The Importance of Reporting Your Injury Immediately, Completely and Thoroughly

One of the issues that I, as a Michigan personal injury attorney, sometimes face arises from my client’s initial report of his/her injury. When you are hurt on the job, you can help your case by reporting your case immediately. You should also be thorough and accurate when you report your injury. You should report every ache and pain you may have.

Don’t just talk about the one injury that is hurting you right now. Instead, take an “inventory” of every part of your body that was involved. Don’t exaggerate, but don’t minimize problems either. For example, if you fell off a ladder, you might have immediate back pain. But, you might also have headaches, neck pain or knee problems from landing funny.

Your employer will likely send you to their doctor for a checkup. When you meet with the doctor, you want to begin creating an accurate paper trail. Report each and every body part that is affected, even if the doctor does not seem interested. Most doctors ask you to fill out an intake form, that form will become part of your case record. Use that form to identify all health problems you have which was caused by your accident.

If you fail to list all problems at the outset, the insurance company may use this gap to deny coverage and to limit treatment. If the insurance company identifies your case as a low back/hip case, they may not authorize your doctor to treat your knees or feet. You could literally find yourself being treated for one part of your leg, but not another part because the doctor is specifically not authorized to treat that other part.

It may sound crazy to you that your doctor will only treat part of your problems, but this is a common situation in workers compensation. The insurance companies put very specific limits on what they will pay the doctors to treat.

Now, what happens if you did not give your supervisor or your initial treating doctor an accurate description of your injury? It may not be too late. You may still be able to update your report of your injury and preserve your rights. I would advise you to speak to a Michigan Workers’ Compensation attorney before trying to do this on your own. Contact our Detroit law office if you have any questions about your Workers’ Compensation case.