Fort Lauderdale Work Injury Law Firm
As a work injury law firm Fort Lauderdale depends on, one of the biggest mistakes we know of, and have seen, is when an injured worker does not give a full and accurate history to their medical provider. If you do not tell the medical provider how the injury occurred and that it happened at work, you may seriously risk your ability to recover workers’ compensation benefits. In fact, the Law Offices of Franks, Koenig & Neuwelt shares that you might struggle to get the medical treatment you need.
It is very important you let your doctor know about any complaint, regardless of how trivial you think it might be. Our Fort Lauderdale work injury law firm will tell you that it is just as important to talk about how the injury happened, while including as much detail as possible. You should also make sure your doctor understands that the accident happened at work. This ensures your claim is protected to recover workers’ compensation benefits.
As soon as you file for workers’ compensation benefits, the insurance company, or their legal team, will investigate the claim. This is a primary reason to call our work injury law firm serving Fort Lauderdale, Florida for help. The insurance company may take statements from you and any witnesses. In addition to these statements, your medical records will be inspected. They will examine the information within the records, including the reports of how and where the accident happened. The records will also be reviewed to look for details about the body parts that were reported to the doctor, the symptoms, and the complete set of injuries. You can count on this investigation to be very detailed which is why it is important to be clear, concise, and descriptive when describing what happened and how you feel. If there was something unusual that happened, your work injury lawyer Fort Lauderdale recommends can help you to accurately depict your injuries and the impact the accident has had on you.
It must be noted that you should discuss the details of your accident with the first doctor you visit, but also any other provider you see for treatment. This is particularly important during the first appointments in the beginning of your treatment. That said, the details continue to be important throughout the life of your workers’ compensation case.
As a leading Fort Lauderdale work injury law firm, we have known of clients who visit our office because the insurance company is refusing to cover treatment to a specific part of the body or at all. When this happens, usually the accident or injury was not reported in the medical records for several weeks or months after the accident, and was never mentioned at the first appointment for treatment. If the injured body part was not included in the medical records for a period of time, they will likely use it as a reason to deny coverage.
In the event of your case going to trial, your medical records will likely be one of the most important pieces of evidence that your Fort Lauderdale work injury law firm will use to argue your case. A deputy commissioner will review them, and your upfront honesty will be considered. Again, you should practice reporting the injury and how it happened for every appointment and with every new doctor you see. You should also put this information on an intake form. This might feel tedious, but it can make a big difference in the outcome of your case.
Two Possible Reasons Your Workers’ Compensation Claim Was Denied
If you’ve been injured at work and your workers’ compensation claim was denied, it may be important that you reach out to a Fort Lauderdale work injury lawyer. Contacting a work injury lawyer in Fort Lauderdale increases your chances of getting the benefits you need, even if your claim has been denied. One of the first steps in getting benefits is determining why your claim was denied in the first place.
Denied Due to Documentation
Your workers’ compensation insurer needs to see a lot of documentation about your injury. This includes medical records and proof that the injury was work-related. You may think that you have enough evidence to file your claim, only to be denied.
Claims are more often denied than not, which is why it’s important to work with a Fort Lauderdale work injury lawyer who has experience in filing claims, and knows what the insurance agency is looking for. An experienced work injury lawyer Fort Lauderdale trusts may help you prepare your case and submit your claim so you have the best chance of receiving benefits.
Denied Due to Insurance Fraud
You claim could have been denied due to insurance fraud. You may be thinking that nothing about your claim was fraudulent, but it doesn’t matter. Insurance fraud committed by others makes insurers very careful of their claims approval process.
No matter how legitimate your claim is, it may be met with suspicion from the beginning because insurance companies don’t make money when they have to pay it out. If anything looks the slightest bit off, your claim can be denied. Work with a Fort Lauderdale work injury lawyer from the beginning to create the most legitimate case possible.
What Do You Do If Your Claim is Denied?
If your claim is denied, you have two options: accept the decision and get no benefits, or appeal it and hope they overturn their decision and award your benefits. Since you will likely choose to appeal the decision in hopes of getting the benefits that you need to support yourself while you recover, you may need to have an experienced Fort Lauderdale work injury lawyer on your side.
A work injury lawyer in Fort Lauderdale may help you gather the documentation that you need to appeal the decision. An experienced attorney may know the legal requirements and how the insurance companies work, so you may have a much better chance of getting an appeal when you work with a lawyer.
One of the most important things about appealing a workers’ compensation denial is that you should do it quickly. There is a limited amount of time in which you can file the appeal, so your best choice may be to appeal as soon as possible once you have your documentation together. An experienced lawyer can gather the documents and move the appeal forward quicker than you’d be able to do alone.
If you were denied workers’ compensation after an injury at work, don’t be discouraged. Our team of experienced lawyers are here to help you. Give us a call at (561) 600-4024 to receive your free consultation with a Fort Lauderdale work injury law firm today.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]