Knowing what to do ahead of time will help you avoid making mistakes if you're injured while on the job.
The vast majority of employers are required by state law to offer workers’ compensation insurance to their employees. The point of this insurance is to provide coverage and compensation to employees who are injured while on the job.
While fault does not have to be proven in order to file a claim, benefits are not automatically provided, which is why it’s important to understand the workers’ compensation process.
Obtain Medical Attention Right Away
Before you focus on filing a claim, you should first obtain medical attention to ensure that your injuries are treated promptly. It’s important to remember that there are times when the workers’ compensation policy has a specific doctor that you will need to visit for your injuries, which is something that you should find out as soon as possible. If you don’t like the first opinion provided by the doctor in question, it’s likely that you’ll be able to obtain a second opinion before receiving treatment. The medical report that’s created when you’ve been injured will be helpful when you’re filling out an insurance claim.
Notify Employer
If you want to receive benefits and compensation for your injuries, you’ll need to notify your employer of the injury within a short period of time after it has occurred. It’s recommended that you notify them immediately. Even if you don’t believe that you’ve sustained an injury, all workplace accidents should be reported in the event that an injury occurs at a later date. Once you’ve notified your employer of your injury, you should receive a workers’ compensation claim form.
Begin Workers' Compensation Claim Process
The claim form that you’ll need to fill out is typically simple and straightforward. In most cases, you’ll be required to fill out all of the information pertaining to your injury, which includes the type of injury, affected areas of the body, any parties involved in your accident, the date and time of the injury, the injury location, how the accident happened, and what kind of medical treatments you obtained. A workers’ compensation lawyer can help you fill out this form and assist with any issues that might arise in the future. Once the claim has been filled out, it will be filed with the employer’s insurance company. After a certain period of time, you will be notified about whether or not your claim is accepted and how much compensation you can receive.
What to Do After Filing Your Claim
Even after you’ve filed the claim, you might want to take notes of how your injury affects your day-to-day life, which could be useful in the future. It’s also possible that the claim could be rejected, after which you will likely have the ability to appeal the verdict. If the injury was particularly egregious and was caused by the recklessness of your employer, you might want to file a lawsuit as opposed to accepting workers’ compensation benefits.
