When you sustain a workplace injury, you need to be careful about how you handle it.
The workers’ compensation system is supposed to be there to help you, but if you navigate it incorrectly, you could end up with a poor compensation deal or no deal at all. The best way to bypass this is avoiding the top mistakes injured workers frequently make. Perhaps the most important decision you make is to hire a St. Louis work injury lawyer. When you do, that lawyer will ensure that you do not make any of the other mistakes that so commonly derail compensation cases. Below, we will go over the six most common mistakes you need to watch out for.
Not Reporting Your Injury Promptly
If you are ever injured at work, you need to report the incident right away. There are many reasons why people don’t do this. They might try to “tough out” an injury, not want to be an inconvenience, or think that their ailment is minor enough to ignore. Don’t fall into this trap. If you wait too long, your chances of obtaining compensation will decrease drastically. It is best to report the incident right after it happens. It is especially important that you don’t wait past 30 days.
Not Gathering Evidence
One thing that frequently happens to injured workers is that they think the compensation process will take care of itself. Then, when they get their offer, it is well below what they thought it would be. What happened is they did not go through the essential step of gathering evidence to strengthen their case and increase their benefits.
Underselling Your Injuries
After you report your injury, you will see a doctor. This doctor will assess your health and give their expert opinion on how much treatment you need. If you undersell your injury, the doctor will provide a low estimate for your treatment costs. This will lead to less compensation than you deserve.
Overselling Your Injuries
Some workers try to increase their compensation by overselling their injuries. This is also a poor strategy. If you do this, there is a very high chance you will be found out. Once you are, you risk losing your benefits.
Not Following Your Medical Treatment Plan
When the doctor assigns a treatment plan for you, you should follow it. The reason is that you need to demonstrate that you want to improve your health as much as possible. If you don’t, your compensation package will suffer.
Not Hiring a Lawyer
As you can see from this list, a lot can go wrong in a workers’ compensation case. There are two ways to safeguard against them. The first is to be educated and act responsibly. The second is to have a St. Louis workers compensation lawyer watching your back throughout the process. They will help make sure you don’t make these mistakes and fight to get you get a fair deal.
Some workers’ compensation cases go somewhat smoothly, but many of them go wrong. When they do, the culprit is usually one of the common mistakes on this list. To keep yourself safe, it’s a good idea to speak with a lawyer and act responsibly throughout your claim. If you do, that behavior will pay off, and you will increase your odds of getting the compensation you are looking for.