Virginia Workers Compensation Claims Deadlines

The workers comp laws in Virginia allow you up to two years to make a workers compensation claim against your employer's insurance policy. You ideally want to make it as quickly as possible, however, to improve your chances of having your claim approved. The two year countdown starts from the day that you suffered the accident or were told by your doctor that you have a workers compensation eligible injury.

By law, however, you must inform your employer of your accident and injury within 30 days of it occurring. You then have up to two years to decide whether or not to file an insurance claim.

You are not legally obligated to tell your boss about your accident. However, you must inform someone at the company who is in charge of filing and handling workers comp claims about your injury or accident. You have 30 days from the date of the accident to make this report.

If you choose not to tell your direct supervisor or manager, you must inform another executive at the company, such as the human resources or loss prevention manager. There is a good chance that your boss will find out about your injury and accident anyway despite you not reporting it to him or her in the first place.

When you report your workers comp injury to your employer, you must provide certain details like

• How the accident occurred
• What you were doing at the time of the accident
• Where in the building or premises the accident took place
• The time and date of the accident
• The extent of your injuries

Your accident will also be reported to the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission. The commission will assign you a jurisdiction claim number that you can provide to your employer if requested.

When reporting your accident at work, you ideally want to follow the chain of command for your department or position. You should report it first to your immediate supervisor or manager, who then can report it to the company's primary manager, owner or loss prevention manager.

However, if you are not comfortable reporting to your direct boss, you need to report it to another leader within your company. In many businesses, workers comp cases are handled by the human resources or loss prevention manager. If neither of those leaders are available, you should report it directly to the main company manager or the owner of the business.

Virginia's workers compensation laws allow you up to 30 days from the date of the accident or injury to make an official report with your company. You ideally want to provide notice right away to preserve evidence of your injury and accident. Prompt notice also allows the testimony from people who witnessed the accident to be more accurate.

However, if you are not able to make a report right away, you have 30 days to file an official notice. If you are not able to do so on your own, you can hire an attorney to provide this notice for you. Your lawyer can act as your representative in the workers compensation process.

It stands to reason that, if you want your claim paid out, that you will have to inform your employer's insurance company about your accident. After all, the claim itself acts as a notification that you have been hurt on the job and suffered an injury that should be covered by the company's insurance coverage.

However, it is also logical that you may not feel comfortable making this claim on your own. In this instance, you can hire a workers compensation lawyer to file the claim for you. Workers compensation attorneys have the knowledge and experience to counter insurance company lawyers and ensure that clients' claims get paid out quickly.

You can still notify your company and make a workers comp claim against its insurance. However, the insurance company is not obligated to approve your claim because you waited for longer than 30 days to make the notification. You could face a legal battle in court to get your claim approved and paid out.

The workers compensation laws in Virginia make it illegal for an employer to take retributive action against employees who file workers comp claims. It is against the law for your boss to fire, fine, relocate or cut your hours at work out of spite for your accident and injury.

As long as you are capable of working in the same capacity as before your accident, you are legally entitled to keep your position and job. If you suspect that your employer is taking unlawful action against you as a direct result of your workers comp claim, you can hire an attorney to investigate the matter and file immediate action on your behalf to hold the boss accountable.

Filing a workers compensation claim many times is not a straightforward process. It can be fraught with legalities that you are not aware of and have no idea of how to navigate on your own.

Your workers compensation lawyer can act as your advocate and intermediary between you and your employer and its insurance company. He or she can file claims, take a case to court and negotiate terms for a settlement or judgment that can win you the compensation that you need to cover your accident-related expenses.

When you have been injured on the job, you have rights as an accident victim. You can notify your employer and file a claim against the company's insurance company. You can also hire a workers comp lawyer to take the appropriate legal action on your behalf and gain you the compensation that you need to pay your medical bills and other expenses.