Injuries at work can be tricky. Sometimes you don’t sense exactly how injured you are until days later. Perhaps you don’t feel much pain or you hope that the pain will decrease and soon go away. In other instances, employees are afraid to file a report — or they simply don’t know where to begin. Whatever the reason, neglecting to file a report is a big mistake. Failure to report an accident is a common reason employers and insurance carriers try to deny cases. When a workman’s comp case is denied with a Form 61, the insurance carrier is essentially refusing to pay for medical treatment and workers compensation benefits, which means the injured worked is prematurely forced to return to work in pain because he or she cannot afford to be out of work — and often cannot afford the medical treatment.
Make sure this doesn’t happen to you.
When you are injured at work, report the accident immediately. When you do, insist on a written incident report and be sure to s
eek medical treatment to corroborate your claim. Do not wait months or even weeks to make it known that you were injured at work. And don’t allow fear of being fired or reprimanded prevent you from reporting the incident in a timely manner.
If you have any questions or concerns about the steps to take following an injury at work, the legal team at Oxner + Permar is here to help guide you through the process and ensure that your rights are protected.
When it comes to workers’ compensation, I know many clients think they can go it alone: that they’ll save money in the long run by not hiring an attorney and trying to figure the process out for themselves. While at first this might seem like a cost efficient way to go, there are a few things people don’t consider when they chose not to hire an attorney.
Say you try to go it alone and you run into a problem with your workman’s compensation. You realize that you missed a vital step along the way, or the insurance company is refusing to fully cover you. You may even realize your injury is more extensive than you had initially thought and now need additional coverage. While filing the paperwork may have been easy, going back and fixing these problems is much more difficult. It’s at this point that you would hire an attorney.
What many people don’t realize is that the fee for an attorney is the same whether we’re working your case for two years or two months. Generally the fee is about 25 percent of the settlement. This means that it makes much more sense to obtain an attorney earlier in the process.
An experienced attorney will help you avoid potential problems and navigate the pitfalls of obtaining workers’ comp benefits. This ensures a smooth process and helps ensure that you’re receiving the most benefits with the shortest wait possible. At Oxner + Permar we have extensive experience with workers’ comp cases, so we know what to look for when it comes to dealing with a workman’s comp case.
Often we hear about class action lawsuits on the news or ads on TV calling for those affected by a defective product to contact a lawyer to join a class action lawsuit. But what many people don’t realize is that there are actually two, major kinds of class action lawsuits.
The first kind is simply a class action lawsuit. This is probably the kind you’re familiar with. In a class action lawsuit, a lawsuit is filed on behalf of an entire group of people who share a set of unfortunate circumstances, damages and injuries. This type of action reduces the number of court cases that arise when many people are harmed by the same problem.
The second kind is known as a mass tort lawsuit. Mass tort lawsuits also deal with the cases of many people affected by a similar problem or situation; however, there tends to be more variation or complexity to the separate cases. Rather than filing a single lawsuit to cover many cases, a single attorney or group of attorneys, are allowed to represent each case individually. The cases are brought before the same judge. Using the same key players allows for each case to be viewed individually, while those involved become experts, understanding the precedents set by earlier cases and being able to distinguish variation.
With class action lawsuits, you would have to be able to prove that your situation is typical for what others have experienced when dealing with a company or product. There’s no need for this with a mass tort lawsuit as your case would be handled on an individual basis. Because of this, however, mass torts tend to be more complicated than a class action lawsuit, and will likely take much longer to settle.
Here’s the scenario: You find yourself injured at work, and while your employer’s workers’ comp benefits cover your medical bills, you find that your employer has reduced the number of hours you work to accommodate your light-duty work restrictions. Despite your workman’s comp benefits, you’re still coming up short when it comes to income, but you can’t ask for more hours, because you need to respect your reduced hours in order to recover and maintain your worker’s comp benefits.
This may seem like a no-win scenario for you, but the good news is there’s a solution! Did you know that you might also be entitled to payments for loss of income? Just because you’re receiving worker’s compensation doesn’t mean everyday life stops. On top of medical expenses, you still need to cover bills, groceries, and other daily necessities. Payments for loss of income protect your right to take the time to heal and can help you keep yourself afloat while working fewer hours.
If you have any questions about whether or not you are entitled to payments that cover loss in income be sure to contact an attorney. At Oxner + Permar our experienced attorneys are always happy to talk to you about your rights, and help ensure that you’re being protected.
I have many clients who are worried about how long they have to file their workers’ compensation claim after a work injury—and how long it might take for an insurance company to deny or accept their claim. Here’s what a general timeline looks like:
Although you have up to two years to file your Form 18, we always recommend filing sooner rather than later. You don’t want to find yourself coming up against deadlines, and it’s always best to get statements while the event is still fresh in everyone’s minds.
