By Donna Motley
Vice President of Claims

By the time you are reading this, summer is technically over. Students return to class, fun in the sun vacation time is pretty much regulated to weekends only. Statistically, work related injuries increase over the summer. Thinking back on Summer 2025, with the heat we experienced, an increase in injuries involving outdoor workers would not seem unusual. Another statistic indicates approximately 40% of summer work injuries are sprains, strains and tears. Possibly these injuries are attributed to employees taking vacation time and co-workers having to pick up the slack. A “pre-injury” could have occurred while having fun on the weekend, thereby setting you up for a more serious injury as a result of work duties. The heat index, or thoughts about upcoming plans could result in simple inattention.

Injuries sometimes occur through no fault of our own. Michigan is a No-Fault State. When injuries occur, unless deemed “intentional”, “idiopathic” or “does not arise out of and in the course of employment”, care and treatment is covered. Again, in Michigan, per statute, Workers’ Compensation exclusively controls treatment for the first 28 days. Treatment should commence with your Occupational Clinic and if not resolved, treatment will be taken over by a specialist.

Insurance, in general, is not glamorous. The area of Workers’ Compensation even less so. Workers’ Compensation coverage is required by the State to do business in Michigan. The area of Workers’ Compensation is governed and directed by the Michigan Workers’ Disability Compensation Act and Administrative Rules – i.e. by law – roughly 180 pages outlining what you “can” and “cannot” do. The State of Michigan audits our company every three years for compliance. MTMIC’s Claims Department is accessible by telephone; we speak with our insureds, the injured workers, medical providers. We hire Nurse Case Managers that will attend medical appointments with the injured worker to assure medical treatment is on point and to provide immediate results to the Claims Adjuster. Bear in mind, not all physicians or medical facilities will accept a Workers’ Compensation injury – they are not required by law to do so. That is why it is so important to have an established Occupational Clinic if at all possible, and if after hours care is needed or an Occupational Clinic is not available, YOU MUST notify the provider up front that the injury is to be covered under Workers’ Compensation.

Did you know August 17 is National Workers’ Compensation Adjuster Day? Who knew? How should we celebrate? I wonder if Hallmark has a card for this?

Liberty Mutual has an Emu; Progressive has Flo (and her team); Allstate has Mayhem; and State Farm has Jake! I think we need a mascot !!!