How To File A Claim After A Construction Accident In Texas
Sustaining an injury at work is not something anyone wants to go through. It can be particularly difficult to recover compensation if the insurance carrier or the employer pushes back against a valid claim. Here, we want to discuss how an individual in Texas can file a claim with a Laredo injury lawyer in order to secure the compensation they are entitled to.
Will Workers’ Compensation Cover the Expenses?
Texas is one of the exceptions in the United States where not every private employer has to have workers’ compensation insurance. However, any employer who contracts with a government entity is required to provide workers’ compensation coverage to the employees working on the project. Additionally, contractors can require subcontractors or independent contractors to also carry workers’ compensation for their direct employees.
We bring up Texas workers’ compensation laws to point out that recovering money for medical bills and lost wages could be challenging if your construction employer does not have workers’ comp. If your employer does have workers’ compensation insurance, it is absolutely critical to report the injury to the employer as soon as possible. The work injury reporting deadline is 30 days from the day the injury occurs. Additionally, construction injury employees who go through workers’ compensation must file the official claim within one year from the day the injury occurs. In other words, you must notify the employer of the construction injury within 30 days and file the official claim within one year.
Immediately after sustaining a construction accident injury, an employee must seek medical care. This is absolutely critical. Seeking medical treatment helps ensure an employee’s well-being while also establishing a strong link between the injury and the incident. This makes it harder for the employer or the insurance carrier to dispute the actual cause of the injury.
What if the Employer Does Not Have Workers’ Comp?
In the event an employer does not have workers’ compensation insurance, recovering compensation for injuries and medical bills can become more challenging. In order to secure the money needed, it may be necessary to file a civil personal injury lawsuit against the employer or the person who caused the injury.
Filing a civil personal injury claim is more complex than filing a workers’ compensation claim. When an employer has workers’ compensation insurance, this is considered a no-fault system. In other words, an individual can file a claim regardless of who caused the injury and receive compensation. In order for a civil personal injury lawsuit to be successful, the injured employee will need to prove that another party was negligent in causing the injury. Establishing negligence can be difficult and consists of four elements.
- It must first be shown that there was a duty of care between the injured party and the person who caused the injury.
- The next step is showing that the person who caused the injury breached their duty of care to the injured employee.
- It must be shown that the breach of duty directly caused the employee’s injury.
- Finally, it must be shown that the employee sustained some sort of monetary loss as a result of the injury.
We strongly encourage any workplace injury victim to contact a skilled Laredo construction accident attorney who has experience handling these claims. This process in Texas can be very difficult, but you deserve compensation if you sustain an on-the-job injury.