Did you suffer a serious injury at work? Were you recently diagnosed with a medical condition caused by your work environment? If your job has caused your health to decline, you may have the right to workers’ compensation benefits.
However, accessing these benefits may be more challenging than you previously thought. With help from an experienced personal injury attorney at Barrios Virgüez by your side, you can heal from your injuries. At the same time, we will work tirelessly to help you secure the benefits you deserve.
Contact our office for a free consultation today and learn more about what to expect from the workers’ compensation claims process. Talk to an Augusta workers’ compensation lawyer from Barrios Virgüez today about your work injury or illness.
Do You Need a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer?
You may have experienced a repetitive stress injury caused by sitting in the same position daily and carrying out tasks. Perhaps you were injured while working on a construction site and became a victim of a falling accident or a crush injury.
Regardless of the reason, you are entitled to consult with an experienced Augusta workers’ compensation attorney in your area to discuss your options.
Common Work Injuries
Some of the most common injuries associated with the workplace include:
- Whiplash and other vehicle-related injuries while driving a vehicle for your job
- Back injuries from falling from heights
- Broken bones
- Crush injuries from being pinned in between objects
- Fire and explosion-related injuries, like burns and scarring
Suppose your employer fails to have the appropriate safety gear or does not provide the necessary training or supervisory assistance to do your job safely. In that case, you may be held responsible for your injuries. Filing a workers’ compensation claim may be the only way to put this incident behind you so you can focus on recovery.
As an injured employee, you already have enough to worry about, and you should focus on retaining an attorney who can assist you with getting the desperately needed benefits. It is also important to realize that your employer is prohibited from discriminating against you because of your choice to file a workers’ compensation claim as an employee. They cannot harass, fire, demote, or threaten you because you file a legal claim.
If this happens to you, you need to immediately retain an experienced workers’ compensation attorney in Augusta, GA.
Common Work-Related Accidents
Accidents at work can take virtually endless forms. However, some types of work-related accidents happen far more frequently than others. Some of these include:
Talk to an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer in Augusta, GA, from Barrios Virgüez today about your missed time at work due to an injury or illness.
Who Qualifies for Workers’ Compensation in Augusta?
After your work accident, you may wonder what legal options are available. After all, despite your injuries, you will still need to cover your regular living expenses and continue supporting yourself and your family. Fortunately, most employers must protect their employees under Georgia law by purchasing workers’ compensation protection coverage.
It does not matter whether you have been employed with the company for a few hours or several years. You do not need to work full-time hours to qualify, either. These are common misconceptions surrounding workers’ compensation eligibility in Augusta.
As long as you are considered an employee of the company, your employer’s workers’ compensation protection coverage should begin protecting you from the first day you are hired. As long as your injuries occurred within the scope of your job responsibilities, you could be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Our workers’ compensation lawyers are here to answer all of your questions and help you secure the benefits you deserve.
What Is Included Under Augusta Workers’ Compensation Benefits?
Workers’ compensation benefits are unlikely to be enough to cover your expenses in full. However, they may help to ease your financial burden while you explore your legal options further. When you have questions, our workers’ compensation attorneys can answer them.
Call Barrios Virgüez today to discuss your case. If you qualify for workers’ compensation benefits and your claim is approved, there are specific types of compensation and benefits you may be able to collect. These include:
- Medical expenses – The insurance company will be required to cover all your medical expenses related to your work-related injury. This should include the cost of prescription medication, medical treatment and care, diagnostic testing, and necessary transportation fees.
- Vocational rehabilitation benefits – When your on-the-job injury is so severe it will prevent you from being able to return to your previous line of work, you may be entitled to vocational rehabilitation benefits. These are designed to cover the cost of your job training or education opportunities as needed so you can find gainful employment and another line of work.
- Disability benefits – Generally, you can expect to recover approximately 2/3 of your average weekly salary as part of your disability benefits. However, the amount of time you can continue to collect workers’ compensation benefits may be limited based on the type and severity of your injury.
