After suffering a work-related injury or illness, you should seek immediate medical care. As soon as you have received treatment, you need to let your employer know about your injury, including when, where, and how it occurred. Your employer will then file a workers’ compensation claim on your behalf, and the Administration Board should let you know if your claim was approved.
In an ideal situation, employers and insurance companies would handle workers’ compensation claims as quickly as possible; however, all too often, that isn’t the case. Delayed claims happen, and they happen a lot more often than you might think. In many cases, delays occur because insurance companies hope that they can avoid paying out benefits and are looking to dispute claims; and sometimes, employers fail to act hastily when filing claims. Claims can be slowed because the insurance company needs more information, more documentation linking the injury to a workplace, delay in notification of injury or the actual date that trauma occurred. When workers’ compensation claims are delayed, you could end up going for a prolonged period of time without the benefits you need for your medical and financial needs.