Zenith Insurance Company Takes the Pain Out of On-The-Job Injuries

Getting hurt on the job is never a good experience for the employee or employer. Often, in addition to the pain of the injured employee, the employer must deal with things like lost human resources and productivity. While many insurance companies handle everything from life insurance to business insurance, Zenith Insurance company, with Northern California offices at 4309 Hacienda Drive, is dedicated to only one kind of coverage: workers' compensation.

Zenith National Insurance Company was founded in 1949. In the late 1970s, the company - branded as TheZenith - started to expand from its California roots to write workers' compensation insurance in other states, developing strong relationships with a network of independent agents. At this point, the company changed it's official name to Zenith Insurance Company. In 1986, Zenith purchased a facility in Woodland Hills, California and opened its new headquarters. By 1998, Zenith had purchased Associated General Commerce (AGC) Self-Insurers Trust Fund in Orlando, Florida and the insurance subsidiaries of Riscorp, Inc., a Sarasota, Florida based company. Zenith is currently licensed in 46 states and the District of Columbia.

"The Pleasanton office serves all of Northern California," says Jim Lubman, Zenith's director of marketing for the region. "All we do is write workers compensation insurance to cover workers who are injured on the job. We serve our clients through independent agents and brokers who we appoint to represent us. We also count on those agents to go forth and find us clients that match well with what we do. Insurance companies tend to serve different types of businesses, so we rely on our agents to look at the clients' needs and introduce us to those who might be interested in what we have to offer.

Workers' compensation is a "no-fault" system. Employees who are legitimately injured as a result of their work receive benefits as set by law, regardless of fault. Workers' compensation benefits may include payment of all appropriate medical costs, payment of a percentage of an employee's pre-injury salary, vocational rehabilitation (as required), and assistance with helping the employee return to work, possibly in a temporary, transitional work assignment or in a modified or alternative job.

Zenith's mission is to help businesses succeed by protecting them from the financial consequences of on-the-job injuries, teaming up with them to make their workplaces safer and filling the needs of injured workers. They specialize in managing the claims process, getting injured workers back to work, and fighting fraud. The company also offers a host of tools to help employers and employees learn about workplace safety and understand how to minimize injuries in the first place. "What we do is help people who are injured on the job," Lubman says. "We help them get better through providing quality medical care, along with coordinating rehabilitation services to help them get back to work. We're also very involved in promoting safe work environments." As everyone knows, a healthy worker is both happier and more productive.

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