Workers Compensation claims can be complex, posing a variety of challengers to employers and claims adjusters alike.
These guidelines for handling claims can go far to make life a lot easier for everyone.
- Get the main contact for the claim involved from the get-go. Make sure that he or she is ready to provide the adjuster with all the facts and information, including the employee’s file, wage records, details about the injury, and any statements from witnesses.
- Be sure that the main contact responds to the adjuster in a timely manner.Making the adjuster leave messages, send e-mails, and/or wait for a long time will only make things worse. The key to a successful and easy claim is to get back to the adjuster with the needed information, preferably on the same day, but ideally within the hour.
- Have a specific medical clinic or doctor that treats injured workers. When injured employees visit their own doctor it not only makes the process more complicated, but also creates an air of suspicion because neither the employer nor the adjuster knows this health-care provider.
- Make sure that the medical clinic is familiar with the employer and understands what light duty options are available to injured workers. This will give the doctor the opportunity to suggest alternative tasks for the employee instead of taking him or her out of the workplace altogether.
Remember, the sooner and more effectively you settle Workers Comp claims and get these injured employees back on the job, the better for them, the higher your productivity – and the lower your premiums!
The professionals at our agency stand ready to advise you on handling Comp claims. Just give us a call.
