Duncan

California’s Uninsured Employers Fund (UEF), also called the Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund (UEBTF), was created by the Legislature in 1971 “to ensure that workers who happen to be employed by illegally uninsured employers are not deprived of workers’ compensation benefits . . . .” (Lab. Code, § 3716, subd. (b); further section references are to the Labor Code unless otherwise specified.) Thus, the UEBTF in the State Treasury is a “source of funds for injured workers whose employers have failed or refused either to obtain workers’ compensation insurance coverage or to qualify as self-insurers for the employers’ liability.” (DuBois v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (1993) 5 Cal.4th 382, 388-389 [ 20 Cal.Rptr.2d 523 , 853 P.2d 978 ] (hereafter DuBois).) The fund “shall pay the claimant only such benefits allowed, recognizing proper liens thereon, that would have accmed against an employer properly insured for workers’ compensation liability.” (§ 3716.2.)

Ordinarily, if an employer unreasonably delays or refuses to pay workers’ compensation benefits, a penalty will be assessed up to 25 percent of the benefits or $10,000, whichever is less (§ 5814, subd. (a)), and, in…