You never know when you'll be faced with a loss of income due to an on-the-job injury. When it happens, be prepared to file a worker's compensation claim to protect your income. To get the most out of this process, you need to know a few tips ahead of time. By being ready before an injury happens, you'll stand to get the most from your worker's compensation application.
1. Get help in filling out the paperwork.
As soon as you can after the injury, contact a workers compensation attorney for help. The application process is complicated and simple mistakes will cause a denial of benefits. Make sure your first application for benefits is done correctly by getting help from an experienced worker's comp lawyer.
2. Report all on-the-job injuries promptly.
Any injury you receive on the job should be reported, no matter how small. This goes on your permanent employment record. When you file a claim for benefits, your records are accessed. If you delay reporting a job injury, the insurance company will wonder how serious it really was for you.
3. Get contact information from anyone who observed the accident.
Document the names and phone numbers of anyone in the area during the accident. This includes people who may not have been in a position to see the injury happen, but may have heard something. The insurance company will want to interview those people if they need to authenticate your claim for benefits.
4. Have any injuries examined.
Go to the company medical personnel, if available, your family doctor or a walk-in clinic to have any job injury examined. You want it documented that you had an examination and received treatment recommendations from medical professionals. Follow up with any treatments offered. If you don't get your injury treated right away, the insurance company will deny your benefits claim on the grounds that you didn't think it was serious enough to get medical help.
5. Work with your attorney before talking with the insurance company.
The information you give the insurance company about your injury needs to be accurate and consistent. Your attorney will guide you as to how to present your story to the insurance company. Some of their basic tips include:
For more information about filing a worker's compensation claim, contact a lawyer, such as Paul F Guthrie.
Share31 December 2015
When I started my first small business, I had no idea how much I really didn’t know. I was fully prepared to deal with customers, sell product and even handle complaints and returns. What I wasn’t aware of was that there is so much more to it. I was lacking the legal expertise to protect the company and myself. I wanted others to benefit from my experience, mistakes and lessons learned, so I started this blog. From employment law to the legal business contracts you’ll have to sign when you form partnerships, business law is complex. I hope that the information here will help you to be better prepared when you start your business so that you’ll know when you need to call an attorney and when you can handle things yourself.
