Do you ever have the feeling someone is watching you? If you filed a workers’ compensation claim recently, you might be correct. Insurance companies often hire an investigator to follow you around, hoping to see something they could use to deny your claim.
When you visit a doctor after being injured at work, they will tell you what you can and cannot do. The diagnosis of the doctor has a significant role in deciding your claim. For example, you injure your back working as a marquee erector. If a doctor determines your injury will prevent you from heavy lifting ever again, it will mean you cannot return to that job. The amount you receive if your claim is accepted should reflect this need to change your career.
If you wake up one day while off work due to your injury and your back feels okay, you might use the opportunity to repair your garden wall. If an investigator spots you carrying a bag of cement, the insurance company may use this fact to deny your claim. They may argue that the doctor’s diagnosis was wrong, as the investigator saw you lifting something heavy. It will allow them to deny or reduce your compensation by saying you could return to work after all.
Even if you only lifted one bag of cement and were in agony for three days afterward, your error could cost you. It can be frustrating to sit around doing nothing, especially if you are an active person. Yet, if that is what the doctor tells you to do, you must comply. Seeing your worker’s compensation claim denied would be even more frustrating.
