Why Your Claim Might Be Denied and What to Do About It!

Apr 18, 2023 | Compensability

Why Your Claim Might Be Denied and What to Do About It! – One of the biggest difficulties for injured workers is determining whether or not they hurt themselves at work. Sometimes it’s easy; you lift a box at work and get hurt. However, there are cases when you might think your injury is not work-related when in fact, it is.

Workers’ Compensation Compensability

Let’s say you get into a car accident in the employee parking lot, and think it’s not a work injury because you’re off the clock not doing your job. The law says that it is. You slip in the bathroom on some water and weren’t working at that moment. It’s still considered a compensable injury.

If you were conferring a benefit to your employer in any way, whether going out to get coffee for people or deliver a package when it’s not your usual job duty, it may very well be compensable.

Pre-existing conditions are a very common misconception. The law mandates that the employer and the insurance carrier take the injured worker as they find them. We all come to jobs with particular illnesses and histories, nonetheless, just because you have bad knees, if your work makes those bad knees worse, it becomes a work injury.

How can I know if they’re trying to deny my case?

There are some signs that you need to watch out for because they mean that they’re trying to deny liability on your case.

If they’re asking you for a recorded statement chances are they’re trying to figure out whether or not to deny your claim. They will use the recording against you. It’s one of the first pieces of evidence used by the insurance carrier’s attorneys to disprove the fact that you injured yourself at work.

If you report your injury and are not told to go to the doctor or given a list of doctors to choose from, that’s a big red flag that your case will get denied.

If you’re off from work for an extended period of time and are seeing a doctor, but you are not getting paid wage loss benefits, that’s a sign that they haven’t admitted your case.

Why is it important to get an attorney?

Without an attorney, the insurance carrier will take advantage of you.

A lot of injured workers think that the insurance companies will do something about the fact that their cases have been denied. Wrong. They won’t do anything. The case will stay denied unless you, the injured worker, do something.

Additionally, there’s the misconception, that during the investigation of whether or not you suffered an injury on the job, were you think that the investigator and the adjuster will help you in the process because they are your friends. In our experience, that’s not necessarily the case.

We’re here to help if your claim might be denied.

If you or your loved ones have been injured on the job in Colorado, we can help you. We can tell you whether or not we think it’s arguably a work-related injury. Call or text us at 970-356-98-98. All of our consultations are free and confidential.