Missouri Second Injury Fund Claims

If you had a physical or mental disability before you were hurt at work, you might qualify for additional benefits from the Missouri Second Injury Fund. The purpose of the Fund is to encourage employers to hire and retain employees who have disabilities: the employer pays only for the new injury, and the Fund answers for the combination.

The Fund’s liability can be substantial. In permanent total disability cases, the Second Injury Fund can be held responsible for an employee’s lifetime weekly benefits when the permanent total disability results from a combination of pre-existing conditions and the current injury.

A Second Injury Fund claim is filed against the Fund itself, in addition to the workers’ compensation claim against your employer, and it must comply with special time limits set by law. Both cases are part of protecting your claim as a whole.

For injuries on or after January 1, 2014, Missouri law narrowed the Fund significantly. In general, Fund compensation is now available in permanent total disability cases, where a qualifying pre-existing disability, serious enough to meet statutory thresholds, combines with a new work injury to leave the worker unable to return to any employment.

The pre-existing disability generally must be significant, medically documented, and of a kind the statute recognizes, such as a prior compensable work injury or certain other qualifying conditions. For older injuries, the prior rules can still apply, including combined-disability benefits where a pre-existing condition was serious enough to be a hindrance or obstacle to employment.

Whether your situation fits is a legal question that turns on dates, ratings, and medical evidence. It costs nothing to have it evaluated.

Depending on the facts and the date of injury, the Second Injury Fund can be responsible for:

• Permanent total disability benefits. Lifetime weekly payments when the combination of a pre-existing disability and the new work injury leaves you unable to work. These interact with what your overall case is worth.
• Uninsured employer coverage. When an employer illegally failed to carry workers’ compensation insurance, the Fund can pay the injured worker’s medical bills. In death cases involving an uninsured employer, burial expenses and weekly death benefits to the surviving spouse or dependents are paid from the Fund.
• Physical rehabilitation benefits. Seriously injured workers receiving therapy at a facility certified by the Division may qualify for a rehabilitation benefit set by statute at $40 per week for up to 20 weeks.
• Second job wage loss benefits. For injuries occurring after August 28, 1998: if an injury at your first job leaves you unable to work your second job, wage loss from that second job may be claimable from the Fund.

In 2025 alone, our firm spent over $700,000 on expert witnesses. SIF cases are won with medical experts who can explain how a pre-existing condition and a work injury combine, and vocational experts who establish that the combination leaves a worker unable to hold employment.

Our firm handled roughly 1 in 4 of recent workers’ compensation trials at the St. Louis Division of Workers’ Compensation, out of hundreds of attorneys representing Missouri workers. Insurers know which firms will actually try a case, and it changes how they negotiate.

The Fund defends these claims the way any insurer would. A trial firm that prepares every case for hearing walks in with the one thing that moves them: evidence.

Do I file against the Second Injury Fund or my employer?

Often both. The workers’ comp claim runs against your employer’s insurer; the SIF claim runs against the Fund. They proceed together but are decided on their own criteria.

What counts as a pre-existing disability?

Prior work injuries, military service injuries, and other medically documented conditions can qualify if they are serious enough to meet the law’s thresholds. The dates involved determine which version of the law applies to you.

Is the Second Injury Fund still paying claims?

Yes. The Fund went through well-publicized funding problems years ago, and the 2013 reforms that stabilized it are also what narrowed eligibility. Valid claims are still pursued and paid, but the criteria are stricter than they once were.

How long do I have to file a Second Injury Fund claim?

Strict, specific time limits apply, tied to your injury date and your underlying workers’ comp claim. Treat it as urgent: the deadline analysis should happen at the start of a case, not the end. Every case is different; results depend on the facts.