Workers’ compensation can cover lost hours, rehabilitation and medical bills if you get injured on the job.
To ensure you receive your benefits in a timely manner, follow these important steps.
1. Report Your Injury
To qualify for benefits, your injury must have happened at or because of work. If there is any doubt that this is the case, the insurer can deny your claim. Report your injury to your supervisor as soon as it happens, no matter how minor it may seem.
2. Get Medical Attention
Seek medical attention after your injury and maintain records of your diagnoses, treatments and bills in case an insurer requests them.
3. File the Claim
Your employer must file a First Report of Injury form to their insurer on your behalf. They have up to ten days from when you notified them to file this form. After review, the insurer will either accept or deny the claim. There is a small waiting period before you receive payments if you lost time at work due to your injury.
4. Appeal the Denial
If the insurer denies your claim, seek an appeal. In most cases, you have three years from the report of the injury to begin the appeals process. First, file the Employee’s Claim Petition. Depending on how complex your claim is, your petition could lead to an administrative conference or a hearing with a judge from the Office of Administrative Hearings.
Understanding the steps to a workers’ compensation claim before you get injured on the job can help you quickly access those benefits when you need them.