REPORT YOUR WORK ACCIDENT
The first thing you should do after getting hurt is to immediately report your injury and exactly how it happened to your supervisor or manager. This provides the notice that you’ll need later if you want to get treatment through workers’ comp or receive workers’ compensation benefits. Ideally, you want your boss to fill out a written report documenting what happened. You want to prevent the insurance company from using a notice issue to stop you from getting benefits. In South Carolina, you have up to 90 days to report your injury after it occurred (see Section 42-15-20). This notice issue becomes a bit more complicated in repetitive trauma cases such as carpal tunnel or plantar fasciitis caused by repetitive standing and walking. I have seen that claimants are unaware that they can still file for benefits if they were injured by repetitive trauma. I assume this is because it isn’t the one accident and injury which is typical for workers’ comp claims they may have heard more about. In South Carolina, you can give notice to the employer within ninety days of the date that you discovered the repetitive trauma injury or should have discovered the injury by exercising reasonable diligence (see SC Section 42-15-20). Another example includes occupational diseases such as asthma which was caused by breathing in chemicals or dust while at work. This makes giving notice complicated because the effects of occupational diseases often don’t show up until some time after the worker has stopped working at the plant. South Carolina law allows you 2 years after you have been diagnosed definitively as having an occupational disease and has been notified of the diagnosis to file in order to receive benefits (see SC Section 42-15-40). You can take a closer look at the SC Statutes regarding notice for workers’ comp claims by clicking HERE
FILE YOUR CLAIM FOR WORKERS’ COMPENSATION.
If you have decided to represent yourself, the next thing you should do is to go ahead and file your Form 50 with the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission (SCWCC). This preserves your right to receive benefits. You can do this by clicking HERE to view the Form 50. I have found it to be easier to use the doc format to type up the form though you can also download the PDF form. You will need to fill out some basic information about yourself as well as describing what happened during your accident. The form also asks for your average weekly wage at work (before taxes and other deductions) so you may want to get your paystubs together to figure out how much you are making. You will also need to find out the workers’ comp insurance carrier that your company uses. This can be done through using the insurance verification tool You will also need to fill out a list of doctors that you have been seeing since the accident took place. After you finish filling out the Form, you will need to mail a copy of your Form 50 with first class postage to the insurance company’s mailing address and the SCWCC. If you decide to request a hearing in front of a Commissioner (these are judges that are appointed to hear workers’ comp claims), you will need to pay a filing fee of $50 to do so. Therefore, what I usually do initially is that I will file the Form 50 and check box 13 stating that I am filing a claim but I am not requesting a hearing at this time. You can always file another Form 50 later if you need to and check box 14 if you decide you need to request a hearing at a later date.
WHAT IF I HAVE FURTHER QUESTIONS OR I AM NOT SURE WHAT TO DO NEXT?
You may want to contact an attorney that is experienced in workers’ compensation claims. They can walk you through the requirements for notice. They will also be experienced with finding out the exact information needs to be put on the Form 50 so your claim gets started. Workers’ Comp attorneys in South Carolina work on contingency which means they only get paid if you do. If you decide you want to continue representing yourself, you can always give the Workers’ Comp Commission a call at 803-757-5700 to ask for help.You can also check out their injured workers’ FAQ page HERE which provides an email that you can reach out to about filing a claim: claims@wcc.sc.gov.
Disclaimer: The information in this blog post (“post”) is provided for general informational purposes only, and may not reflect the current law in your jurisdiction. No information contained in this post should be construed as legal advice from Pati Law Firm, or the individual author, nor is it intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this post should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information included in, or accessible through, this Post without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer licensed in the recipient’s state, country or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction.
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