Getting injured at work could be a traumatizing experience. While nothing in the world can undo your damages, you can get financial support from the worker’ compensation system. For the uninitiated, the worker’s compensation system is a no-fault insurance that covers medical bills and part of lost wages. All employers in Arizona are required to have this insurance. Immediately after getting injured, you should consider reporting the incident to your employer and must consider consulting a worker’ compensation lawyer in Phoenix. In this post, we are answering some of the basic questions that people ask.
What happens when a claim is denied or closed?
If your claim is denied or closed, you have a limited amount of time to protest against the decision. When the insurance carrier has denied the claim, you have a period of 90 days to request a hearing. Consider talking to an attorney at the earliest for legal advice. The decision will be taken by an Administrative Law Judge when your hearing is before the Industrial Commission of Arizona.
Should you hire an attorney?
Hiring an attorney is your call, but we would highly recommend that you get one. Keep in mind that insurance companies don’t have your best interests in mind and will do anything to minimize what they pay in settlements. Also, your employer would have hired an attorney anyway, and you wouldn’t want to deal with everything on your own without legal backup.
Why are worker’ compensation claims denied?
A claim could be denied on many grounds. The insurance company may claim that there were no witnesses to the said accident that resulted in your injuries. In many cases, your previous health history could be cited as a reason. The injury must be related to your job. For instance, if you were on a lunch break and suffered a heart attack, that won’t be a work-related injury.
What is the time limit for filing workers’ compensation claim in Arizona?
Immediately after getting injured at work, you have to make an effort and inform your employer of the incident. You have one year from that time of injury (or discovery of an illness) to file a workers’ compensation claim in Arizona. Once you have filed the claim, the insurance company has 21 days to respond to that, and they can choose to accept or deny your claim.
Get in touch with a work comp lawyer now!
