Prate Roofing and Installations, LLC v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Corp.

This case presents question as to whether Department of Insurance (DOI) lacked authority to issue its final order in instant dispute over payment of additional workers compensation premiums in amount of $127,305, based on claims that said premiums were owed because certain subcontractors hired by plaintiff did not have individual workers’ compensation coverage, and thus exposed defendant to additional workers’ compensation liability. Appellate Court, in vacating trial court’s order that affirmed DOI’s finding that plaintiff owed said premiums, found that DOI lacked jurisdiction over parties’ dispute regarding amount of premiums owed, since: (1) underlying claim concerned employment status dispute as to whether plaintiffs’ subcontractors, who had no workers’ compensation coverage, had employees that would trigger additional premiums under plaintiffs’ workers’ compensation policy; and (2) under CAT Express, 2019 IL App. (1st) 181851, DOI did not have express or implied statutory authority under Insurance Code to resolve instant private employment status dispute, as it did not directly or indirectly involve DOI’s or its Director’s authority to administer insurance laws.