Virginia-based specialty insurer Richmond National Group plans to invest $1.75 million to expand operations at the firm’s Glen Allen office.
The company said it expects to be hiring as many as 75 new employees for the office.
“Five years ago, we started our specialty insurance company in the Richmond area primarily due to its deep talent pool of insurance and financial services professionals and its favorable business environment,” said Richmond National Group President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph C. Kavanagh. “These factors have contributed to our early success as a younger company, and we continue to see significant hiring opportunities in the region.”
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger took part in the announcement. “Richmond National Group’s latest expansion in Henrico County highlights the strength of Central Virginia’s financial services and insurance talent,” she said.
Established in 2020, Richmond National specializes in property/casualty excess and surplus insurance for small and mid-sized businesses.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has concluded that an individual who is the sole owner and employee of a business is not required to provide his insurance carrier with notice of his work-related injury within 120 days to qualify for workers’ compensation benefits.
The state’s high court found that in cases involving an injured person who is a sole proprietor– both the owner and the employee– the 120-day notice requirement applies to notifying the employer, not the insurer. The court reversed a Commonwealth Court opinion that favored Erie Insurance and remanded the injury claim against Erie back to the Workers’ Compensation Bureau.
In its unanimous opinion, the high court said that if the plain language of the statute creates a problem, that is for the legislature to remedy, not the courts.
Competing Claims
The case involved David Heater, a sole proprietor and the sole employee of a one-man general contracting business. He says he was injured in 2015 while performing roof repairs when he allegedly fell from a ladder and fractured his neck, requiring immediate surgery. But his workers’ compensation insurer, Erie Insurance, did not receive notice of the injury until 2017, leading to a denied claim.
Erie claimed Heater did not injure himself while in the course of his employment but was instead injured when he attempted to perform a backflip while he was on a break. In its denial, Erie also claimed that Section 311 of the Workers’ Compensation Act requires that a claimant who is injured while working as an employee for his own solely-owned proprietorship provide notice of his injury to his insurer within 120 days of injury. It’s not uncommon for insurers to cite the 120-day notice requirement as a defense when sole proprietors delay reporting injuries.
Heater maintained that the plain language of Section 311 does not require him to provide notice of his injury to his insurer because the term “employer,” as contained in Section 311, does not include an insurer. He argued that a sole proprietor need only provide notice to his employer.
