Your Checklist for a Successful Workers Comp Claim

The period after a workplace injury can be scary. You may not know where to start when filing a claim, missing out on benefits that you are owed by your employer.

To make sure you get what you deserve for your injury, follow these steps after an accident at work.

If you have any more questions about your workers comp claim, don’t hesitate to reach out to an experienced attorney. They can handle your case for you so that you can focus on your recovery.

Tell Your Employer

One of the biggest mistakes workers make after an injury at work is not reporting the accident to their employer. If you want to receive full compensation for your injury, it’s important that you report it right away.

The accident report filed by your employer will be the basis of your workers comp claim. If you don’t report your injury within a certain amount of time (often a month) you may be ineligible for workers comp benefits

File Your Workers Comp Claim

Once you’ve reported your injury to your employer, you should make sure a workers comp claim is filed as soon as possible.

The workers comp claim that you file will be the basis for any benefits that you receive for your injury. That’s why it’s important that you file it quickly, and make sure that there are no errors.

If you don’t file a claim within the set deadline, you may miss out on workers comp benefits. Insurers can use your delay in filing to their benefit, claiming that your injuries couldn’t have been that serious if they weren’t reported right away.

Why You Should Always Report Your Injury

Workers often wonder if it’s worth reporting minor injuries. Even if you don’t notice any significant pain at the time, you should still report any injuries to your employer.

For example, if you injure your knee and start to feel pain months later, you may be unable to file for benefits if the accident wasn’t reported.

If you try to report an injury long after it occurred, employers and insurers may fight your claim, as it is difficult to prove that the injury actually occurred at work.

Don’t Be Afraid To Talk To Your Coworkers

Many insurers will try to fight your claim, asking you to prove that your injury actually occurred at work. If it’s just your word against your employer’s, the value of your claim may go down.

To build as strong a case as possible, try to get witnesses to back up your account of the accident. Ask your coworkers to report what they saw of the accident. This makes your claim more credible, and can help ensure that you receive the benefits you are owed.

Try to get written reports as soon as possible after the injury. These will be taken more seriously than oral reports made later down the road.

Get Documentation From Your Doctor

You should also make sure that any visit to the doctor’s office is fully documented. The injury report by the doctor will be critical to your claim, so make sure it’s detailed. You should also communicate with your doctor so that they know that the injury occurred at work.

Find A Skilled Workers Comp Attorney

At Glacier Law, we fight to protect workers from aggressive insurance companies, making sure you get the payout you deserve.

We offer free case evaluations, where we discuss the nature of your injuries and outline your legal options.

Contact us today to start protecting your rights.