Florida’s workers compensation system is designed to protect injured workers by regularly monitoring insurance company’s provision of services and benefits. Yet it’s your South Florida workers’ compensation attorney who plays the critical role of promptly submitting your paperwork so that you can concentrate on obtaining the medical treatment and rehabilitation services you need. Without an experienced Florida workers comensation attorney, your claim is just another number to the insurance company that can get buried under thosuands of other claims being handled by the adjustor.
The following statistics are based upon Fiscal Year 2010/2011 and were gathered by Florida’s Bureau of Monitoring and Audit while reviewing insurer claim files containing medical reports, general records and financial statements. Every effort was made to be sure that all workers’ compensation benefits were paid out properly.
Revealing Statistics Gathered by Florida’s Workers Compensation
- The bureau discovered that all required payments were not properly made, resulting in “the additional payment of $163,314 in indemnity benefits and $127,582 in penalties and interest, for a total of $290,896 paid to injured workers;”
- A careful review of the “accuracy and timeliness of 53,285 First Reports of Injury or Illness filed by employers, insurers and claims-handling entities [required a] combined total of $891,802 of penalties assessed against employers and insurers due to late payments and a combined total of $938,475 of assessed penalties due to late filings. Numerous medical billings were also audited, making sure that Florida’s requirements for timely disposition and filing of medical bills were met. This review “resulted in $390,150 in late disposition assessed penalties and $819, 915 in late filing assessed penalties;”
- Additional state review of workers’ compensation insurer records revealed that “$5,895,567 was due to injured workers because of underpayments by insurers.”
A Florida Workers’ Compensation Attorney Can Help
Based upon past experience, your attorney knows how to effectively interact with insurance companies on your behalf, especially when checks aren’t being sent out promptly for the correct amounts — and over an appropriate period of time. Should any problems still arise, your lawyer will immediately contact your treating physicians, the insurer and your employer to make sure all of the necessary paperwork is processed promptly.
Workers who fail to hire a South Florida workers compensation attorney to handle all of their benefit paperwork may be shortchanging themselves, and are most likely waiting longer to receive benefits.
If you’ve suffered a serious worker’s compensation injury, contact the Maus Law Firm to learn more about your rights. The Maus Law Firm has offices in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and the Florida Keys, and handles accident and injury claims throughout Miami-Dade, Monroe, Collier, Lee, Broward and Palm Beach counties. You’ll need the help of an experienced South Florida worker’s compensation attorney on your side. Call Toll Free today at: (855) 999-LAWS, or locally at (954) 784-6310.