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$2.2 Million
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Lower Back Injury

How Long Does an Employer Have to Accept/Deny a Workers’ Comp Claim?

Being injured in a work accident is a serious interruption in your life.  The time from the day of your injury to the day you first get benefits from your employer’s Workers’ Comp can involve significant delays.  Just getting an answer from your employer’s insurance carrier might even take quite some time.

Under the Workers’ Comp Act, your employer/their insurance carrier is supposed to respond to your claim within 21 days.  At this time, they should inform you that they are either accepting your claim, accepting it on a temporary basis, or denying it.  In some cases, however, these parties simply will not reply at all, and our lawyers can help take them to court to get the answers you deserve.

For help, contact Cardamone Law’s Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers today for a free case review by calling (267) 651-7945.

Timeline for Filing and Hearing Back About Your Workers’ Comp Claim in Pennsylvania

Workers’ Compensation claims can potentially start on the day of the injury, with an employer learning about the injury and starting to move the case through the systems in place.  Otherwise, they will be triggered by your notice.  After that, there are solid requirements as to when the insurance carrier or your employer needs to respond, and any problems with this timeline can allow us to file petitions in court to get the progress on the claim that you deserve.

Reporting Deadline

Most injury cases need to be reported within 21 days of your accident.  This means you need to tell your employer or their insurance carrier within that timeframe.  Ultimately, you might be able to wait up to 120 days and still get your claim filed, but 21 days is expected in most cases.

Employers are also required to report an injury to their insurance carrier and the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, usually within 2 days for death and within 7 days for other disabilities.

Employer’s Response Deadline

Under the Workers’ Comp Act, employers have 21 days from your notice to give their response.  At that point, they can decide whether they want to accept the claim, deny the claim, or temporarily accept the claim to give themselves time to do additional investigation.

Within the first 21 days, they can also decide to offer you a settlement agreement instead of benefits.  If they temporarily accept, they pay your benefits for up to 90 additional days while they make their final decision.

If the employer fails to respond to your claim within 21 days, our Pennsylvania Workers’ Comp lawyers can file a petition in court to have them submit their response and answer for their violation, including a Penalty Petition to request penalties against them.

Your Employer’s Options for Accepting or Denying Your Workers’ Comp Claim

Within those 21 days, your employer can review all of the information submitted to them and make a determination.  This is the time set by law for them to make their decision, and it should be enough time.  However, insurance carriers and employers might sit on the filings and fail to take any significant steps, ultimately denying the claim at the end of the 21-day period – if they bother answering at all.  However, you can get a lawyer and fight the case if they issue a denial or ignore your claim.  If they accept the claim, there are a few potential results, and you should still get a lawyer for help.

Denial

Employers and insurance carriers know that if they simply deny a claim, many workers will simply accept that denial, and the case will be over.  Do not let this happen.

Our attorneys can file a Claim Petition in court in response to a denial.  This puts the issue before a Workers’ Comp judge instead of leaving the decision to your employer/their insurance carrier.  You often have 3 years to file this petition after your denial, but you likely need your benefits sooner and should call us to get started on your case as soon as you get a denial.

Ignoring the Claim

If your employer or their insurance carrier simply ignores the claim, they might try to get away with never having to actually issue you a denial.  When this happens, it is effectively the same as a denial; they have pretty clearly shown you that they do not want to pay the claim.  As such, we will have to go through the same process of filing a Claim Petition in court to get the claim addressed there.

As mentioned, we may also be able to submit a Penalty Petition to seek punishments for your employer/carrier’s violation of the 21-day response deadline.

Accepting the Claim

In the rare case that your employer/insurance carrier wants to accept your claim with no hassle, they can do so.  At this point, they will either accept that they have to pay you benefits and start doing so after the amounts are worked out, or they will offer you a settlement.

Accepting a settlement usually means getting a lump sum now instead of ongoing benefits.  Even if they accept your claim and send you an offer, you should still have a lawyer review how much the offer is for.  This will help ensure that it has enough to cover all of the ongoing medical care you will need as well as your ongoing lost wages.

Temporarily Accepting the Claim

Your employer can also drag out the case by temporarily accepting the claim.  This gives them an additional 90 days to look into the facts of your claim and determine whether or not they truly want to accept the claim going forward.  They can then change their mind before the 90 days run out and give you a final decision.

At that point, the case continues down the same possible paths listed above: they can accept your claim and pay benefits, they can offer you a settlement, or they can deny the claim and we can take them to court.

Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers in Pennsylvania Today

For a free review of your Workers’ Comp claim, call the Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation attorneys at Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945.

