In the aftermath of a workplace accident, an injured employee may be suffering from pain and confusion about how to recover their damages. Their concerns about how they will be able to pay their medical bills and especially while they are out of work because of their injury are quite valid. If you sustained a serious injury in a job related accident, whether or not the diagnosis suggests the injury is permanent, it may include a costly treatment process. A workers’ compensation attorney will be very familiar with these scenarios and can aggressively protect the rights of those who suffered serious injuries in workplace accidents. Whether you have submitted a claim and it was denied, or you have not yet submitted one, request a complimentary case review. A workers’ compensation attorney can provide you with the information you need in order to make an informed decision about how to move forward. If you were injured in Georgia, please call us at 770-351-0801.
What was the reason given for your workers’ compensation claim denial?
The first step is to determine why your claim was denied by the workers compensation board or your employer. Whether or not their reason for your claim denial is valid, you need to know what their response is and the reasoning behind it. Here are several common examples of reasons for denial:
- The accident did not occur on your employer’s property or else did not occur during a work-related function or task.
- The injury was a pre-existing condition and was not caused by the workplace accident.
- The injury occurred as a direct result of your intoxicated condition (due to drugs or alcohol) and the fight that you instigated in the workplace.
What is your version of the events that occurred?
An injury claim may represent a significant amount of money. As the lawyers at Cohen & Cohen can explain, to maintain their profits, insurance companies (and possibly your employer) will make every effort to reduce their payouts on injury claims. To this end, they will deny claims on any pretext. Even if they may believe a claim is valid, they will typically refuse to pay the injured worker using any excuse they can come up with. If your claim was denied, a workers’ compensation attorney from our firm will review your version of how you were injured. In response to the workers compensation claim denial, a rebuttal will address the reasoning of the denial, and offer documentation to support it. Here are some examples of this:
- The claim was denied because the injury did not occur on the grounds of your workplace. Your workers compensation attorney might present proof that you were on a work errand when you were involved in a car accident.
- The claim was denied because the injury was pre-existing. Your workers compensation attorney might present your medical records to show that either your injury was not pre-existing, or else your workplace injury exacerbated the pre-existing injury.
If you have a claim for social security as well, be sure you discuss with a lawyer how a workers’ compensation claim may affect your social security.