How Many Injured Workers to Lose Compensation Benefits this Year and How We Can Help?

After an injury, many employees aren’t aware of their benefits and often lose compensation by not meeting deadlines or having a Los Angeles workers’ compensation attorney fighting for their rights. It is estimated that thousands of injured workers lose benefits each year for a variety of reasons. 

Steps to take after your accident

First and foremost you need to seek medical attention for your injuries. Emergencies that require a hospital visit will be reimbursed by the employer. The employer may provide the name and information of a doctor or emergency room where to get treatment. When at the medical facility inform the staff that this is a workers’ comp case. Some employees lose benefits by not informing the doctor who has to take additional steps in a workers’ comp claim. California workers’ comp injuries need to be reported within 30 days. Failure to report the injury within the time frame can result in loss of benefits compensation. Contacting a Los Angeles workers comp attorney will help keep you within the statutes of limitations and avoid any discrepancies. 

 Filing a Workers’ Comp Claim

California workers’ comp claims have two major steps involved. The first step is to report the injury sustained to your employer. They will then give you a workers’ comp claim form to send to the employer’s insurance carrier. The next step is to contact a Los Angeles workers’ compensation attorney who will complete the workers’ comp application through the court. These need to be done to get all eligible benefits. Within 14 days of filing a claim, the insurance company will be contacting you denying your claim, stating it is under investigation or issuing temporary disability payments. 

Mistakes to Avoid when filing a claim

There are a few common mistakes people make when filing a claim that costs them thousands in lost benefits. The first mistake is not reporting the incident, to begin with, or improperly reporting it. The employer of the insurance company will deny the claim stating the incident was not properly reported. Injured employees feel that disclosing prior medical history can hurt their case but the opposite is true.  Even though you feel better, you need to finish and comply with all medical treatment advised. This can easily find you are uncooperative and deny your benefits. The most important mistake people make is failing to hire an experienced lawyer. The attorney is here to protect your rights and benefits. They can instruct you on how to avoid the other common mistakes to get maximum compensation. 

How a Los Angeles attorney can help

A Los Angeles workers’ compensation attorney can file a claim form and application or review a filed claim and file a new application. It is important to keep in mind that filing a claim and filing an application is very different. Attorneys can identify potential problems with your claim like deadline issues or pre-existing conditions. If you failed to contact an attorney prior to filing a claim and it was denied it can be looked over 

How long will a personal injury claim take?

Being injured can be traumatic and then figuring out what to do next adds more stress to the situation. Personal injury attorney works diligently to settle the case as soon as possible. Some cases can take years especially those where there is the permanent injury. Smaller personal injury claims can be resolved within a few months. JML Law is staffed with experienced Los Angeles personal injury attorney that can look at your accident and determine the best plan of action.

Medical Treatment

Before anything else, seek medical treatment for your injuries. This is crucial to your health and to your case. Insurance adjusters will argue about the seriousness of your injuries if medical attention is not obtained within the allotted time period. If the case were to go to trial, the jury may also find that you could not have been seriously injured if you waited so long to seek help. This will also help the lawyer determine if there is a case.

Discussing the case with a Lawyer

Find a Los Angeles personal injury attorney to discuss the incident. The attorneys at JML Law have years of experience related to personal injury cases and can help you decide the best route to take.during an initial consultation, the attorney will interview you about the accident, medical treatment sought and will need a  little background about yourself. It is important to be forthcoming with all information because the lawyer does have your best interests in mind and is seeking all this information to win the case. If you are not initially forthcoming and they later find information to the contrary, this can harm your case. After the interview is complete, the attorney will ask for all medical records related to the injury as well as documents about your medical history. The personal injury attorney in Los Angeles will review the documents and determine how to proceed.

Making a Demand and Negotiations

At this point, the personal injury attorney will have a clear idea whether to drop the case, settle or file a lawsuit. Smaller personal injury cases are usually settled outside of court. Your personal injury attorney will file a demand with the other party's insurance company or corresponding attorney.  A lawsuit will be filed without question if the incident caused permanent injury or impairment. These types of cases will take longer especially when waiting for you to reach maximum medical improvement. The payout is much larger in this instance and will prevent the jury from undervaluing the case if you have not recovered entirely by the time the case goes to court.

Lawsuit

A personal injury claim can take one to two years after being filed before going to trial. The first six months to a year will consist of both attorneys collecting depositions, interrogations, and any relevant documentation. The amount of time spent on discovery depends on the complexity of the case.

Mediation and Trial

Los Angeles personal injury attorney will attempt mediation with the rival attorney first. If a settlement cannot be reached they will bring a mediator that will attempt to come to a settlement between both clients and both personal injury attorneys. When mediation does not work, the case will go to trial. The trail can last days, weeks or months depending on the court, judge, and case.