If you are injured at work and forced to miss some time, you’re probably already a little concerned about the financial ramifications of your injury. Workers’ compensation can help to provide you with financial security while you’re recovering from an injury, but what should you do if your check doesn’t arrive as expected, or it keeps getting delayed? We explain what you should do if your injury compensation payments are late or delayed.
Delayed Workers’ Compensation Checks
As you might imagine, the most straightforward path to a resolution begins by figuring out why your checks are delayed in the first place. That can be easier said than done, because there can be a number of reasons why your compensation checks are delayed. Common reasons we see for delayed or late compensation checks include:
- Wrong Address
- Lost/Undeliverable
- Delays issuing a check on the insurance company’s end
- Medical records delayed or missing
- Incorrectly filed paperwork
If your checks are delayed, oftentimes the best thing you can do is to connect with a workers’ compensation lawyer. They can make sure the paperwork is filled out correctly or light a fire under your doctor’s office or the insurance company to get the ball rolling. We can make the calls and fill out all the paperwork on your behalf so that you can focus on recovering.
It’s also worth noting that even if your checks aren’t delayed, they may still take longer to get to you than you initially expected. Checks tend to arrive about 2-3 weeks after your injury has been reported to your employer. Once you receive your first check, you can usually expect additional checks to follow a schedule similar to your payment schedule, meaning you can expect to get checks weekly or bi-weekly, like you’d receive at your normal job.
Finally, some people believe that their checks are delayed when in fact they have been discontinued by the insurance company. If you have returned to work, or the insurance company finds out that you are turning down gainful employment, they may stop making payments. If you believe that your checks have been stopped incorrectly, you’ll want to connect with a lawyer, but if you’ve recovered and returned to work in a full time capacity, know that it’s only a matter of time before the workers’ compensation checks stop rolling in.
Sometimes there are innocent reasons why your workers’ compensation checks have been delayed, while other times the insurance company is deliberating doing things to keep you from getting the compensation you deserve. Whatever the case, kick things back into gear by contacting an experienced workers’ compensation firm to help with your case. In the greater Twin Cities area, we hope you’ll connect with the team at Hey Workers. Give us a call today at (844) 439-9675.
