If your claim is being disputed by your employer, you might be wondering why and, in most cases, the reason is usually money. Remember, your employer pays a premium to provide workers’ compensation benefits and the premium they pay is affected whenever an injured worker must file for benefits. Therefore, it is in their best interest that you do not obtain the benefits to which you are entitled.
Below are some of the reasons why an employer might attempt to dispute your workers’ compensation claim:
- Premium costs: The more workers’ compensation claims are filed, the higher the costs go up for workers’ compensation insurance. This is why premium costs are often the most common reason why employers and their insurance companies use investigative agencies to monitor the lives of workers who have filed a workers’ compensation claim.
- Employer bias: Oftentimes, employers do not even believe that some injuries are as serious as workers claim them to be, especially injuries that a result of cumulative trauma. Injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome, a lumbar back injury, or another repetitive stress injury are generally viewed with skepticism. Many of these types of injuries, which involve inexplicable pain and cannot be definitively verified by a medical examination are thought to be fake and employers commonly believe that workers are using their feigned disability for financial gain. Of course, just because an injury cannot be definitely proven through tests does not mean it is not real. Many conditions are simply too difficult to verify.
In the event that your employer or their insurance company denies your claim, or even a portion of it, they are required to inform you in writing. Some of the reasons that are often stated include: the injury sustained was not serious enough, the injury did not take place during work or within the scope of employment, you did not require medical treatment for the injury, or you did not need to take time off for your injury.
Fighting a Denial
After receiving a notice of a denial of your claim, be sure to write to or call your employers’ workers’ compensation insurance carrier. If you did not already do so, make sure you also hire a workers’ compensation attorney and request a hearing with the state’s workers’ compensation board.
Workers’ Compensation Attorneys in Orange County
If you suffered a workplace injury and your claim was denied, hire a workers’ compensation as soon as possible to fight this denial and obtain the benefits you are entitled to. At Alvandi Law Group, P.C., our workers’ compensation attorneys in Orange County have over 30 years of experience in handling these types of cases and, in fact, our practice is entirely dedicated to this area of law.
Get started on your case today and contact us at (800) 980-6905 to request your free initial case evaluation with one of our skilled attorneys.