Work Injury Law: How to File a Claim

When injured at work, you only have a certain amount of time to file a claim to get compensated for your injury. In Texas, injured workers must file injury reports within thirty days of the injury, must appeal the first impairment rating within 90 days of its issuance, and must file the formal paperwork for the workers’ compensation claim within one year of the injury. If the work-related nature of the injury or illness was not immediately apparent, those deadlines run from the date on which the employee should have known the problem was work-related.

The first things you need to do are notifying your employer and seek medical care. Your employer is required to file the claim, even if they question the injury. In the event that this does occur, contact a local work injury lawyer. They will help you to address the situation. More on this website

Your employer should have the necessary worker’s compensation forms for you to fill out. It then becomes your employer’s responsibility to submit the forms to the appropriate insurance carrier. If they don’t have the forms or refuse to file them, you can file a claim yourself with the state’s worker’s compensation agency.

The insurance company will investigate the claim. An adjuster will be assigned and want to speak with you and any witnesses, as well as your employer and co-employees. In many cases, the insurance carrier will accept the claim and agree to pay benefits.

However, things may not go so smoothly. An employer may dispute your claim or the medical record may not be clear. The best way to deal with this is to keep good documentation of your injuries and the treatment. It may also be a good time to consider hiring a worker’s compensation attorney for your workplace accident if you have not done so already. Having documentation on hand will help the process considerably.

There are many things to consider when thinking about hiring an attorney to help you with a worker’s compensation claim. Keep in mind that many workers’ compensation attorneys do very little advertising. They often rely on word of mouth to advertise their business. Begin your search by talking to friends and family members to see if they have a recommendation. If they don’t have one, you can find some through an Internet search.

Once you’ve found an attorney, check their website to see if they emphasize worker’s compensation cases. Do they have a blog or page that features worker’s compensation articles? If you like what you read, call them for an initial consultation. The consultation should be free.

Treat the initial consultation like a job interview. While the attorney will usually discuss your case and ask you many questions about your injury, remember to ask the attorney questions as well. Make sure to ask them how long they have been in practice and how long they have handled worker’s compensation cases.

If you have been injured in a workplace accident, you are entitled to file a worker’s compensation claim. Even if your claim has been denied you may be entitled to compensation for your injury. Don’t give up. Please contact our Law Firm to ask how we can help you.