If you get injured at work and need to recover lost wages and pay for medical bills, you will want to receive workers compensation. Workers compensation is offered by employers to employees who get injured on the job, regardless who is at fault, and, in return, employers are protected from being sued directly by their injured employees. It's win-win protection in most cases, but there are times when a workers compensation claim gets denied. If this happens to you, you can face having to pay for medical bills and wage losses on your own. To avoid this from happening, do these things for a smooth workers compensation claim.   

File as soon as the injury occurs

The longer you wait to file a workers compensation claim, the harder it can be to prove you were injured while on the job. File an incident report the day of your injury or as soon as you can to make your employer aware of the incident, how it happened, and who may have seen it occur. Many workers compensation claims get denied by employers simply because an employee waited too long to file. File the day of the injury or within 30 days. Make sure your immediate supervisor in charge, as well as your boss, are aware of all reports you are filing regarding your accident.

Get an attorney

Workers compensation claims can be tricky, especially if your injury was strange or if your employer suspects there were drugs or alcohol involved that may have attributed to your accident. Hiring a workers compensation attorney to help you file your claim can be beneficial in many ways. They can make sure you fill out the right paperwork, speak on your behalf to your employer or supervisor, and ensure that you include pertinent details that can help your claim. If you need help with medical bills right away, they can even help expedite your claim so you can get it approved more quickly than doing it all on your own. 

Check your claim's status

Talk to your employer or workers compensation claim attorney about how you can check the status of your claim in your state. This way, you are prepared for any delays in your claim and can know exactly when it gets approved. If any snags show up due to missing or incorrect paperwork, your status-checking efforts will let you know as soon as possible so you can keep your claim moving forward more successfully.

When you get injured at work, you want to be able to receive workers compensation right away. By hiring an attorney, filing on time, and checking your claim's status regularly, you can help prevent having your claim denied.