3 Things to Know about Workers Comp Claims

Caroline VegaWorkers Comp Claims

Tips to Help with NY Workers Comp Claims

If your employee falls off a chair or cuts his hand at work, you’ll definitely need more than a trip to the doctor. You’ll also need to consider your workers comp policy.

Workers compensation insurance covers medical expenses to treat a job-related injury or illness, and it also pays employees for any days missed from work due to the incident.

Most employers in New York must buy workers comp insurance, but it’s important to remember that the insurance doesn’t insure everyone. Most policies exclude independent contractors, domestic employees and agriculture workers.

For your workers comp policy to cover an accident, the injured party must be an employee injured accidentally while on the job. Getting sick is also covered for illnesses arising out of the job such as asbestos exposure to employees working on a contractor’s renovation project.

So how can you ensure that your claims are handled properly? Here are 3 things you can do to make it easy for injured workers and manage your claims effectively:

1) Train Your Employees to Report All Injuries or Illnesses
Set up a company policy about reporting on-the-job injuries and train workers in how to follow your procedures. Workers should immediately report any injury or illness to their supervisor, manager or Human Resources Department. New hire training packets can contain an incident report so that employees are familiar with how to fill it out. You’ll also want to explain how they should go about obtaining medical treatment. Employees must reports injuries within 30 days of injury-causing accidents.

2) Report Workers Comp Claims When They Happen
In addition to making it easy for employees to report injuries, employers must also provide employees with Form C-3 so that they may file a workers comp claim. As part of the process, employers are required to report the injury on claim form C-2 and send it to the New York Workers’ Compensation Board and their own personal workers comp insurance carrier.

3) Have Clear Instructions about Medical Care
The Workers Comp Board authorizes doctors to treat employees, who are injured at work. Employees may only be treated by these authorized providers. Some business owners have arrangements with health care providers that provide service through their own PPO. Prepare a list of providers that your employees can visit when a workplace injury or illness. This extra step will make it easy for injured workers to get treatment when needed.

Properly managing the injury and claims process not only helps get your employees the help they need quickly, but it can also be an important component in managing your claims cost and overall workers compensation insurance expenses.

If you need help with your workers comp insurance in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut or Pennsylvania, give us a call. Enforce Coverage Group can help you with all your commercial insurance needs.