Craig Rosenbaum | January 2, 2024 | Workplace Injuries
The private industry reported 2.8 million fatal workplace accidents in 2022, and that figure doesn’t even include the public sector. If you suffered a job injury, you may be entitled to compensation. This might mean a workers’ compensation claim, or it might mean an ordinary personal injury claim.
Don’t diminish or destroy your claim by making the wrong move. Understanding common mistakes made after a job injury can help you avoid these critical errors.
1. Failing to Report the Injury Immediately
You might think it’s unnecessary to report your on-the-job work injury immediately. You’d be wrong. Even though legally, you can wait up to 30 days after an accident to file a written report of your injury, it’s best to file the report as soon as you can. You should also file a verbal report immediately.
You might delay for many reasons, but the later you wait to report, the easier it becomes for the opposing party to deny or minimize the seriousness of your claim. An insurance adjuster can easily question the seriousness of an accident that you fail to report right away. Delayed reporting can also hinder an investigation into workplace safety for the benefit of others.
2. Failing to Seek Immediate Medical Attention
It’s not enough to promptly report your injury. You also need to seek medical attention. You might think you can handle it. But you can’t, not if you want adequate compensation. Prompt medical reporting is a crucial part of any full reporting of a job injury.
Medical records are among the most persuasive forms of evidence of an injury. The lack of prompt medical treatment records raises the suspicion of fraud.
If an injury you originally thought was minor later becomes more serious than you thought it was going to be, you’ve got an even bigger problem. Delaying treatment can cause expensive complications that you won’t be eligible to seek compensation for.
3. Malingering
“Malingering” refers to falsification or exaggeration of the full extent of your injuries. Do not falsify or exaggerate your injuries under any circumstances. To do so is to invite the defendant or the insurance company to paint you as a swindler or a hustler, even if you are not one.
For example, if your doctor asks you to rate your pain from one to 10, don’t say “10” if that’s not true. If you are caught malingering, not only could you be denied benefits entirely. It’s not worth it. Malingering is only cheating yourself out of the compensation you need for your injuries,
4. Failing to Mitigate Your Damages
You must mitigate your damages. In other words, the insurance company is not obligated to pay you compensation for any losses you suffer that you could have avoided with reasonable care. Refusing to follow your doctor’s instructions, for example, is a failure to mitigate your damages. Failing to mitigate your damages can reduce the amount of compensation you receive.
5. Refusing to Return to Work As Soon As You Are Able
You are expected to return to work as soon as you are able to. If you can’t perform full duties, you might perform lighter job duties.
Alternatively, your employer might allow you more time off work. Let it be your employer who makes this suggestion, not you. You can be denied further compensation and benefits by refusing to return to work as soon as you are able.
Hire an Attorney to Avoid Making Mistakes After a Job Injury
An attorney can help you in ways you might not be able to predict. The workers’ compensation system, for example, offers only economic damages, and not even 100% of those. An attorney might be able to help you find a third-party defendant. This could allow you to claim full economic and non-economic damages.
If you’ve been injured in an accident in Manhattan, NY, schedule a free consultation with a personal injury lawyer at Rosenbaum & Rosenbaum, P.C. today.
Rosenbaum & Rosenbaum, P.C.
100 Wall St 15th Floor
New York, NY 10005
(212) 514-5007