You Could Be on Candid Camera…and It Could Squash Your Workers’ Compensation Claim

workers-compensation-insurerWhen you’ve suffered an injury on the job, you have a right to seek workers’ compensation benefits for any temporary or long term disability that keeps you from working or for any partial, but permanent, injury. Your employer and the workers’ compensation insurance company, though, have an incentive to minimize the amount paid to you, or to deny your claim altogether, as your claim cuts into their profits. So they’ll often use any means at their disposal to try to invalidate your claim, including hiring private investigators to secretly videotape you.

The easiest way to avoid any potential problems in a workers’ compensation claim is to be honest with doctors at all times. Don’t exaggerate the extent of your injury because you think it will ensure that you get benefits. If you really are hurt, it won’t be difficult to refrain from doing things that might indicate you aren’t injured. But if you overstate the nature of your injury, you’ll have to be conscious of the exaggeration you made at all times. You could easily forget that you told doctors you couldn’t lift more than 10 pounds and then be videotaped carrying in bags of groceries or hauling a keg of beer.

Another tip—be willing to acknowledge your injury and that you need to alter your lifestyle to really have a chance at getting healthy. If you are accustomed to being active—you play golf, bowl or like to do physical work around the yard—recognize that maintaining the same level of activity will likely be used as evidence that your injury does not merit workers’ compensation benefits.

Contact Us

At Taylor & Boguski, we bring more than 70 years of combined legal experience to men and women throughout New Jersey. For a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call us at 856-200-8989.

We handle all workers’ compensation claims on a contingency basis. There will be no attorney fees unless we recover damages for your losses.

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