Personal Injury Lawyer

For employees injured during working hours, workers compensation is designed for them to fall back on. It covers medical bills, permanent disabilities, lost wages and even funeral costs if necessary. To encourage more employers to invest in workers compensation insurance, an employee cannot sue their employer, so proving fault is not necessary to file a claim, making it a beneficial situation for everyone. Yet, what happens when your claim is denied? There are several reasons it could be, and you have a few options on what to do next if it is.

Statute of Limitations

A statute of limitations is the amount of time you have to report an injury or file a claim. Each state has its own limitations, and you must report your injury by the deadline. Immediately following an accident, look up your state’s laws to see how much time you have to report the injury. Give your employer a written report of the accident before the deadline, or your claim may be denied.

Disputes 

Sometimes there are contradicting stories revolving around an accident. An employer may refuse to file a claim because they don’t think the employee was on the clock at the time of the accident. You also can’t file a claim if you broke company safety policies, were acting negligently, were intoxicated or started a fight with another employee. If your employer disputes your claim with any of these reasons, it could be denied.

Post-Job Claims

There are many reasons an employee may file a claim after leaving their job. Whether they were fired, quit or laid off, the claim may get denied because of it. However, sometimes an employee can still get compensation after they leave. Your state may have laws for these exemptions, and you can look into them to challenge the denial.

Appealing the Denial

When your claim is denied, you should be informed why. Occasionally, denials occur because of simple errors during the filing process. You may be able to get these cleared up without hassle and continue the rest of the claims process. If no mistake was made, you can hire a lawyer to see how to go about appealing the denial. They can tell you if an appeal is worth your time and effort based on your case and injuries. You can contact a lawyer, like a workers compensation lawyer from The Law Offices of Mark T. Hurt, at any time while you file a claim if you need help understanding the legalities of your claim.