The call came at the worst possible time. Your husband was injured on the rig. Maybe it was a fall. Maybe a piece of equipment malfunctioned. Maybe something went terribly wrong during a routine task. Now you’re facing questions you never expected to have to answer. How will you pay the bills next month? What about your children’s school? How long will he be out of work? What benefits are you entitled to?
The panic is natural. You’re the wife and mother of your family. Your husband was the primary earner. His income paid for everything—the mortgage, groceries, insurance, utilities. Now that income has stopped. Medical bills are piling up. And you need answers immediately, not months from now.
The good news is that maritime law provides immediate financial support to families in your situation. These aren’t just theoretical benefits. They’re real money, available now, designed to keep your family stable while your husband recovers or while your legal claim is being processed.
This article is your practical guide. It walks you through the benefits available to you, the insurance coverage that applies, and the steps you need to take right now to protect your family.
Maintenance and Cure Benefits: Immediate Financial Relief
The first benefit your family needs to know about is called “maintenance and cure.” This is a maritime-specific benefit that provides immediate financial support to injured seamen. It’s not insurance. It’s not workers’ compensation as you might understand it on land. It’s a unique maritime remedy that exists specifically to help families like yours.
Maintenance is a daily stipend to cover your essential living expenses while your husband recovers. Currently, maintenance benefits typically range from $15 to $50 per day, though many families negotiate higher amounts. If you spend $5,000 per month on essential expenses—rent or mortgage, utilities, food, basic necessities—maintenance can help bridge that gap. At $30 per day, that’s $900 per month. It’s not everything, but it’s immediate relief.
Cure covers all reasonable and necessary medical expenses related to the injury. This includes doctor visits, hospital bills, surgery, medications, physical therapy, medical equipment, and even transportation costs to get to medical appointments. Importantly, you don’t have to fight with insurance companies about whether something is “medically necessary.” Under maritime law, if a doctor says it’s necessary for recovery, it’s covered.
Both maintenance and cure benefits continue until your husband reaches “Maximum Medical Improvement” (MMI). This is the point when a doctor determines that your husband is either fully recovered or his condition will not improve further with additional medical treatment. Maintenance and cure benefits don’t require you to prove that your husband’s employer was negligent. You don’t have to prove that the accident wasn’t his fault. These benefits are “no-fault”—they’re provided regardless of who caused the injury.
How to Claim Maintenance and Cure Benefits
Don’t wait. Contact your husband’s employer immediately and request maintenance and cure benefits. Put your request in writing if possible. Send an email, a letter, or both. Your employer’s insurance company is required by law to provide these benefits. Most will do so without argument, though some push back and try to deny or delay payments.
If your employer or their insurance company denies maintenance and cure benefits or delays payment, you have legal recourse. This is when you need an attorney. A maritime attorney can file a lawsuit to compel the company to provide the benefits you’re entitled to. In many cases, you can recover attorney’s fees and penalties if the company wrongfully denied benefits.
Document everything. Keep records of all medical expenses. Save receipts from pharmacies. Keep bills from your doctor’s office. Save insurance paperwork. Track your essential living expenses. The more detailed your records, the easier it is to negotiate or litigate for adequate maintenance and cure payments.
The Jones Act: Compensation Beyond Maintenance and Cure
Maintenance and cure is immediate relief, but it’s not full compensation for your family’s loss. The Jones Act provides something much broader. Under this federal law, injured seamen can sue their employers and vessel owners for negligence. If you can prove that your husband’s employer failed to provide a safe working environment, the settlement could be much larger.
Jones Act claims can include compensation for:
- Medical expenses (past and future)
- Lost wages (past and future)
- Loss of earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Disfigurement or permanent disability
- Future medical care
The key word here is negligence. Your husband’s employer has a legal duty to provide a safe workplace. They must maintain equipment properly. They must train workers adequately. They must enforce safety protocols. They must provide necessary safety equipment. If they fail in any of these duties and your husband is injured as a result, they’re liable for damages.
Consider a real example: an injured offshore worker received a $2.775 million settlement for a lower back injury. That settlement covered medical bills, but it primarily reflected the injury’s impact on his lifetime earning capacity. He would never work at the same level again. That’s what a Jones Act claim covers.
Unseaworthiness Claims: Another Path to Compensation
Maritime law offers another avenue for compensation called an “unseaworthiness” claim. Even if your husband’s employer wasn’t negligent, if the vessel itself was unsafe, you may have a claim. An unseaworthy vessel might mean:
- Faulty or poorly maintained equipment
- Inadequate safety railings or barriers
- Defective machinery or tools
- Unsafe working conditions
- Design flaws that create hazards
Unseaworthiness claims don’t require you to prove negligence. You only have to show that the vessel was unsafe and that unsafety caused your husband’s injury. This is often easier to prove than negligence. Combined with a Jones Act claim, unseaworthiness claims can significantly increase your settlement.
Workers’ Compensation: When It Applies
In some cases, workers’ compensation might also apply to your family’s situation. This depends on whether your husband qualifies as a “seaman” under maritime law or whether he falls under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA).
If your husband worked on a vessel in navigable waters and spent more than 30% of his time aboard contributing to the vessel’s mission, he’s likely a seaman covered by maritime law (Jones Act). In this case, traditional workers’ compensation doesn’t apply.
However, if your husband worked on a fixed platform like a permanently installed oil rig on the ocean floor, or if he worked on a dock or in a harbor, he might be covered under the LHWCA instead. LHWCA is a federal workers’ compensation program. It provides benefits without requiring proof of negligence, but it may offer less comprehensive coverage than maritime law. If your husband qualifies for LHWCA, he’s entitled to:
- Medical benefits (all reasonable and necessary treatment)
- Disability benefits (66% of his average weekly wage if he can’t work)
- Vocational rehabilitation (if applicable)
- Death benefits (if he passes away from his injury)
The type of coverage that applies depends on the specifics of your husband’s job. An experienced maritime attorney can determine exactly which laws apply to your situation.