- Death benefits – Surviving family members of individuals who pass away from work-related injuries may be able to collect death benefits. Death benefits can include compensation for the decedent’s medical expenses, funeral and burial expenses, and disability benefits for surviving family members.
Important Georgia Workers’ Compensation Forms
You need to know several different things about filing a workers’ compensation claim in Augusta, including:
- Immediately after the incident, you need to inform your employer about what happened. Workers’ compensation would protect you if you were injured on the job, and filing a workers’ compensation claim will prohibit you from being able to pursue damages outside of the workers’ comp program unless specific conditions apply.
- Attending all your medical appointments associated with your workers’ comp claim is crucial. Otherwise, this may be used against you to prove that your injuries were not that severe.
- There is a chance that your claim could be delayed or denied unfairly. In such a situation, you need to have the representation afforded by a workers’ compensation attorney to help you navigate the complex system and fight for the compensation you deserve.
- Once you have achieved maximum medical improvement or the point at which doctors no longer expect you to recover any further from your workplace injuries, you may be in a position to settle with the workers’ compensation program. However, an attorney is strongly recommended to ensure this gets accomplished fairly.
Injured Employees’ Rights
Regardless of how the accident happened, you have the right to file a workers’ compensation claim. You might be ineligible to recover benefits if the injuries were caused by your careless behavior, such as being under the influence of drugs or alcohol while on the job.
However, in most other situations, you are eligible to recover workers’ compensation benefits regardless of the circumstances of the accident. It is pertinent that you file a claim in a timely fashion. You need to report the injury to your employer right away.
While you have the right to visit your doctor and get a second opinion, you should still keep up with the appointments provided by the workers’ compensation insurance program or your employer directly. Also, you have the right to retain an experienced workers’ comp attorney in Augusta. Such an attorney will know the common pitfalls in the workers’ compensation system and can help you avoid some of the most common missteps that could lead to a denied or undervalued claim.
Properly illustrating the injuries you have sustained will have a big influence on your ability to recover compensation.
Why Are Workers’ Compensation Benefits Denied?
Insurance companies are profit-driven and will be looking for opportunities to deny your workers’ compensation insurance claim wherever possible. However, that does not mean that every workers’ compensation insurance denial is made in bad faith. There are some instances where the insurance company can deny a claimant’s claim.
Your Augusta workers’ comp attorney must carefully examine your denial and initial application to determine whether the insurance company’s reasoning for denying your claim is valid. With that being said, some of the more common reasons insurance companies give for workers’ compensation claim denials include the following:
- Having a pre-existing condition
- Failure to provide enough medical documentation
- Reaching maximum medical improvement (MMI)
- Failure to provide supporting evidence
- Failure to file your claim promptly
- Injuries being self-inflicted
- Violating your company’s code of conduct
What to Do if Your Workers’ Compensation Claim Is Denied
If your workers’ compensation claim is denied, you should first reach out to an attorney for help. Your lawyer can then analyze your initial application for workers’ compensation benefits and the denial you received from the insurance company to determine how to best approach your case.
Generally, we may be able to work with the insurance company by providing additional medical records or supporting documentation to get your denial overturned. However, suppose the insurance company remains rigid in its decision to deny your claim. In that case, we may need to file a notice of claim by submitting Form WC-14 with the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation.
Your attorney will send a copy to your employer and your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance provider to ensure all relevant parties have copies of your appeal. You will then be given a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. With help from your workers’ compensation lawyer in Augusta, you can present evidence to support your need and right to workers’ compensation benefits.
It is important to note that if you are hoping to move forward with a workers’ compensation claim appeal, you must file your appeal within one year of your denial or risk having your case barred by the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation.
Get Help from an Augusta Workers’ Compensation Attorney at Our Firm
When you become injured or ill due to the circumstances of your work environment, you have the right to specific compensation and benefits. Get help holding the insurance company accountable for their financial obligation when you contact a reputable Augusta workers’ compensation lawyer at Barrios Virgüez. Schedule your no-cost, risk-free consultation by filling out our quick contact form or calling our office.
Being out of work due to a job-related illness or injury does not have to ruin your life. Secure your benefits with the help of an attorney today.
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