Dealing with a workplace accident claim is not fun. I had a really hard time getting what I felt I deserved when I was injured on the job last year. It was really a nightmare scenario that I hope no one has to go through. The reality is that lots of people have accident on the job and have just as hard of a time as I did getting compensated what they deserve. If I knew then what I know now, I would have done things a lot differently.
First of all I would have reported the accident and filed my claim immediately. When I was first injured, the pain wasn’t so bad, so I didn’t do anything about the first day. I hurt my back lifting some heavy cargo and thought I just needed to sit down for 10 minutes and relax. I did that and the pain wasn’t so bad, so I actually continued my work day like nothing happened. It was a real big mistake, because the pain only got worse the next day. When I woke up I felt like someone was stabbing me in the back. The worst part was that the pain was radiating all the way down to my legs. Walking was a chore. I went straight to the doctor and he sent me for an MRI.
The MRI showed I had some major herniations at multiple levels. I wasn’t able to do anything for 4-6 weeks, and if they didn’t heal on their own, I might need surgery. My companies insurance carrier gave me a hard time every step of the way, and complained that I should have alerted someone to my injury right away. They didn’t want to pay 100% of my claim for that reason. That’s when I made the decision to hire a personal injury attorney. Hiring a work injury attorney, or a car accident solicitor is really a wise move if you are getting a hard time from the insurance carrier. It helped me get a fast settlement for an amount that I felt was finally fair.