Employment Lawyer
For most people, when they get hurt at work they’re told to stay at home by their doctor until better, and then hop into their normal duties once recovered. But for others, their workers’ compensation claim may be denied. If you are wondering why your claim wasn’t approved, here are possible explanations:
You weren’t hurt at work.
A workplace injury has to be exactly that, an injury accident that happened when on the job site or when traveling for work. In order for it to meet the requirements for a workers’ comp claim, it must be true that the injury occurred during the scope of your responsibilities, and the injury developed because of employment.
You waited too long to report injury.
Some workers may be tempted to hold off on filing a report until they know the full extent of their injury. However, by waiting too long, this can seriously impact whether your claim is approved or not. You only have 30 days from the date of injury to submit a workers’ compensation claim.
Your injury was not covered.
Workers’ compensation programs are a form of insurance policy, not a government-funded entity. So similar to your auto insurance, some aspects of your injury may or may not be covered.
Lack of witnesses to support the story.
Another common reason that a claim may be denied is if there are no witnesses or footage to support your side of the story. This may be even more true if you did not report the injury immediately after it happened. If there isn’t a person or camera that saw the scene unfold, you must keep your story consistent to avoid a denial.
As the workers compensation lawyers from Hickey & Turim, S.C. can attest, there are numerous more reasons why someone’s claim may have been denied. It’s important to understand what may have caused the denial, so that you can correct the issue or submit an appeal if you have a strong case to do so.
