Proving Your Worker’s Compensation Case
Brian O Sutter
Workers’ Compensation
No resident of Port Charlotte, Venice, or Englewood, Florida wants to fall ill or become injured at work. Whether you’re going into an office or lacing up your boots to get to the construction site on time, there’s a certain expectation that you’ll make it home safe and sound at the end of the day. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case for workers in Florida, and injuries or illnesses can rear their ugly heads at any type of job. When a worker gets injured on the job worker’s compensation insurance should be there to protect them. This type of insurance is a requirement in the state of Florida for any business with at least 1 non-owner employee, and it’s put into place so that employees who face injury or illness due to their jobs have protection in place. Without worker’s compensation insurance, business owners may be required to pay for an employee’s injuries out of pocket.
While in an ideal world worker’s compensation insurance claims would be simple and straight forward this isn’t always the case. In many cases, workers' compensation providers will fight claims, try to negotiate much smaller settlements, or deny claims altogether in an effort to save their own bottom lines. When this occurs Florida workers aren’t left out in the cold provided they’re backed by a skilled and knowledgeable Florida personal injury attorney.
Your Florida personal injury attorney can represent you in negotiations with a worker’s compensation insurance provider. They can present your evidence, build your case, and get you the type of settlement you deserve to cover your work-related injuries. What the injured party will have to do, however, is provide their attorney with the documents and the proof they need to build you a strong and grounded case.
There are a number of documents you should present to your personal injury attorney at the beginning of your worker’s compensation case, and these include:
• Your accident report – Your accident report is one of the most important documents you can provide to build your worker’s compensation case. This accident report is filed at the time of your accident, and it should detail all relevant points of your accident as well as the time immediately before and immediately after the accident occurred. After an accident report is made, ask for a copy you can give to your personal injury attorney.
• Your medical records – Your medical records will be the key building block of your settlement. Most of your settlement will be to cover your medical costs, and in order to prove that your medical needs are what you’re asking for you’ll need hard copies of all of your accident-related medical records. This will include diagnostic information, medical bills, and any records from doctors outlining any ongoing care you may need as time goes on. In some instances an injury may require years of physical therapy, or your injuries may lead you to need to change roles altogether, and this will be laid out in your medical documents.
• Employment record – Having your employment record on hand is another great way to build a stronger worker’s compensation case. This proves that you worked for the employer and a long employment record shows that you’ve been a diligent employee for the duration of your employment. Not only does this prove that your employment status at the time of the accident, it also helps to build credibility.
• Pay stubs – When you’ve been injured in a work-related accident, you’ll likely need to take time off of work to recover. You can claim these missing funds as part of your settlement as long as you have your pay stubs. These will show how much you would’ve made in a typical week, and therefore how much you lost during your injury recovery.