A case only insurance coverage attorneys could love

In Mass. Care Self-Ins. Group, Inc. v. Mass. Insurers Insolvency Fund the Superior Court ruled on the interplay between Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 152 § 25A, which allows employers to form worker's compensation self-insurance groups, and Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 175D, which creates a fund which provides insurance benefits when an insurer that would otherwise provide coverage has become insolvent.

A worker's compensation self-insurance group provided coverage up to a self-insured retention limit to an injured employee of one of its members. The group had an excess carrier over the SIR that had become insolvent. When the damages paid to the injured employee exceeded the SIR, the group sought coverage from the fund.

At issue was whether the worker's compensation self-insurance group was an insurer, in which case pursuant to ch. 175D there would be no coverage from the fund because the fund does cover any claim due to an insurer.

After a thorough review of both statutes and relevant case law, the court concluded that the self-insurance group is an insurer, so that the fund did not provide coverage.