Many people have issues such as back pain, muscle problems or trapped nerves that can flare up after certain activities. While these injuries may have been a frequent cause of pain for some time, your work activities may have caused the condition to worsen or to become more painful. As a result, you may need to seek medical attention or take time off of work to recover.
Since you will suffer financially as a result of not working or gaining medical assistance, you may consider filing for workers’ compensation. However, you may be slightly cautious to do so, because the injury existed before you even started working for your current employer. It is, in fact, possible to file workers’ compensation for the aggravation of pre-existing conditions through your working activities, but the process may encounter some challenges. The following are some tips for filing for workers’ compensation for a pre-existing injury.
Notify your employer as soon as possible
Your top priority should be gaining medical attention for your injury, but after you do this, notify your employer of your work-related injury in writing. Even if they are skeptical of the origin of your injury, they have the legal duty to provide you with workers’ compensation insurance forms.
Show that the flare-up of your injury was caused by work activity
As with any workers’ compensation claim, you will need to show that the injury was caused by work-related activities. In the case of an aggravated condition, you should be able to provide enough information to show that if it were not for your work activities, you would not have experienced a flare-up of your condition. Gaining a statement from your medical provider could be very useful in this pursuit, because they may be able to confirm that the working activities were to blame.
Be prepared for a fight
Claims for the worsening of a pre-existing condition are often denied by workers’ compensation insurance providers. Be prepared to make an appeal and have all the documentation that you need.
It is important to take early action when making a workers’ compensation claim in New Jersey. Doing so will help you speed up the process of gaining the reimbursement that you deserve.