2021 Georgia Code
Title 34 - Labor and Industrial Relations
Chapter 9 - Workers' Compensation
Article 9 - Subsequent Injury Trust Fund
§ 34-9-362. Notice by Employer or Insurer of Claim Against Fund; Request for a Hearing

1. An employer or insurer shall notify the administrator of the fund of any possible claim against the fund as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 78 calendar weeks following the injury or the payment of an amount equivalent to 78 weeks of income or death benefits, whichever occurs last.
2. The claim must be filed in accordance with the requirements of subsection (a) of this Code section prior to the final settlement of the claim.
3. Failure to comply with the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section will constitute a bar to recovery from the Subsequent Injury Trust Fund.
4. For those notices of claim filed with the fund on or before July 1, 2006, the employer or insurer shall have until June 30, 2009, to obtain a reimbursement agreement issued by the fund or the claim for reimbursement shall be deemed automatically denied.
5. For those notices of claim filed with the fund after July 1, 2006, the employer or insurer shall have three years from the date the notice was received by the fund to obtain a reimbursement agreement issued by the fund or the claim for reimbursement shall be deemed automatically denied.
6. Notwithstanding subsections (d) and (e) of this Code section, if compensability of the underlying workers' compensation claim is at issue before the State Board of Workers' Compensation, then the employer or insurer shall have three years from the date of final adjudication of compensability by the State Board of Workers' Compensation or any appellate court to obtain a reimbursement agreement issued by the fund or the claim for reimbursement shall be deemed automatically denied.
7. Upon actual or statutory automatic denial pursuant to subsection (d), (e), or (f) of this Code section, the employer or insurer shall have 20 days from the date of denial to request a hearing with the State Board of Workers' Compensation pursuant to Code Section 34-9-100; otherwise recovery shall be barred.

(Code 1933, § 114-916, enacted by Ga. L. 1977, p. 608, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 1426, § 5; Ga. L. 2006, p. 898, § 1/HB 1405.)

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Failure to file timely claim as bar.

- Employer or insurer who fails to file a reimbursement claim with the Subsequent Injury Trust Fund within 78 weeks of income benefits paid to its claimant is barred as a matter of law from pursuing that reimbursement claim against the Subsequent Injury Trust Fund. 1986 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 86-40.

- When the employer/insurer timely filed its claim, but subsequently withdrew that claim by advising the trust fund that it would not be making a claim for reimbursement in the case, this action amounted to a complete relinquishment and withdrawal of the notice required by O.C.G.A. § 34-9-262, and the employer/insurer could not properly file a belated claim for reimbursement against the Subsequent Injury Trust Fund at a date after the 78-week period. 1986 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 86-40.

- Subsequent Injury Trust Fund lacks legal authority to deny reimbursement before it has accepted a reimbursement claim when an employer/insurer fails to notify the Trust Fund of a settlement with a claimant. 1986 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 86-48.