Awards & Recognitions

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Cardamone Law Has Negotiated Some of the Largest Workers’ Comp Settlements in Pennsylvania

$6 Million
Acted as Co-Counsel on a Case that Settled
$2.2 Million
Spinal Injury
$897,000
Lower Back Injury
$740,000
Amputation
$650,000
Lower Back Injury
$550,000
Neck Injury
$425,000
Leg Injury
$375,000
Knee Injury
$325,000
Ankle Injury
$6 Million
Acted as Co-Counsel on a Case that Settled
$2.2 Million
Spinal Injury
$897,000
Lower Back Injury
$740,000
Amputation
$650,000
Lower Back Injury
$550,000
Neck Injury
$425,000
Leg Injury
$375,000
Knee Injury
$325,000
Ankle Injury

Client Testimonials

"Without a doubt YOU are the best!!!"

"Without a doubt YOU are the best!!! Every person who is in the horrible position of being injured at work should have someone as kind, compassionate and knowledgeable as you on their side. You never once made me feel like I was one of a hundred other clients. I always knew you had my back! You answered calls and emails at all hours. You fought every fight for me so I only had to worry about getting well. Behind your nice, calm face there’s a pit bull ready to take on any employer or judge. I can never thank you enough."

- L. Edall
Google Reviews
"Best Law Firm around!"

"Cardomone law is absolutely fantastic! They are very responsive and helpful and they will fight to get you what you deserve. Shirley is also very helpful whenever you have any questions! Best Law Firm around!"

- C. Edwards
Google Reviews
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart Mike and Shirley!!"

I called Shirley when I was scared and didn’t know what where my next dime was coming from after I was out with my work injury. Shirley was very kind and helpful guiding me every single step of the way. Mike was not your typical lawyer was not pushy but very responsive to all my gazillion questions. He helped me get my settlement quickly and settlement check in a very timely manner. Would recommend them to anyone! Mike helped calm all my fears and anxieties as I was trying to navigate one of the hardest and most stressful times in my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Mike and Shirley!!

- Jen Thompson
Google Reviews
"Michael and Shirley are very dedicated...and getting the maximum amount favorable to my case"

"Cardamone Law Firm were very helpful to me since day one. Michael and Shirley are very dedicated to my case giving me updates, answering my questions, being honest with my case, and getting the maximum amount favorable to my case. Thank you so much for your service and dedication and helping me to achieve not only your case but to guide and refer me in other needs too! You guys are the best law firm friendly and dedicated. I will recommend to anyone."

- A. Ortiz
Google Reviews
"Michael won my workers comp case after my employer insurance denied my claim."

"Exceptional firm. Highly recommend this law firm. Michael won my Workers Comp case after my employer insurance denied my claim. Him and his staff were always at my reach for legal and emotional support. Am so happy I hire them. Thanks Michael and Ms. Shirley."

- Carlos P.
Google Reviews
"[They] did an excellent job in getting me financially compensated in a fairly short amount of time."

"I recently had a work related injury and was receiving Workers' Compensation (medical benefits only). Soon after I was fired, so I contacted Paul Silver at Cardamone Law Firm who did an excellent job in getting me financially compensated in a fairly short amount of time. Paul and his assistant Shirley always responded to any questions I had about the case in a very short amount of time. Thank you for helping me with this difficult case."

- Robin C.
Google Reviews
"Highly recommend."

"Cardamone Law was great with helping my husband with his Workers Comp issues. Mike and Shirley were the best with letting us know what was going on every step of the way. Highly recommend."

- Danielle P.
Google Reviews
"Mike Cardamone is amazing"

"Mike Cardamone is amazing. He is "hands down" one of the best lawyers I've ever had the privilege of knowing. He is very kind, understanding, knowledgeable in his field, always very thorough and helpful. He was extremely professional and someone who truly cares about his clients. I felt completely at ease with him. He was a pleasure to work with, explained everything in detail, as well as answered all my questions with knowledge and care. If you want someone you can trust, who communicates every step of the way, will fight for you and make sure you win your case, he is it! I will refer all my family and friends to him. Thank you so much Mike, for everything. I appreciate all your hard work and dedication in helping me."

- Allie M.
Google Reviews
"Best Workers' Comp Lawyer!"

"Michael is simply the best! He was there for me from day 1 till the end, and we won the case!! He is always available to help. I had a gazillion questions and he would answer them one by one. He's a great lawyer and I feel lucky to have found him online from reading other outstanding reviews about him. Believe me, they're true!"

- Faith B.
Google Reviews
"Great Attorney"

"Great attorney, handled case quickly and efficiently. I would recommend him and would use him again. He was always available to answer any questions we had. Thank you, Mr. Cardamone."

- H. Anderson
Google Reviews