As it’s a form of insurance, most employees would like to think that their workers’ compensation will be there for them if they should ever have to file a claim. However, as many of us have had to learn the hard way, having insurance isn’t always much of an assurance. Your workers’ compensation claim could be denied for a number of reasons.
Your Status May Be Questioned
Believe it or not, after filing your claim, you may find out that your status as an employee is being challenged. As an independent contractor, your employer is under no obligation to provide you with workers’ compensation. As such, it’s very much to their benefit to find ways to reclassify you.
No One Saw You Get Hurt
Just because you were injured on the job doesn’t mean you get workers’ compensation. You have to prove that whatever you were doing at the time of the injury was well within the parameters of your job. If you fell off a scaffold because you were dancing on it, the insurance company is definitely going to deny your claim.
Without a witness, the insurance company may try to argue that you were most likely doing something inappropriate when you got hurt.
You Waited to Report Your Injury
Another similar problem is waiting to report that you were injured on the job. Maybe you slipped on a wet floor but tried walking it off. It might not have been until you woke up the next morning that you realized something was broken.
This may have very well happened, but the insurance company might wonder if something else didn’t occur. It might seem like you got hurt after hours, but found an opportunity to get paid by claiming it happened at work.
You Were Laid off before You Filed
Along the same lines of waiting too long, you may have been laid off between the time you got hurt and when you were finally able to get around to filing your workers’ compensation claim. While there could be a number of reasons for this delay, the problem is that now the insurance company can say that this claim of yours is the product of petty vengeance.
Your Accident Report and Medical Records Differ
When you get hurt on the job, an accident report needs to be filed to document what occurred. Similarly, when you go to the hospital, your doctor is going to ask you for a rundown of what happened.
Rest assured that the insurance company is going to cross-check the two for any discrepancies. Depending on the seriousness of your injuries, it’s understandable that you may not say the same thing twice. To the insurance company, though, this may be a clear sign that you simply forgot the details of a story you concocted.
Now that you understand how challenging it can be to file a workers’ compensation claim with the insurance company, hopefully you won’t try it without legal advice first. Call 702-476-5900 today to schedule an appointment with Clear Counsel Law Group and get the help you need getting the compensation you deserve.