Illinois workers’ compensation law isn’t rocket science. It does require experience though to be successful. So when someone comes to me and says that they were hurt on the job, but their claim was denied, it’s not a rocket science answer when they ask what they should do next.

First off, legit claims get denied all of the time. That’s just the nature of how insurance companies treat people. If they can come up with any reason to deny you, they will. If your case gets accepted they will try to find a reason to cut off your benefits or create one by sending you to a hired gun IME. And often they just deny a case from the get go without legal justification. If they get lucky you will think that there is nothing you can do and just walk away.

In almost every case there is something you can do. Like I said, it’s not a rocket science answer.

What Do You Do If Your Illinois Workers’ Compensation Claim Is Denied

Although this answer sounds self serving, it’s the truth. Your way of fighting the denial is hiring an experienced attorney who knows what they are doing. These are the steps we would typically take:

  • Interview you to determine if you do have a case and tell you why you do or don’t. This may require a review of your medical records.
  • Assuming there is a case, which usually there is, we would file an Application For Adjustment Of Claim with the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. This is the legal document that gets filed to notify the State about your injury and get your case assigned to an Arbitrator. It can be filed the same day you hire an attorney and it’s free to file.
  • In most cases we would take a deposition of your doctor and the IME doctor. This is required to get your case ready for trial.
  • We’d then file a 19(b) petition for immediate hearing and get you a trial date before an Arbitrator to determine if the denial of your benefits was proper or not.

The order can vary and sometimes we file a 19(b) and get your issue resolved with a phone call or a pretrial (informal conference) before the Arbitrator. But either way, it’s not a complex process. If you’ve been an attorney for 20+ years and focus on work comp law, you’ve done this hundreds if not thousands of times.

Cases get denied all of the time when they should not be. This is the process for solving that problem. It does take some time and some effort and sadly there are some law firms that do not want to do that work.

So when hiring an attorney, you should ask them how many cases they have taken to trial in the last year and if they will try your case if needed. Every attorney in our state wide network goes to trial on many cases every year. When a lawyer says they will fight for their client, it doesn’t mean that they yell and scream. It means they will do the work needed to get your case ready for trial and actually do it.

So the bottom line is do not stress if your case is denied. It is a regular occurrence. Your sole focus should be choosing the right lawyer to turn things around. If you want a free consultation about your case, call us any time at 312-346-5578.