Attorney Brenda Moses discusses why you may need a lawyer to help you with your workers’ compensation claim.
People tend to come to us when they run into trouble with the insurance carriers or their employers. Even in an accepted case, there are a great many problems that can and do arise, from wage replacement benefits not being paid or being paid late, to surgeries or medications being denied, to jobs being lost, to problems with doctors. It is the insurance carrier’s job to pay as little as possible on a case, and if surgery is delayed it doesn’t hurt the claims adjuster, but it hurts you.
Another big problem is if the proper legal filings weren’t made with the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission, which can potentially let the carrier avoid responsibility for your injury. For example, if you haven’t filed your claim with the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission within two years of your date of accident, or had an award entered, you probably don’t have a claim anymore, even if the carrier had been paying everything, because you would have missed the statute of limitations. It is difficult to get around this once it becomes a problem, and it doesn’t help you even though the carrier knew about your claim.
The insurance carrier has lawyers, and they want to pay as little on your case as possible. To best protect yourself, you should consider speaking with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney about your claim to make sure you are getting all of the benefits you deserve.