective

On December 28, 2023, new DWC Rule 124.8 became effective.

Titled “Receipt, Records, and Notice of Death or Claim for Death Benefits”, Rule 124.8 places new requirements on insurance carriers, as follows.

Under subsection (b), an insurance carrier that receives notice of an alleged work-related death in accordance with DWC Rule 132.17, or receives a claim for death benefits (DWC-42), must comply with all of the requirements in this chapter.

Subsection (c) then mandates the following record keeping and notice requirements:

(1) Carrier must send DWC a copy of the PLN-12 that Carrier provides to any potential beneficiaries under Rule132.17 of this title. (Prior to the adoption of this new rule, Carrier simply submitted a PLN-12 to the potential beneficiaries alone, without filing it with DWC).

(2) On receiving a claim for death benefits (DWC-42), Carrier must create and maintain a record documenting receipt of the claim for death benefits. The record must include all of the information in the claim for death benefits. Carrier must maintain the record in accordance with Chapter 102, §102.4 of this title. (DWC now requires record keeping so that they can track Carrier’s actions).

(3) Carrier must send DWC a copy of any claim for death benefits (DWC-42) that Carrier receives from a potential beneficiary not later than the seventh (7^th) day after receiving it and include any other documents and information Carrier received with that application. (This is a brand new requirement.)

Please contact FOL with any questions about these new death claim processing requirements: gqs@fol.com.