If you were injured on the job in Massachusetts – whether in Boston, Framingham, Worcester, Springfield, Lowell, or anywhere across the Commonwealth — your employer's workers' compensation insurer may have begun paying your benefits without immediately admitting full liability. This is called the "payment without prejudice" period, and understanding exactly what it means — and what it does not mean — could be the difference between protecting your rights and unknowingly signing them away.
Experienced Massachusetts workers' compensation attorney Chuck Pappas has helped injured workers throughout Middlesex County, Worcester County, Suffolk County, Norfolk County, and all surrounding communities navigate the often-confusing procedural requirements of the workers' compensation system. One of the most misunderstood — and potentially risky — documents an injured worker can sign is Form 105, the agreement to extend the payment without prejudice period. This article explains what that form does, what it does not guarantee, and what a Massachusetts Appeals Court decision reveals about its very real limitations.
What Is the Payment Without Prejudice Period?
Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 152, Section 8(1), when a workers' compensation insurer makes timely payment of an employee's workers’ comp claim within 14 days, it earns the right to continue paying benefits for up to 180 calendar days from the commencement of disability — without affecting its right to contest any issue arising under Chapter 152. This is the payment without prejudice period.
| Timing: The payment without prejudice period begins on the first date of incapacity — not the date the insurer receives notice of the injury. 452 Code Mass. Regs. 1.02. |
The payment without prejudice period serves important and practical purposes for both sides of a workers' compensation claim. For the insurer, it provides a window to continue paying benefits while simultaneously investigating the claim, gathering information, obtaining medical records, securing witness statements, and carefully examining whether the claim is compensable. If the insurer's investigation reveals that the employee was injured elsewhere, that the alleged incapacity is no longer causally related to the work injury, or that the employee is no longer incapacitated from working, it can terminate or modify (reduce) benefits — at will and without penalty — before the 180-day period expires.
For the injured worker, the payment without prejudice period means weekly disability benefits arrive promptly, during the initial investigation phase, rather than after months of litigation. For employees with minor injuries who are briefly out of work, the without-prejudice framework often encourages the insurer to pay rather than deny — avoiding a costly and time-consuming dispute for both parties.
| Important: The 180-day payment without prejudice period is not tolled or paused if an employee returns to work during the period and subsequently leaves the job again. The period begins on the first date of incapacity from earning full wages and ends 180 days later, regardless of any intervening return to work. |
How and When Can the Insurer Terminate or Modify Benefits?
Within the 180-day payment without prejudice period, an insurer may terminate or modify an employee's benefits — and may do so multiple times. However, to exercise this right without penalty, the insurer must provide the employee and the Department of Industrial Accidents with at least seven calendar days' written notice (Form 106 Insurer's Notification of Termination or Modification of Weekly Compensation During Payment-Without-Prejudice Period) of its intent to stop or modify payments and contest any claim filed. That notice must specify the grounds and factual basis for stopping or modifying benefits and must advise the employee that in order to secure additional benefits, a claim must be filed with the Department and the employer within any applicable time limits.
Once the employee receives the notice of termination or modification, the employee may file a claim for benefits. If a claim is filed, the insurer must then file a formal denial within 14 days, listing all grounds and the factual basis for the denial — even if those grounds were already stated in the termination notice. There is an important distinction here: the termination notice is the insurer's statement of its intention to challenge the claim; the formal denial is the actual notice that the claim has been contested.
If the insurer fails to give proper notice and terminates benefits illegally — or if benefits continue beyond the 180-day period without a formal agreement to extend — the insurer loses its right to contest the claim without penalty. This is one reason why the procedural mechanics of the payment without prejudice period matter so much, both to insurers and to injured workers and their attorneys.
What Is Form 105? The Agreement to Extend the Payment Without Prejudice Period
A very common matter that arises in many workers’ compensation claims is Form 105. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 152, Section 8(6), provides that the 180-day payment without prejudice period may be extended — to a period not to exceed one year — by written agreement of the parties, provided that: (a) the agreement sets out the last day of the extension; and (b) a conciliator, administrative judge, or administrative law judge approves the agreement as not detrimental to the employee's case.
Form 105 is the Department of Industrial Accidents' standard form used to accomplish this extension. On its face, the form appears protective: it extends the window during which the insurer continues paying benefits without the case going through formal adjudication. Additionally, sometimes the letters from the insurance adjusters enclosing the Form 105 advise that the form needs to be signed to avoid any interruption in the payment of benefits- this is not entirely true. Here is the critical point that many injured workers misunderstand:
Form 105 extends a payment period. It does not create an obligation to pay.
This is not a technicality. It is a distinction with enormous practical consequences for injured workers in Framingham, Boston, Worcester, and throughout Massachusetts — and it was addressed directly by the Massachusetts Appeals Court in Guilfoyle's Case, 44 Mass. App. Ct. 344 (1998).
In that case, the Court noted that Form 105 does not require that any payment of compensation (beyond initial payments under § 7) be made. The requirement to pay compensation must be made pursuant to a written agreement specifying the type of benefits, the amount, the applicable statutory section, and the schedule of payments. Form 105 contains none of that information. The form that does — Form 113, the Agreement for the Payment of Compensation — was never signed in Guilfoyle's Case.
The Right Form Makes All the Difference: Form 113 vs. Form 105
As Guilfoyle's Case makes clear, the document that actually creates a binding payment obligation in Massachusetts workers' compensation is Form 113 — the Agreement for the Payment of Compensation. Unlike Form 105, Form 113 sets forth the type of benefits being paid, the amount, the applicable statutory section, and the payment schedule. When an insurer signs Form 113, it enters into a genuine compensation agreement.
