If you have been injured on the job, there are many issues that will affect your recovery and your compensation. Filing a report of the injury with your employer within three days of the injury is required. Once you have filed this report, it is strongly advisable to retain the services of an attorney experienced in workers compensation law.
Workers compensation cases do not find ready acceptance with either employer or the employer’s insurance company. You are entitled to a weekly payment according to a scale determined by law. However, employers and insurance companies often fight the payment. Many even fight the mandatory doctor’s opinion. Meanwhile, if you do not take action you might not get any money.
This is why an attorney who is experienced in the Worker’s compensation law in Sturgis SD is the first person you should contact. An attorney will speak for you,the attorney will know how to answer questions without jeopardizing your case. An attorney can advise you on what you can and cannot do. The attorney will also know how to understand medical reports and be able to make them an important part of your case.
If the attorney and the insurance company along with your employer cannot reach an agreement on the extent of the injuries, then the case will proceed to an administrative law hearing which is just like a trial except it is not set in a court room. However, it is an adversarial process, witnesses are permitted to give sworn testimony, and evidence pertinent to your injury and treatment will be admitted and will become part of the file. The hearing is presided over by an administrative law judge who will render a written opinion that is binding unless either side appeals it and wins the appeal.
If you are injured, the Worker’s compensation law in Sturgis, SD is there to protect you. However, you will find that the law requires you to take certain steps to protect your interest and the interest of your employer, but the best way to protect your interest is to hire an attorney quickly. Let the attorney do the talking with the insurance company. If a lay person attempts to talk with the insurance company, they are likely to get nowhere. Insurance companies train their people to deal with the injured who do not know the law.
