How do you know if your employer or its insurer is treating you fairly? Here are the top seven signs when they aren’t and it’s time to find a lawyer.
1. Your employer doesn’t report the injury to the Alaska Workers Compensation Board. The report of injury is due within 10 days. This report triggers payment of your medical bills and time loss. In other words, if your employer doesn’t report the injury, your case didn’t get opened.
2. Your employer offers to pay your medical bills if you don’t report the injury. He won’t.
3. Your temporary total disability check is late. The first check is due 14 days after your turn in the doctor’s work release to your employer.
4. Your doctors are calling you about paying the bills. The insurance company is supposed to pay them. It’s against the law for the doctors to demand money from an injured worker.
5. The insurance company sends you to an “independent” medical evaluation. There’s nothing independent about them. The insurance company picks the doctor, controls what medical records he sees, and asks only the questions it wants answered.
6. The insurance company makes an offer to settle your case.
7. The insurance company controverts your benefits. You should receive a form called “Controversion Notice” stating what benefits are controverted and why.
Keenan Powell has practiced Workers Compensation law in the State of Alaska for over 35 years and has dedicated her practice to Workers Compensation representing injured Alaskans handling hundreds of cases. www.keenanpowell.com
All consultations are free. To make an appointment, email: keenan@keenanpowell.com or call: 907 258 7663.