If your employer’s workers compensation insurer is presenting you with documents to sign — whether during the initial claim period or in connection with an extension — you need to know which form you are signing and what it legally commits both you and the insurer to do. Attorney Chuck Pappas reviews every document with his clients before anything is signed. No injured workers in Middlesex, Worcester, Norfolk, Essex, or Suffolk County should navigate these decisions alone.
What This Means for Injured Workers: Real-World Warnings
If you've been collecting workers' compensation disability benefits after a workplace injury and you just received Form 105 – Agreement to Extend the Payment Without Prejudice Period from the insurer, you're facing one of the most consequential decisions in your workers' comp case. Before you pick up a pen, you need to understand exactly what you're agreeing to — and what happens if you don't.
The Risk of Signing Form 105
Signing Form 105 means agreeing to extend the insurer's ability to terminate or reduce your benefits without court involvement for another six months. On the surface, continuing to receive your checks might feel like the safe play. But consider what can happen down the road. If the insurer pays you benefits for nearly a full year and then cuts them off right before that extended period expires, you will be forced to file a claim for benefits — but you'll be doing so roughly a year after your workplace injury occurred. By that point, you may have made significant physical progress from your work injuries in your recovery, and your medical records may reflect that improvement. While that's obviously good news for your health, it can work against you in a legal proceeding. A judge evaluating your claim will look at the medical evidence available at the time of the Conference or Hearing, and evidence showing improvement a year out from your injury is far less compelling than records from the early, acute stages of your injury. The insurer's strategy, whether intentional or not, can leave you in a weakened position precisely when you need your case to be strongest.
The Risk of Not Signing Form 105
Refusing to sign Form 105 carries its own serious risks. If you decline, the insurer may respond by terminating or modifying your benefits before the original 180-day without-prejudice period even runs out. A sudden stop or reduction in your weekly disability checks is a harsh financial reality — especially when you're already out of work and dealing with the physical and emotional toll of a workplace injury. You will likely need to file a claim for benefits to get your payments reinstated or protected. However — and this is the important silver lining — filing a claim closer to the date of your injury typically means your medical evidence is far more powerful and compelling. Your treating physicians' notes, disability documentation, and out-of-work notes will reflect the acute phase of your condition, making it much easier to demonstrate to a judge that you were genuinely disabled and unable to earn wages. In workers' compensation litigation, timing and medical evidence are everything, and an earlier filing often puts injured workers in a stronger position.
Why Time Is of the Essence
Whether you sign Form 105 or not, one thing is absolutely clear: time is of the essence. The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) — the agency that handles workers' compensation disputes — has a litigation process that takes time to work through. From filing a claim to attending a Conciliation, Conference, and potentially a Hearing before an administrative judge, the process does not move overnight. That means the moment you suspect the insurer may terminate or modify your benefits — or the moment Form 105 lands in your mailbox — you should be preparing to act. Gather all of your medical records and treatment notes, make sure you have every out-of-work slip or disability note your doctor has issued, and have your documentation organized and ready so that a claim can be filed without delay. The last thing you want is to be scrambling for paperwork while your benefits have already been cut off.
Why You Need an Experienced Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Attorney
Workers' compensation law in Massachusetts is highly technical. The difference between Form 105 and Form 113, between the 180-day period and a formal award, between a payment without prejudice and an enforceable compensation agreement — these distinctions are not intuitive, and they are not explained on the forms themselves. Injured workers who try to navigate the system without legal representation frequently lose rights they did not know they had.
Attorney Chuck Pappas has deep experience with the procedural and substantive aspects of Massachusetts workers' compensation claims. Serving injured workers throughout the Greater Boston area, Framingham and all of Middlesex County, Worcester and Central Massachusetts, the North Shore, the South Shore, and all surrounding communities — including Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Malden, Waltham, Newton, Needham, Dedham, Canton, Stoughton, Randolph, Quincy, Brockton, Taunton, Plymouth, Attleboro, Fall River, New Bedford, and all points in between — Attorney Pappas is committed to making sure every client understands exactly what they are signing, what they are entitled to, and how to protect their rights from day one.
If you have been injured at work and your insurer has begun making payments — or if you have already been asked to sign Form 105 — do not wait. Contact Chuck Pappas today for a free consultation. The steps you take, and the documents you sign, in the early weeks and months of your workers' compensation claim can have lasting consequences.
Contact Attorney Pappas — Serving Injured Workers Across Massachusetts
Chuck Pappas represents injured workers throughout Massachusetts, including Framingham, Boston, Worcester, Lowell, Lawrence, Salem, Peabody, Quincy, Brockton, Taunton, Fall River, New Bedford, Springfield, Holyoke, Pittsfield, Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Malden, Waltham, Newton, Needham, Dedham, Canton, Sharon, Stoughton, Randolph, Plymouth, Attleboro, and all surrounding cities and towns.
If you have been injured on the job, your rights depend on the actions you take today. Call (508) 879-3500 to speak directly with attorney Chuck Pappas about your workers' compensation claim.
A work accident isn't something most think about often until it happens to them. This is why injured workers typically have many questions and concerns after being seriously injured on the job. If you were hurt at work, you should have a good understanding of the workers’ compensation process and benefits available in Massachusetts. Experienced workers’ compensation lawyer, Chuck Pappas is here to help you during this difficult time.