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Tips for Injured Iowans to Increase Their Claim Value

Are you currently dealing with a workers’ compensation claim? There are many things you need to be doing to assure you will recover the total value that your claim is worth. If you fail to do even the smallest thing, the insurance company may use it against you once it comes time to settle your claim. To ensure you are getting the most value out of your claim we are going to share some things that you should be doing to help increase the value.

First of all if you are dealing with a work injury, then you should have already reported it to your employer. If not, you need to report when you sustained the injury, how it happened, and what was injured to your employer right away. You only have 90 days to report the injury from the date that you knew or should have known that you were injured. Reporting the injury to your employer is important, because they will then have record of the incident on file, which will help you out later on in your case. Also, it shows what date your employer had knowledge of your injury on the job which can be helpful if your employer tries to denying knowing about the incident.

When you get medical treatment after being injured you need to let the doctor know everything that hurts. If you leave out certain aches and pains and then bring them up later in your case, the insurance company and their doctor may not believe you and relate the medical condition to your work injury. This could make your case worth less money in the end. Another reason you need to tell your doctor everything that hurts is so it can be documented in medical records for future use.

You should also do everything your doctor tells you. For example, if your doctor tells you to follow up in a week, be sure to do so or if it is recommended you attend physical therapy you need to make sure you go to every appointment. If you start to skip your appointments for medical treatment the insurance company will see this as you not needing treatment anymore, because you are healed. Having gaps in your medical treatment may lower the value of your claim; you need to stay consistent with your treatment until you have fully recovered or reached maximum medical improvement.

Keep track of the details of your case; it gets hard to remember everything that happened after a year or two. You should write down how you feel from day to day and how your injury has affected your ability to perform daily activities. If anything significant happens in your case you should also keep track of it. Also, be careful what you say when you are talking to people at work about your case, to your doctor, and the insurance company. You should never lie about your injury. Social media such as MySpace and Facebook are also starting to become a problem, because employers and insurance companies can locate you on them. If you are under restrictions, but have pictures of you playing sports or doing other strenuous activities on your profile and the insurance company finds this out, you may lose credibility and money in your case.

If you or someone you know has been injured at work our attorneys at Walker, Billingsley & Bair are here to help answer any questions you may be having regarding your injury. Our injury attorneys are dedicated to giving your case the personal attention that it needs and deserves in order to fully recover all damages owed to you. If you would like to learn more, we offer a No Cost book entitled "Iowa Workers' Compensation- An Insider's Guide to Work Injuries" We offer this book to injured Iowans with no risk or obligation. To request a copy today you can visit us at www.IowaWorkInjury.com or Call Now 1-800-707-2552 ext. 811 (24 hour recorded message)