If you get injured on the job, receiving workers’ compensation helps you heal and lightens your financial burden. However, some workers are denied benefits for various reasons. Paying attention to the points below might keep you from losing access to valuable medical care and monetary benefits.

Why You Might Be Denied Workers’ Compensation

1. You Delayed Reporting Your Injury

You should tell your supervisor or employer immediately after you get hurt. Delays in reporting work injuries make employers and insurers suspicious. They use the slow notification as a reason to deny claims.

2. No One Saw You Get Hurt

You don’t need a witness to file a workers’ compensation claim. However, if you delay in making a report and no one saw the accident, those circumstances can work against you with the insurer. Giving the same details each time you tell someone what happened helps your credibility if no one else can support your explanation.

3. You Didn’t Seek Medical Treatment

As soon as you have an accident at work, don’t try to tough it out or shrug off the discomfort. See the company doctor or go to the emergency room. Without documentation of same-day medical treatment, your claim may be rejected as false.

4.  You Were Under the Influence of Drugs or Alcohol

When claiming workers’ comp, it doesn’t matter who was at fault. However, your employer can screen for alcohol or drugs in your system when the accident occurred. The intoxicating substance must be a direct cause of the accident, and the screening must be timely to justify denying benefits. An experienced workers’ comp attorney will protect your rights if being under the influence is an issue.

Throughout Murray County, GA, injured workers who want sound legal advice and effective advocacy take their workers’ compensation claims to Goddard & Hammontree LLC. Skilled and compassionate, these local attorneys offer substantial experience in every aspect of the claims process and will fight for you to obtain all the benefits you deserve. Visit their website for more about their services, or call (706) 278-0464 to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.