Postal Service Delays Slow Benefits Checks; Direct Deposit Urged

Thursday, January 28, 2021 | 0

Pennsylvania attorneys are urging injured workers to sign up for direct deposit after several reports that Postal Service delays have left claimants without benefits checks.

The Postal Service has said that it has reduced hours and staffing around the country because of the coronavirus pandemic at the same time that Americans are ordering more goods to be delivered through the mail, according to news reports and attorney blogs.

Pennsylvania seems to be one of the hardest-hit, and claimants have repeatedly said their benefits checks have not arrived on time or at all, Philadelphia attorney Glenn Nieman wrote. He said one solution is for insurers to offer direct deposit of benefit payments.

“Unfortunately, this is not offered by many insurance companies or in many situations,” Nieman wrote in his blog.

Kimberly Costello, of Chartwell Law, an insurance defense firm, noted that insurers can ask claimants to initiate the process by completing an LIBC-10 form, available here, from the state Bureau of Workers' Compensation.