Workers' compensation audit is an important part of your compensation for ensuring safety at work. It’s a no-fault sort of insurance that nearly every employer is required to hold which, by law, helps to hide you if you get hurt within the course of your job. Regardless of what caused the injury, workers’ comp helps to hide your medical bills, some of your lost wages, and even, if necessary, vocational education for brand spanking new jobs.
Unfortunately, workers' compensation insurers get very overzealous in trying to stay fraudulent claims to a minimum. This leads to far too many legitimate claims getting denied the primary outing. Learn the reasons why workers' compensation claims are denied, what you can do if you get a rejection, and how a workers comp lawyer can help.
Why Was My Claim Denied?
There are many reasons why workers’ compensation claims can be denied. These include failure to report injuries in a timely fashion, a lack of witnesses to the injury, discrepancies in your paperwork, indications of illegal drug use, filing of claims after being fired, or a refusal to sign authorizations, among others.
Failure to Report in a Timely Fashion
There is a statute of limitations on reporting injuries to get a workers’ comp claim. The longer you're taking to report your accident, the less likely you're to urge your claim approved. Insurance companies don’t wish to disburse damages and that they will search for any reason they will to undermine your case. This includes accusing you of not being that badly hurt because you took too long to report your injury.
A Lack of Witnesses
Insurance companies never like to award claims if there aren’t any witnesses to the incident. If there’s nobody that can back up your story, they’re going to challenge every aspect of it they can. Without someone to support your story, there’s not much you'll do to fight these challenges, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t report your injury. The best thanks to combating a scarcity of witnesses is to inform your story often, to several different people, and keep all the small print an equivalent.
Discrepancies in Paperwork
If your statement on your initial report differs from what appears on your medical records, your claim is often denied. When you report the accident to your supervisor, confirm the story you tell your doctor is strictly an equivalent. Even the littlest difference in details can cause problems. This isn’t to suggest that you’re not telling the reality, but it’s always best to stay your story as simple and easy as possible.
Indications of Illegal Drug Use
If you attend the ER after an accident at work, and that they find illegal drugs in your system, the insurer will almost definitely deny your workers’ comp claim. This is a crucial thing to recollect thanks to the very fact that, while many nations are legalizing marijuana, it's still an illegal drug at the Federal level. The insurance firm can latch onto this as an excuse to accuse you of being irresponsible and to deny your claim as a result.
Filing a Claim after Being Fired
Sometimes you would possibly get injured at work, and for whatever reason, you delay reporting or filing your claim. Then you get laid off or fired. If you then take the chance to file your claim, you'll well see it denied, because the insurance firm will assume that you’re only firing as revenge for being let go.
Refusing to Sign Paperwork
Part of your workers’ compensation claim is going to involve a lot of signatures. You’ll need to provides a statement describing your accident and injuries, which may be problematic. If the insurance firm asks you to sign a press release it can often mean they’re looking to challenge the statement. You’re also not legally required to issue the statement. Refusing to offer the statement, however, opens the door for them to accuse you of getting something to cover.
Likewise, you’ll be asked to sign medical authorizations that allow the insurer access to your healthcare records. You’re not required to allow this—you can provide whatever records they need directly. Again, however, they could accuse you of getting something to cover.
Call a Workers’ Comp Lawyer
Your best bet any time you would like to file a workers’ comp claim is to right away secure the services of a workers’ comp lawyer. An attorney can assist you to require the proper steps to avoid claim denials and obtain the compensation you deserve. If you would like help, call the Tormey & McConnell firm for a free consultation today.
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