There are some mistakes that you need to avoid if you have gotten injured at work – else – it might mill your worker’s comp case. A potential mistake in a worker’s comp case is something that has a negative impact on it.
However, it can be completely preventable as you or your loved one who has gotten injured at work will now be familiar with the consequences of your actions or inactions.
Read on to learn more.
Not Reporting Your Accident
The number one mistake that you want to avoid at all costs is the mistake of not reporting the accident. So, if you get hurt at work, you need to tell anyone who asks that it happened at work. The rule applies to your employer, coworkers, doctors, friends, and literally anyone who might actually be asked by work comp how you got hurt.
If you don’t report your accident and say that it was something not related to work – later on, when you try to change your statement – no one will believe you. More importantly, the judge won’t believe you. You already know that you have lost your case if the judge doesn’t believe you.
Of course, the exceptional case is where you actually try to report the accident, but the employer won’t take notes or allow anyone to take the report. In this case, you should hire an attorney, such as the top rated Nevada injury attorney, and sue your employer as the employer is clearly denying you the right to worker’s comp.
Yes – there are cases where employees were told by their employees not to report their injuries as work-related – but you shouldn’t trust your employer in this regard as they are only setting you up for failure.
Trust your attorney in this case, but never trust your employer when it comes to your work comp case.
Not Paying Your Taxes
Your taxes matter because your average weekly wage is calculated based on the money you made on which you paid taxes. On that note, if you fail to pay your taxes, there is no money to use as a value to calculate your average weekly wage, which also means that you don’t get paid anything at all.
So, if you haven’t paid your taxes yet – you can still pay them after your accident. Once you have paid your taxes, your average weekly wage will be calculated, and you will be paid. However, you won’t be dealing with any penalties and interest during the time that you were entitled to lost wages but didn’t pay your taxes.
See Your Own Personal Doctor
Another mistake that you might make that could potentially destroy your worker’s comp case is the mistake of seeing your own doctor. The number one thing that drives a worker’s comp case is medical evidence. On that note, the only medical evidence that is admissible in a worker’s comp case is the evidence that is opinions from authorized doctors, independent medical examiners, or IMEs.
So, if you make the mistake of seeing your own doctor – that doctor’s opinion will never be allowed to get in front of the judge. If you don’t have medical evidence that supports your case or your claim for lost wages – then you will definitely lose and get nothing.
You should know that a worker’s comp is only allowed to pay for the payment of medical care that is recommended by the authorized doctor. This aspect indicates that your personal doctor’s bills will be your sole responsibility to pay.
Not Returning to Work
The number four mistake is not returning to work or quitting your job. This aspect relates to entitlement to lost wages or work comp checks, which are also known as indemnity benefits in work comp. To get work comp checks, your authorized doctor needs to have you out of work or at least work restrictions and not at maximum medical improvement.
Once this happens, it is on your employer to offer you a light-duty job in writing – otherwise – work comp will have to pay you 2/3rd of your average weekly wage. Also, if you at least don’t make an effort to do the job that you are offered by your employer, work comp can deny payment of work comp checks due to something known as voluntary limitation of income.
This rule also applies to you if you quit your job. You should know that the term “voluntary limitation income” means that the employee is the reason that they are not making a wage instead of the work injury.
Refusing Authorized Medical Care
If you want to benefit from worker’s comp, you should avoid making the mistake of refusing authorized medical care. The thing is that you have to see your authorized work comp doctor at least once a year. If you fail to do so, your worker’s comp case will be closed due to violation of the statute of limitations.
Also, if you fail to get the medical care that your authorized doctor recommends, work comp can deny your case due to medical non-compliance. If there comes a time when your authorized work comp doctor recommends something that you don’t feel comfortable getting, such as surgery, then it might be a good time for you to settle your case.
Exaggerating the Accident
Another crucial mistake to avoid so that you don’t destroy your work comp case is exaggerating things or not telling the truth. In fact, if you tell lies or exaggerate your case, it becomes one of the easiest ways for Work Comp to deny your case based on fraud, which is also known as misrepresentation in the Worker Comp statute.
In such a scenario, the work comp will present you to the judge as a liar, and if the judge agrees – your case will be dismissed. What is worse is that the misrepresentation doesn’t even have to be relevant to your case – it can be about anything.
There is even a slight chance that the judge will believe that it was for the purpose of securing worker’s compensation benefits. Keep in mind that it is always easier to get around the truth than a lie.
