Workers Compensation Lawyers in Vermont may be able to help when claimants have made a misstep that has undermined their eligibility for benefit payments. Sometimes the error happens before any payments are made, leading the claim to be denied or approval to be delayed. In other instances, the benefit payments are ended before the employee can safely return to full-time work.
Being Physically Active in Public
Insurance companies may have investigators watch claimants or do some video surveillance to make sure they are not faking the extent of their injury. A person might risk having the benefits terminated if he or she is caught being physically active while receiving workers comp payments. The insurance company doesn’t take into account that this person might have an occasional good day, allowing for a bike ride or some yard work.
Insurers may check social media accounts too. The person may not be posting anything, but there might be a risk of other people posting pictures of this individual. Photos of this person playing doubles tennis, canoeing or doing any other physical activity may be misconstrued as involving more vigorous exercise than is the case. Legal representation by a firm such as McVeigh Skiff LLP may become necessary.
Delays in Reporting the Injury
The employee might not report an injury right away, which can lead to claim denial. The employer or the insurer may not believe that the injury occurred at work if the employee doesn’t report it for several days. The employee may have expected to condition to heal quickly, but instead, it became worse. Workers Compensation Lawyers in Vermont may be necessary to help the employee support his or her case.
Another reason the employee may delay telling the supervisor is if the incident happened outside of work hours of off the work site. If an employee is off the clock but slips and falls on a wet floor at work, the employer typically is still held responsible for workers comp benefits. The same is true if the employee was injured while running an errand for the employer away from work, such as taking a load of mail to the post office.
