Coping with an illness or injury that you suffered at work is tough. It drains you out financially and emotionally in equal measures. While workers’ compensation does offer you a safety net, you need to keep in mind the timeline, and more importantly, the deadline for reporting your injuries and illnesses. The problem arises with long-term illness as in most cases people tend to ignore the early symptoms and assume it has no link to the workplace injury.
At Law Office of James E. Latimer & Associates we always insist on adhering to the deadlines while filing a compensation claim. Failure in reporting an injury on time or being indifferent to the timeline may result in your compensation claim being denied by the court. Here are some of the deadlines you must adhere to while filing for workers’ compensation claim.
Reporting Injury To Employer
It is important for you to bear in mind that different states have different deadlines as far as reporting injury or illness to an employer. It also goes without saying that the sooner you report it to your employer the higher is your odds of getting compensated. Your employer in most cases would advise you to seek treatment from a doctor which is part of their insurer’s medical network. You may lose your right to file compensation claim if you don’t report the injury to the employer within 30 days of the incident.
In case of illnesses, which you contract during work, you need to report it as soon as the illness is known to you. In such cases you may have come to know about your condition from a physician you have consulted in your individual capacity. The 30 day deadline would start from the day you became aware of the illness in such cases.
In normal circumstances you will need to fill up the DWC (Division of Workers’ Compensation) Form 1 once you have received the treatment and hand it over to the employer who then forwards it to the insurance company. If there are no objections to your claim, you will be compensated in a matter of few months. You must bear in mind that, if you are filing an Application for Adjudication of Claim, you are required to do so within a period of one year. In case you are planning to file a lawsuit against your employer you have a period of two years from the date of your injury or from the date when you became aware of your illness.
These deadlines are very important as filing a claim after this period would in most case result in the claim being rejected by the courts. In case you have suffered an injury at work or contracted an illness, you should immediately get in touch with us at the Law Office of James E. Latimer & Associates. We have a proven track record as workers compensation lawyer in Oakland and have helped hundreds of clients get their money in the aftermath of an work injury and/or illness. Even if you have missed the above deadlines, the hope isn’t lost and there are legal options that can be explored. Call us for a free consultation today.