Say you got a brain injury at work, and you are off for a while. You do all the paperwork, and after a couple of weeks, you get a letter that your claim is denied. What do you do now? Why would it be rejected? There are many possible reasons.
Some Reasons Why You Could Have Been Denied
There is a big list of reasons this can happen. Here are just a few:
- The injury is not covered under the workman’s comp insurance your company carries.
- Your injury happened off work property, or you were clocked out on a break.
- There was an error in your paperwork, or it was not filed on time.
- The company you work for misfiled your claim, or there was a technical issue.
This is a small list of possible things. Have no fear; there are still more options to help you get your claim approved if you hit a roadblock.
Options You Have at Your Side
You can appeal your claim, but must do it within a certain amount of time. Each state is different, usually you have between 30 and 90 days.
Mediation is another option. It is a process where an educated third party sits between both you and the company. They try to help both of you come to an agreement, but there is no agreement in some cases. The mediator has no legal authority to enforce one.
Legal Recourse
The next step is an administrative hearing with a judge. In this scenario, you may want to contact an lawyer. You can defend yourself, but your employer will probably have legal counsel advising themselves. Having an lawyer at this point could help support your case in a proper direction. This way, you have a better chance of winning your worker’s comp case.
Once the administrative hearing is over, it could take weeks before the decision is announced. Going further out than that, it can take years to come to a judgment. You must decide if this is the right thing for you to do.
This can be a complicated process if parties cannot agree. Most of the time, when a workplace brain injury lawyer El Paso, TX such as Roger Davie P.C. comes into play, there is some type of settlement. It can go far and cost a lot of money to win or lose your case. If you are unsure of what to do, you should contact a lawyer in your local area.