When comp stops paying — denied claim, “delayed” status, or TD cut off mid-recovery — California quietly runs a second income system for exactly this gap: State Disability Insurance. Knowing the handoff rules is the difference between a hard month and a lost house.
When SDI applies
SDI pays when you cannot work and comp is not paying TD for that period: the claim is denied, under investigation, or the carrier stopped checks on a UR-driven release you dispute. The one hard rule is no double collection — SDI and TD cannot cover the same period. File through the EDD (SDI Online) with your physician’s certification as soon as TD stops; the claim can start while the comp fight continues.
The EDD gets paid back — from the carrier, not from you
When the comp case is later accepted or settles, the EDD asserts a reimbursement lien and recovers what it advanced out of the retroactive TD. Functionally, SDI is the state fronting your comp money while the carrier litigates — which is why using it is not “double dipping” but the system working as designed. The retro-TD math (and the penalty exposure for unreasonable delay) gets sorted at resolution.
The comparison that matters
TD pays two-thirds of gross wages tax-free within the statutory caps; SDI runs its own EDD schedule with its own cap — current figures live on the EDD’s site. For most wage levels they land close. The strategic point: SDI protects the household without weakening the comp claim — the disability certifications that support SDI are themselves evidence you could not work. When the claim resolves, the PD side rates normally: price the string when the P&S report lands.
Estimates for informational use; not legal advice. SDI eligibility and rates are administered by the EDD.
Rate your spine right here
Same engine as the tables above — pick your occupation and age, slide the WPI from the report, and carry it into the full calculator when you’re ready.