Filing a claim for worker’s compensation does not mean that it will automatically be granted. There are times when the insurer will deny the claim; one which you know is perfectly valid. This refusal to pay the claim invariably results in you having to turn to a worker’s compensation attorney in Wichita KS in an attempt to enforce what you know is a legitimate claim. Knowing this happens begs the question; “why would a worker’s compensation claim be denied? A few reasons are:
- No one witnessed the supposed work related injury
- The injury was reported late
- The initial medical report and your accident report are inconsistent
- The medical report showed evidence of illegal substances in your system
- The claim was made after you were laid-off or fired
Let’s look at these reasons in more detail:
Un-witnessed injury: There is nothing you can do if no one witnessed the event that caused your injury. You must report the incident to your supervisor immediately after it happened. When you discuss the injury with others, either co-workers or not, be consistent with your description of how the accident happened and what lead up to it.
Late report: The insurance company will often take the stance that if you did not report the injury when it happened then you really were not hurt. A worker’s compensation attorney in Wichita KS sees this reason to deny benefits quite often. You must always report a work related injury regardless of how insignificant it may appear at the time. If you end up missing work or have medical bills the absence of an accident report will make it difficult for you to get compensation.
Discrepancies: If the accident reports that you provided your employer and the report that you gave to a doctor vary significantly insurers will often deny the claim. Be consistent when reporting and discussing the accident.
Illegal substances: The claim will almost always be denied if you were found to have evidence of illegal drugs in your system.
File a claim after termination: There are times when there was a legitimate work related injury and the employee was late filing the report and between the dates of the injury and the report the party was laid off or terminated. The insurer will take this as a “revenge” claim; this is but one more example of why timely reporting is so important.
If for these or any other reasons your claim for worker’s compensation is denied your first task should be to contact Fleeson Gooing Attorneys at Law.
If you are injured at work, you have the right to file a claim for worker’s compensation. If your claim is denied you will need to hire a worker’s compensation attorney in Wichita KS; you are invited to contact Fleeson Gooing, Attorneys at Law.