When it comes to winning your workers’ compensation case, it is always better to be more thorough than not thorough enough. It can be a little extra work to make copies or create detailed recordings of conversations and appointments, but when compensation is on the line, you’re going to want every shred of evidence you can muster to help your case.
But what type of documents should you keep, and how can you best keep detailed records of events? We explain how to keep detailed records for your workers’ compensation case in today’s blog.
4 Records You’ll Want To Keep
Insurance companies will do everything in their power to limit or deny your claim, so the best way to help your case is with tangible records and hard evidence. There are a number of ways to get this evidence, and it starts by making copies or getting records of these four aspects of your workers’ compensation case.
1. Your Injury Report – Your injury report, oftentimes called the First Report of Injury, is what starts the ball in motion for your injury claim. Give your version of events and have witnesses back up your statements. File the injury report, and make sure you don’t walk out of the room until you have a copy, because then you have clear evidence that you filed out an injury report in case your company drags its feet filing the report.
2. Your Doctor’s Exam Report – In order to assess your injury as part of the determination of a compensation award, you need to be evaluated by a physician. You have the right to choose your doctor (we recommend consulting with your work comp lawyer before choosing), so choose someone that you can trust to give you a fair and thorough diagnosis. Let them know that your injuries are result of a work injury and that you would like to leave the appointment with copies of their report. This way you know exactly what medical information is being sent to the insurance company.
3. Write Down Conversations – If you have conversations with your lawyer, the insurance company, or any person involved in your workers’ compensation case, make sure you take notes about the nature of the call. Record when the conversation took place, what was discussed, and if any next steps were planned. The more details, the better. This way instead of saying “I talked to someone from the insurance company in March about another medical appointment,” you can say “On March 17, I was called by Kelly from ABC Insurance Group who informed me that I needed to have a subsequent independent medical exam completed as soon as possible to prevent a possible delay in benefits.” If it comes down to a he said, she said disagreement, the person with the detailed records is going to get the benefit of the doubt.
4. Emails – If possible, ask to be given updates in email form as opposed to phone conversations, because then there is a clear paper trail of what was said. There can be no denying that information was sent or received if there’s a digital trail. While a phone call may be a quicker way to convey information, and email gives you a clear record, so use email when possible.
If you have clear records of these four aspects of your workers’ compensation case, we’re confident that you’ll be in the best position to maximize your compensation claim. If you want assistance with any part of your work comp case, or need help making sense of all your records, give Dean Margolis and the team at Margolis Law Firm a call today.
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