Three Things To Know Before Filing A Workers’ Comp Claim
#1 Report Your Injury Properly
Some States have different time limits that you can report a on the job injury. Please know your state’s guidelines on this. Also, be sure to report your injury to your boss or HR Department directly. Only telling a co-worker is not sufficient. Your place of employment should have you fill out an incident report of some form. You should be as detailed as possible about how and what injuries occurred. A claim may be denied because your employers insurance company does not have complete and accurate information.
#2 No Fault
Workers’ comp is no-fault insurance. It’s not about assigning blame. It doesn’t matter if you or someone else was responsible for your injury. Even if you were at fault for you are entitled to worker’s compensation. Don’t hesitate to file just because you were responsible for your injury.
However, there is a limit to this. For instance if you were under the influence at work, breaking the law or were injured during rough-housing. Most employers require a drug test after an accident. Your claim will be denied if you test positive. Although marijuana is now legal in some states for both medicinal and recreational use, the law still allows employers to enforce a drug-free workplace. Therefore, if its use contributed to your on-the-job injury, your claim could be denied and possibly your employment terminated.
#3 Obtain medical treatment from a designated medical provider
If your injury is a life-threatening emergency, you’ll go where the ambulance takes you. In a nonemergency, some state’s workers compensation law requires that you seek care from an employer-provided list of designated medical providers or your claim may be denied. While you can still choose your own medical facility it may result in non-reimbursement of medical costs.
When you fill out your medical forms and are receiving treatment for your injury, be sure you let your doctor know you were injured at work. This will insure your medical records show your injury was work related. Your employer is required by law to provide you with a list of approved medical providers.
