Commonwealth Court Affirms Determination of Insurance Carrier Based on Estoppel

in Overhead Door Company v. WCAB (Gill), The Commonwealth Court reviewed a case where SWIF defended the case as if it was the carrier for fifteen months, then presented evidence from the Employer that the Claimant was employed by a different corporation of the Employer and AIG was the carrier. The WCJ's ultimate decision was that SWIF was estopped from denying it was the responsible carrier. The Board and Commonwealth Court affirmed. The Court reasoned that the WCJ's subject matter jurisdiction over the Claimant's claim was sufficient to give jurisdiction to make the finding that SWIF was the responsible carrier.