The Trainer

VERIFYING WORKERS' COMP BENEFITS; NEGOTIATING LAUNDRY CONTRACT

In this month's feature, we discussed how to verify workers' compensation benefits for annual income determinations. Workers' compensation benefits provide at least partial replacement of employees' lost wages when they become injured or ill on the job and are unable to work. HUD requires you to get written verification of the workers' compensation benefits from the insurer.

In our article about negotiating your site's laundry room service contract, we offered 10 tips to make sure your contract is thorough and outlines the expectations of both parties during the time period of the contract, including maintenance, service, and payment. We also told you how to avoid problems with HUD in situations where you may be contracting with an identity-of-interest laundry vendor.

TRAINER'S QUIZ

INSTRUCTIONS: Each of the questions below has only one correct answer. On a separate sheet of paper, write down the number of each question, followed by the answer you have chosen—for example, (1) b, (2) a, and so on. The correct answers (with explanations) follow the quiz. Good luck!

QUESTION #1

When verifying workers' compensation benefits, you should ask the insurer to provide the:

1. Payment amount, effective date, and duration of benefits.

2. Monthly or weekly payment amount, cumulative payment amount, and termination date.

3. Payment amount, type of injury or illness, and duration of benefits.

QUESTION #2

If the insurer doesn't fill out your verification form, but instead sends you a computer printout that contains the information you asked for, you may rely on the printout when calculating household income. True or false?

1. True.

2. False.

QUESTION #3

When determining household income, you must calculate workers' compensation benefits as if the payments will be received for one year, even if the benefits will last for a shorter period of time. True or false?

1. True.

2. False.

QUESTION #4

If a household member receives workers' compensation benefits as a lump sum, you don't have to get verification from the insurer. True or false?

1. True.

2. False.

QUESTION #5

When negotiating with a vendor to install and maintain washers and dryers in your site's laundry room, it makes no difference whether you call the agreement a “lease” or a “license.” True or false?

1. True.

2. False.

QUESTION #6

When negotiating how many machines to install, you ask the vendor to install one washer and one dryer per 15 units. The vendor offers you a higher percentage of the gross if he installs fewer machines. Why is this a bad idea?

1. Residents may complain about having to wait to do laundry, and may eventually take their laundry elsewhere.

2. HUD limits the amount of money you can make from vendor contracts.

3. If you have too few machines, they will wear down faster and increase the number of service calls.

4. Both a and c are correct.

QUESTION #7

Experts recommend getting the vendor to commit to respond to service calls within at most:

1. 24 hours.

2. 48 hours.

3. 72 hours.

QUESTION #8

So you won't have to worry about missing a deadline, you should agree to include an automatic-renewal clause in the laundry room service contract. True or false?

1. True.

2. False.