DBA Carrier Stopped Paying? Here’s What You Can Do

If your Defense Base Act insurance carrier stopped sending disability checks, you are not without options. Federal law gives injured contractors a specific process for challenging a termination of benefits — and time matters from the moment the payments stop.

Why Carriers Stop Paying — and Whether They’re Allowed To

A DBA carrier can legally stop paying temporary total disability (TTD) benefits when it believes you have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI), when new medical evidence suggests you can return to work, or when it disputes the compensability of your injury in the first place. What it cannot do is simply stop payments without proper notice and justification.

Under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), incorporated into the Defense Base Act through 42 U.S.C. § 1651, a carrier that terminates or modifies benefits must file a Notice of Controversion (LS-207 form) with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). If the carrier stopped paying without filing that form, that is itself a procedural violation.

Maximum medical improvement is the point at which a treating physician determines that your condition has stabilized and is unlikely to improve further with continued treatment — it does not mean you are fully recovered or able to return to your prior job.

The distinction matters because reaching MMI may shift your claim from temporary total disability to permanent partial or permanent total disability — categories that still carry ongoing benefit rights. A carrier that stops paying and calls it “case closed” may be misrepresenting where your claim actually stands.

How to Challenge a Benefits Termination

Your first move is to request the carrier’s written basis for stopping payments and review the LS-207 if one was filed. If you are still treating with a physician, get a written statement documenting your current work restrictions and medical status. That documentation becomes the foundation of your challenge.

If informal resolution with the carrier fails, you can file a Claim for Compensation (LS-203) or a Request for Hearing with the OWCP. A hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) within the Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law Judges is the formal mechanism for resolving disputed DBA claims. The judge reviews the medical record, the carrier’s justification, and your attorney’s arguments before issuing a decision.

One thing to watch closely is the statute of limitations. Under 33 U.S.C. § 913(a), you have one year from the date of your last benefit payment to file a formal claim. If a carrier stopped paying months ago and you’ve been waiting to see if the checks would resume, that clock may already be running. Filing a formal claim preserves your rights even if settlement discussions are ongoing.

Friedman, Rodman & Frank has represented civilian contractors whose Defense Base Act benefits were terminated or disputed by insurance carriers — including workers injured in locations like Afghanistan and Iraq who returned home to find their payments cut off without clear explanation. Navigating a contested DBA claim through the OWCP and ALJ process is not the same as a state workers’ comp dispute, and the procedural rules are unforgiving if you miss a deadline or file the wrong form.

If your DBA carrier stopped paying and you don’t know why or what to do next, call Friedman, Rodman & Frank at (877) 448-8585 or submit a case review online. The consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we recover benefits for you.