Two Important Worker Compensation Questions Answered
Suffering an injury while at work can be a devastating problem to experience due to the substantial medical costs and lost wages. Individuals that have been unfortunate enough to have encountered this experience may think that they will be forced to pay expensive medical bills and other expenses. However, employers are legally forced to have workers' compensation insurance, and this is designed to cover the financial damages an injured employee may suffer. If you have suffered an accidental injury while at work, you may benefit from learning these answers to routine workers' compensation questions.
What Should You Do If You Did Not Report The Injury At The Time It Happened?
While individuals are advised to report any on the job injuries as soon as they happen, there are some people that may have made the mistake of overlooking this important step. It is vital to understand that failing to immediately your job-related injury will not automatically disqualify you from filing a claim. Often, this mistake happens due to an individual initially underestimating the severity of their injuries. When you have made this mistake, it is important to notify your employer as soon as possible. It may be possible to review security footage to help bolster your claims, but this is not possible if you wait long enough for the tape from the day of the injury to be recorded over.
Should You Sign The Medical Authorization From The Insurance?
Once you have reported the injury to your employer, it is likely that the insurance company will request you to sign a medical authorization form. This form allows the insurance company review your medical records. Prior to signing this document, it is essential for you to be sure that it specifically states the authorization is only for the work-related injuries. Otherwise, the insurance company may be able to access your entire medical history, which could allow them to argue that your injuries were from another issue in your medical history. If you are unable to determine the scope of your authorization form, you should make sure to have an experienced workers' compensation attorney review it.
Workers' compensation is a type of insurance that employers are required to carry in order to financially protect employees from job-related injuries. While it can be highly effective in helping individuals offset the costs of these accidents, it is often poorly understood by victims. Making sure that you appreciate the fact that you should report the injury as soon as possible as well as verifying that the medical authorization form has limited scope will help you to ensure that your rights are protected following an on the job injury.
For more information, contact a company like Neifert Byrne & Ozga.
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