In order to have a valid New York State Workers’ Compensation claim, you must give notice of your injury to your employer and file a claim with the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. The general rule is that notice of the injury must be given to your employer within 30 days. A claim must be filed with the Workers’ Compensation Board within 2 years. The best strategy is to report an injury as soon as it occurs. You can always check with an attorney regarding your workers’ compensation case status.
Once your claim is established, you are able to track your workers’ compensation case status as it moves forward. You will be assigned a case number that you can use to identify your claim and have its status reported to you online or by phone.
Once you file a claim with the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board, your employer’s insurance carrier needs to respond by accepting or denying the claim. If the insurance company accepts the claim, it will pay medical bills and compensation for lost time. It is important to verify that the insurance company agrees to accept all the injury sites that you are claiming. If the insurance carrier is denying your claim, a hearing will be scheduled. At the first hearing, the judge is likely to recommend that you obtain an attorney, if you have not already done so. Then, further proceedings will be scheduled to litigate the claim, which can include testimony from you and employer witnesses as well as depositions of doctors.
To check workers’ compensation status and identify where your claim is in the workers’ compensation case process, you can use New York State online platform, eCase, or you can call the Workers’ Compensation Board directly using the phone number provided on their website. You will want to have your case number and personal information ready.
Once your claim is accepted, medical treatment for the established injury sites is covered and you will receive lost wage benefits in line with the degree of disability reported by the doctors. From there, the case usually extends through a period of “temporary disability” with some injuries later classified as “permanent disability.” A classification of permanent disability will not occur until at least one year from the accident date. An award for permanent disability depends on several factors, including the body part involved and the various doctor’s opinions regarding the percentage of permanent disability, and whether or not you are back to work at the time of permanency. Once findings have been made on permanent disability status, lost wage benefits may stop, but, in general, medical coverage will continue for life.
The experienced workers’ compensation attorneys at Lewis & Lewis can assist you through all phases of the workers’ compensation process and track your case’s status so that you don’t have to.