Third-Party Liability: Contractors and Equipment Manufacturers
Sometimes the company your husband works for isn’t the only party at fault. Equipment manufacturers, contractors, or other third parties might share responsibility for the accident. If a piece of equipment was defectively designed or manufactured, the manufacturer could be liable. If a contractor’s negligence caused the accident, they could be liable.
Third-party claims are valuable because they’re often separate from your employer’s insurance. You might recover from both your employer (through Jones Act or LHWCA claims) and from a third party (through a negligence or product liability lawsuit). In some cases, this means your family’s total recovery can be substantially higher.
Legal Funding: Immediate Cash While Your Claim is Pending
Here’s the reality: maritime claims take time. Even strong cases can take a year or more to settle or go to trial. During that time, your family still has bills. Your husband still needs medical care. Your children still need to eat. Maintenance and cure helps, but it often isn’t enough to cover everything.
This is where legal funding comes in. Legal funding (also called litigation funding or lawsuit advances) is a financial product designed specifically for families in your situation. Here’s how it works:
A specialized funding company reviews your maritime case. If they believe your case is strong and likely to settle or win, they provide you with cash now. You don’t have to repay this money if you lose your case. You only repay from your settlement if you win. There’s no monthly payment while you’re waiting for your case to resolve. There’s no interest accumulating. You don’t have to qualify based on credit or income.
For example, if a funding company believes your case is worth $500,000, they might advance you $50,000 to $100,000 immediately. You use this money to pay your bills, medical expenses, and other family needs. When your case settles for $500,000 (or whatever amount you win), the funding company takes their portion from the settlement, and you receive the rest.
Legal funding is not a loan. It’s a non-recourse advance. You have no obligation to repay it unless you win your case. Many families in maritime injury situations use legal funding to bridge the gap between injury and settlement.
Insurance Coverage to Understand
Your husband’s employer should have maritime insurance coverage. This coverage is what pays for his maintenance and cure benefits and what funds any settlement or judgment. However, you need to understand a few key points:
- Jones Act Insurance: Your employer’s liability insurance policy should cover Jones Act claims. This is standard coverage for maritime employers. If your employer claims they don’t have this coverage, that’s a major red flag. Demand proof.
- Your Family’s Personal Insurance: Review your family’s health insurance, life insurance, and disability insurance policies. Maritime injury might be covered or excluded depending on the policy language. Life insurance becomes critically important if your husband’s injury is fatal.
- Umbrella Coverage: Some employers carry umbrella policies that provide additional coverage above their standard liability limits. An experienced maritime attorney will investigate all available insurance sources to maximize your recovery.
Immediate Action Steps for Your Family
Right now, today, here’s what you need to do:
- Contact Your Employer or Union: Report the injury officially. Get the name of the person you report it to and the date. Request information about available benefits.
- Demand Maintenance and Cure Benefits: Submit a written request for maintenance and cure benefits. Include specific information about essential living expenses and medical costs.
- Gather Documentation: Collect all medical records, bills, receipts, and proof of employment. Create a folder with everything organized.
- Consult a Maritime Attorney: Many offer free consultations. Schedule one immediately. Don’t sign anything without legal advice.
- Preserve Evidence: If possible, photograph the scene of the accident, the equipment involved, and any safety violations. Obtain witness contact information. The sooner you preserve evidence, the better your case.
- Document Your Damages: Keep a detailed record of medical expenses, lost wages, and family hardship. This information is valuable for your claim.
Building Financial Stability While Your Case Proceeds
While your maritime claim is being processed, you need to stabilize your family’s finances:
- Create a Budget: List your absolute essential expenses—mortgage, utilities, food, medical bills. Focus on covering these first.
- Access Maintenance and Cure: Push hard to ensure you’re receiving the full maintenance and cure benefits you’re entitled to. Don’t accept inadequate offers.
- Explore Legal Funding: If maintenance and cure isn’t covering your needs, investigate legal funding options. Multiple companies offer these services, and you can compare terms.
- Consider Emergency Assistance: Check whether you qualify for government assistance programs, utility assistance, or food programs while your family is in financial crisis.
- Build a Small Emergency Reserve: Even small amounts—$500, $1,000—set aside in a separate savings account can provide a buffer for unexpected costs.
The Importance of Professional Legal Guidance
This article provides information, but it’s not legal advice specific to your situation. Maritime law is complex. Different circumstances call for different legal strategies. Your family’s specific recovery could be substantially affected by details we haven’t discussed here.
An experienced maritime attorney will:
- Determine exactly which laws apply to your situation (Jones Act, LHWCA, unseaworthiness, etc.)
- Investigate all parties who might be liable
- Preserve evidence before it’s lost or destroyed
- Calculate your actual damages (past and future)
- Negotiate with insurance companies and defendants
- File lawsuits if necessary
- Ensure you receive all maintenance and cure benefits you’re entitled to
- Maximize your family’s total recovery
Your consultation with a maritime attorney is free. There’s no obligation to hire them. But the information you’ll receive in that consultation could dramatically affect your family’s financial future. Don’t navigate this alone.
Hope for Your Family’s Future
The injury to your spouse has created immediate financial crisis. That’s real. That’s scary. But maritime law was designed to help families in exactly your situation. You have rights. You have benefits available immediately. You have paths to significant financial recovery.
Your family’s financial security matters. You deserve to keep your home. Your children deserve stability while their father recovers. You deserve to focus on healing, not on financial desperation.
Reach out to a maritime attorney today. Begin the process of protecting your family’s future. Maritime law is on your side.