File a Claim Petition for Benefits from an Uninsured Employer

Petition for compensation if your employer lacked workers’ comp insurance.

File a Claim Petition for Benefits from an Uninsured Employer

File this petition for compensation from your employer and the Uninsured Employers Guaranty Fund due to the absence of workers’ compensation insurance. This applies when your employer didn't have coverage and wasn't approved as a self-insurer during the alleged injury. Please note: you can only file this petition 21 days after submitting a Notice of Claim Against Uninsured Employer.

File a claim

To begin the petition process, click here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Use this guide to help you understand the Workers' Compensation claim process.

If an employee sustains a job injury or a work-related illness, the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act provides for wage-loss compensation benefits until you're able to go back to work. Additionally, death benefits for work-related deaths are paid to your dependent survivors.

Benefits are paid by private insurance companies (also includes third-party administrators) or the State Workers' Insurance Fund (a state-run workers' compensation insurance carrier) self-insured employers.

A workers' compensation claim petition is filed by the injured worker with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry's Workers' Compensation Office of Adjudication. The petition should include details about the injury, its date, and information on wages and lost income. Ensure you follow instructions on the Bureau's website, confirming proper notice to your employer. Use the Workers' Compensation Automated and Integrated System (WCAIS), an accessible online tool available 24/7, to file the petition once you are registered with the system. 

Contact us

Helpline voice telephone numbers:toll free in Pennsylvania: 800-482-2383 local and outside Pennsylvania: 717-772-4447. Hearing impaired individuals, or those who have difficulty speaking, may contact the PA Department of Labor & Industry’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation by dialing 7-1-1 and providing the relay service with the bureau’s phone number 717-772-4447.

Call us

For general questions, contact BWC. Hearing impaired individuals can contact BWC by dialing 7-1-1 and providing the relay service with BWC's phone number.

Call BWC

Submit by mail

You can send questions BWC or paper applications (petitions) to: Workers’ Compensation Office of Adjudication 1010 North Seventh Street, Suite 202 Harrisburg, PA 17102

Email us

You can email questions to BWC.

Email BWC