What To Do Following A Work Related Injury
Brian O Sutter
Personal Injury
Every day, millions of Florida residents head to work to earn a living. It’s a part of life, but what happens when you’re injured in an accident on the jobsite? These accidents can end up costing you large amounts of money in medical bills and also make it harder to pay any bills due to hours that you miss from work. But when you’re injured on the job, it’s not right that your financial troubles should be on your shoulders. That’s why worker’s compensation coverage exists, and employers have an obligation to pay for coverage that protects their employees.
However, filing those worker’s compensation claims isn’t always something that employees fully understand. There are a few basic steps you’ll want to remember, and once you do so you’ll be able to clearly understand what rights you have and what you may misunderstand.
Seek Treatment
Once you’re injured, your physical health is of paramount importance. The first thing you need to take care of is medical treatment for your injury. Be sure to visit the hospital or your doctor as soon as possible. Also, do this even if you feel that your injuries are entirely minor. It may seem like your injury is no big deal, but it could balloon into something very severe.
Throughout this process of seeking medical help, keep a record of every medical professional you visit and all billing documents or receipts.
File With Your Employer
You have 30 days under Florida law to speak to an employer and turn in your injury under worker’s compensation coverage. You’ll use form DFS-F2-DWC-1 in almost any worker’s compensation case, and it’s a straightforward form that takes little time to complete. It’s important to understand that your employer isn’t in charge of determining whether or not your claim is valid. Instead, they turn over the claim to the insurance company who provides worker’s compensation, and then that company will investigate your claim and determine what steps they’ll take next.
Maintain Records
As mentioned above, you need to continue keeping records of everything. Keep track not only of your medical documents but of things like time lost at work, any documents sent o you from the insurance company, employer interactions, and more. This is doubly important in cases of chronic illness that may be linked to workplace elements. Injuries are easier to track and identify the source of, but for chronic illnesses you’ll end up needing to be sure to keep all information possible.
Contact An Attorney
Sometimes, worker’s compensation claims move forward very smoothly and no problems are really experienced. But often, insurance companies will challenge claims. In these cases it’s important that you speak to a personal injury law attorney who handles worker’s comp cases.
The issue is that insurance companies are always going to try to protect their bottom line, even if it means denying valid claims. And in some cases, employers will actively refuse to take the claims of their employees seriously and may not even turn them into their insurance company – too many claims can drive up their coverage costs.
In these situations, it’s important that you contact an attorney as soon as you can. They can help you determine exactly what your rights are, whether or not your claim is valid, and then fight for your rights in the court system if they need to. Worker’s compensation laws are designed to protect you and employees like you, and if you’re involved in an accident one of the best steps you can take is to get representation in the event that your employer denies your claim is valid.