When you are injured at work, your employer is required to carry workers’ compensation insurance. In most cases, when you report an injury, your employer will then report the injury to their workers’ compensation insurance carrier.
More than likely, once the injury is reported to the insurance carrier, the adjuster assigned to your file will make contact with you. Let me provide a little advice eon that. You should always remember that insurance adjusters ARE NOT your side. In fact, one of the main job functions of the insurance adjuster is to try and limit liability exposure as much as possible. In other words, their job is hostile to you.
Frequently, an insurance adjuster will reach out to you and insist on a recorded statement. The recorded statement is done for the purpose of getting information about the claim, but it is also an attempt to box you in on facts. A big issue to keep in mind is that you DO NOT have to consent to a recorded statement. And you should not. Instead, call an experienced workers’ compensation attorney to help you navigate through the complexities of your workers’ compensation claim and help protect your benefits and rights you are afforded under Workers’ Compensation statute.
If you do indeed choose to make a recorded statement, keep these ideas in focus.
First, do you not exaggerate your medical symptoms. The insurance carrier will be getting copies of your medical records and will certainly look for inconsistencies. Likewise, don’t understate your symptoms either. Finally, be sure to report all injuries, not just the one that hurts the most at the time. For instance, if you fell at work and injured your knee and shoulder, but your shoulder is causing you the most pain, do not forget to mention the knee as well. If you do not, then later in your case, they will likely bring up the fact that you are complaining of knee pain today, but you did not even mention it during your recorded statement.
Simply put, keep your focus on the facts of the injury and the medical treatment you have had. Answer questions with ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. Considering you do not have to consent to a record statement, you also do not owe them answers. So keep the answers short and to the point. Do not ramble on or try to make ’justifications’ to try to ‘convince’ the adjuster you were hurt. It will not help.
The easiest way to protect your claim is to be very wary of the insurance adjuster. Again, their interests are NOT aligned with your interests. Don’t risk it. If you are hurt at work, call Mooney Law today for an absolutely FREE consultation. Call today at 717-200-HELP or 833-MOONEYLAW. Visit Mooney4Law.com.
