10 Tips for Maximizing Your Workers Compensation

If you’ve been injured at work, you’re eligible for workers’ compensation, but you won’t automatically receive it. Even if you do, it may not be the award you deserve. If you’re hurt on the job, Brown & Brown, workers’ compensation attorneys in St. Louis, suggest you consider ten tips to maximize your workers’ comp benefit:

1. Report your injury to your employer immediately. This solidifies your claim and gets the process moving quickly. If you wait, it will be easier for your employer and workers comp insurance to be skeptical of your injury.
2. Seek immediate medical treatment. Don’t just hope it will get better. If your supervisor suggests an ambulance, agree to it. Delay in treatment can provide an excuse for denying your claim.
3. File the claim as quickly as possible. Telling your employer does not by itself get the claim filed. You must do it. Missing deadlines can cost you your rights.
4. Document everything. Record when you saw a doctor, any time your symptoms changed, and any action taken by your employer or the insurance company. Maintain a log, and keep a paper or electronic file with everything in it.
5. Assume you’re being watched. An insurance company can covertly record you playing sports or doing heavy lifting. Also, assume that your social media activity is being monitored.
6. Don’t hurry back to work. Follow your doctor’s advice. Keep your employer informed of your status and of restrictions of accommodations you’ll need when you return.
7. Be honest and specific. Report exactly what was injured and what you were doing when it happened. Don’t exaggerate your injuries, but don’t downplay them, either.
8. Own the process. Your employer and the insurance company won’t care about your claim like you do. Make sure they keep you informed and follow up if you suspect they aren’t.
9. Consider the value of a workers’ compensation attorney. Choose one that’s experienced in the field and that bills on a contingent basis so that you don’t pay anything unless you collect.
10. Maintain a positive attitude. Focus on your recovery and the end game of your claim process.

If you’ve had a work-related injury in the St. Louis area, contact Brown & Brown Attorneys at Law by calling 314-333-3333 or 573-333-3333 in St. Louis or 618-888-8888 in Illinois. Or fill out our online form here. They have over 20 years of experience with workers’ compensation claims, and they don’t get paid unless you do.