Reporting On-the-Job Injuries
Workers’ Compensation Claims in Florence
McCutcheon & Hamner represents people who are injured on the job, which is commonly referred to as workers’ compensation cases. Our attorneys have been honored to teach portions of workers’ compensation law to other lawyers for the Alabama Bar Institute for Continuing Legal Education. The experienced attorneys with McCutcheon & Hamner have handled hundreds of workers’ compensation cases at every level from settlement through trial and appeal.
The law limits the fees charged by lawyers to 15% in workers compensation cases and the attorneys who defend these cases are specialists by and large within the law who largely limit their practice to defending insurance companies in workers compensation cases.
Our workers’ compensation team handles cases like yours in Florence every day. We talk to numerous people who have potential workers’ compensation cases each week and are always eager to talk to clients facing these challenges. Contact us now.
The Importance of Reporting Your Injury
The single largest factor that makes an otherwise good case a bad case is the natural reluctance of an injured worker to report an on-the-job injury. When you add that reluctance to an employer’s reluctance to learn of an on-the-job injury, you have created a situation where injury cases go unreported. Sometimes they are reported and no record of the injury was made and the employer later denies that the accident happened. Often workers try and tough it out and end up hurt worse than they thought and no way to get the help they need. Workers’ compensation insurance does not have to pay for an unreported injury and personal health insurance does not have to pay for an on-the-job injury.
Not only must the work injury be reported, but the courts tend to look at the description of the injury as contained in medical records. So, if an on-the-job injury occurs, the injured worker needs to tell every healthcare provider the details of that injury. The state of Alabama law specifies in the Code of Alabama 25-5-78 that the injury event requires notice within 5 days in writing and in no event later than 90 days after the date of the accident. Written notice is not required where the employer has actual knowledge of the accident. Oral notice of the accident injury is sufficient if it is given to the right person in a timely manner.
We see on-the-job accident reporting problems far too often in our office. If you or a loved one gets hurt on the job have them contact an experienced Florence workers compensation attorney.
McCutcheon & Hamner concentrates on accident and injury law. If someone gets hurt on the job, we want the case. If you are injured and do not choose our law firm, make sure you choose an attorney who has knowledge and experience in the law.
