WORKERS COMPENSATION

The Workers’ Compensation System is a no fault system which is designed to provide limited benefits to injured workers regardless of who’s at fault for the accident. Art Gage has been practicing in the workers compensation area of law since 1984 in Tucson. He is a Certified Specialist by the State Bar of Arizona since 1991. He is AV rated attorney in Martindale Hubbell which is the highest rating you can get. He has been listed in the Best Lawyers in America since 2008.

How it Works

When you get injured, you should immediately report your injury to your employer. Then you should get checked out by your doctor. If your employer is not self-insured, then you can pick your own doctor. If your employer is self-insured then they have a right to direct medical care.

You are responsible to file your claim, not the employer. You can download a Workers Report of Injury form or 102 from our website. You can also fill out a form in your doctor's office. Once your claim is filed with the Industrial Commission, they will forward it to the insurance company for your employer. The insurance company has 21 days from the date they received notification from the Industrial Commission to either accept or deny your claim.

A workers compensation claim will pay for all of your medical bills, prescriptions, and medical equipment that are needed to treat your industrial injury. They will also pay you two thirds of your average monthly wage while you are off work from this accident. Please note there is a wage ceiling in Arizona and depending on the year you got hurt will depend on the maximum amount of pay that they will give you when you are off work.

You also have additional entitlements which include permanent disability compensation and possibilities to reopen your case once it is closed. If you are reopening an industrial claim, you need to prove that you have new, additional, or previously undiscovered conditions which justify reopening the case.

Whenever insurance companies change the status of your claim, they will issue what is called a Notice of Claim Status. Clearly written on the notice is a paragraph that indicates you have 90 days to protest the notice if you disagree with its contents. The Industrial Commission will then set you for hearing which will probably be in 3 to 4 months after you have requested the hearing. Please note you are responsible to file the request for hearing with the Industrial Commission, not the insurance company. Once you protest the notice, your insurance company will hire a lawyer to defend the claim. I do not recommend you going to an Industrial hearing without an attorney. Sometimes it is better to meet with your doctor or get medical records prior to filing of the protest of the Notice of Claim Status. Therefore, I urge you to talk to an attorney as soon as you receive a Notice of Claim Status.

The way injured worker attorneys are compensated, is usually based off a percentage of the benefits they are able to obtain for you. Usually our fees are 25% of whatever money compensation you would be entitled to. All of the medical bills are paid directly from the industrial carrier to the provider unless the claim is settled out-of-court.

3rd Party Liability:

Generally in a workers’ compensation case you cannot sue your employer for any negligence which may have caused or contributed to your injury. However, if a third party caused or contributed to your injuries then you may be able to sue that person as well as collect workers’ compensation benefits. This is not a loop hole in the law where you are receiving a double recovery because the workers’ compensation carrier will have a lien to the extent of compensation and medical bills against any money that you were to receive from the 3rd party defendant. I generally advise people to file both a workers’ compensation case and pursue your personal injury claim and that way you can guarantee your bills will be covered and some compensation will be paid while the third party case is being processed. The third party claim may include negligence of another person who may have contributed to the accident as well as a products liability action or a medical mal practice case. These cases are usually difficult to work because of the workers compensation cases. I would advise you to consult with an attorney concerning any of these cases as soon as possible because it may require extensive investigation. Generally you have one year from the date of your injury to file a claim and then the claim is reassigned to your employers’ industrial carrier.

We offer free consultations about your case. Please fill out our Free Evaluation form above and we will contact you to speak with you further You are also welcome to call our office at 520-881-8300 or 866-668-4097 and set up a free consultation either over the phone or in person. Our address is 2573 N. 1st Ave., Tucson, AZ. We are located about one block north of Grant and First Avenue in Tucson Arizona on the west side of the street.  Please feel free to give us a call and we will be happy to discuss your claim