Death Claims

Death Claims and Workers Compensation

Deaths claims are formal requests filed by employees with work-related injuries for benefits. However, the worker’s compensation system is very different from lawsuits filed in the court. This is because the employee is not required by law to prove that the employer was at fault for the injury. Thus, the employee is entitled to receive benefits as long as the injury took place while the employee was performing a task related to work.

Who May File a Claim?

The employee who suffered injuries when carrying out a job-related task is the one eligible to file a claim. However, the employee’s spouse, children, or other dependants are allowed to file a claim for death benefits in case of job-related fatal injury. In this justification, the main objective of death claims benefits is to compensate the employee’s dependants. Moreover, the family members can get a small sum to take care of the burial and funeral expenses.

How to File a Claim

After filing a claim, the insurance company has three decisions to make. These include accepting the claim, challenge the claim, or ask for more time to collect information. Thus, you should now prepare to challenge the company if the claim is not accepted.

However, to ensure that your claim is easily accepted, you should ensure that you notify the employer of your injury shortly after it happens. This is because many states have a fixed amount of time within which the employee should have reported an injury. In this regard, the state of California has fixed a 30-day timeframe for the employee to report. The other states require you to report the injury when it is practical, as they do not have a specific deadline.

In most cases, you will be required to follow a special format when notifying the state agency or your employer of the injury. However, a written notice is required in some states such as California and New York. In addition to that, it is good to provide a written notice and ensure that you keep a copy for reference. You will need to fill an official claim in some states such as California, Illinois, and New York.

Getting a Response

Receiving a response can take some time. This is because most employers get workers’ compensation policies through insurance companies. However, large employers are self-insured and thus they can take relatively a short time to give a response. Consequently, the insurance company handles the processing of your claim after being notified of the injury.

The company starts sending you temporary disability benefits weekly if your claim is accepted. However, if the claim is challenged, then the company sends you a letter stating the specific grounds for the denial.

Conclusion

If your claim is challenged, you will be required now to file an appeal with state’s workers’ compensation agency. This paperwork is normally referred to as an appeal petition. This shows that workers’ compensation claims can be tricky as insurers fight to avoid paying the benefits.

Death Claims

 

Death Claims