Arbitrators in Illinois Workers’ Compensation cases rely heavily on what is called the “history of accident” found in medical records.
The Arbitrator is the Judge who makes the decision in your case.
If the Arbitrator does not find the proper history of accident or injury in the records she may deny your case and you will receive no money for your claim.
The basis for relying on the history of accident in the medical records is that what you tell the doctor or hospital workers at the time of your work injury will be the closest to the truth because it happened at or near the time of the accident versus something you tell the Arbitrator or someone else months or several years later.
For instance, if there is nothing in the medical records regarding your work accident then you most likely lose your case.
If the history of accident in the medical records is dramatically different from your testimony at trial, or if the description of the accident changes over time then you will most likely lose your case.
Make sure that on your first hospital or doctor visit that you tell each person your injury happened at work, how it happened and what body parts were injured.
Write down this information and take it with you to each medical visit.
This will make your Workers’ Compensation case strong when the insurance company tries to deny your claim.
Questions about your work injury case? Make sure to call Illinois Work Comp Lawyer Dirk May at 309-827-4371.