The worker's compensation insurer may participate in a settlement even if there are insufficient liability insurance proceeds to compensate all claimants or to make the employee whole. Brewer v. Auto-Owner's Ins. There are ways to minimize the reimbursement to the worker's compensation insurer when the employee is married. If the employee is single, the worker's compensation insurer gets full reimbursement. Both the employee and worker's compensation insurer can recover interest on the verdict and judgment when a third party case is tried.
Interest is prorated between the employee's claim and the worker's compensation insurer's claim.
A worker's compensation insurer is entitled to reimbursement of its lien out of the lump sum portion of a partially structured settlement and cannot be forced to accept delayed payments. Skirowski v. Employers Mutual Cas. An insurer may seek reimbursement under Section 102.29 from the entire proceeds of an injured employee's liability claim against the responsible third party, including proceeds attributable to the aggravation of a pre-existing injury, even if such aggravation was not considered when the worker's compensation case was compromised. A worker's compensation insurer cannot seek reimbursement from the proceeds of an injured employee's uninsured motorist claim, because it is based on contract, not tort. However, an automobile insurance policy providing uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may exclude amounts paid or payable under worker's compensation law, pursuant to the 1995 amendments to Section 632.32, Wis. Stats.