Ty Wilson Law Podcast

Hello. Ty Wilson. Georgia workers compensation attorney here. And we're answering questions today. Snd so, our question today is, What if I was injured in Georgia but now I live in Alabama? Do I still have a workers compensation claim? And the short answer is, yes. A lot of what determines where you can file your claim is where were you hired. And so, reach out to Georgia workers compensation attorney and speak with them. Give them details of where were you hired were you hired in Georgia and were you hired just to work in Georgia and then you got injured in Georgia now you've just moved right over the State Line to Alabama or was it something else where you always lived in Alabama you were working in Georgia. You signed a contract to only work in Alabama and you just happen to have one job over there in Georgia. So then you may have an Alabama claim. And so, if you were in the course and scope of your employment  certainly you have a Georgia claim if you were injured in the state of Georgia. The bigger question is what does the employment agreement say as far as where you're working or are you a long road trucker and you're gonna work in contiguous United States? And so, the details are what matters the facts to help determine if in fact you are entitled to Georgia workers compensation coverage to help pay for your medical care even if you live out of state. That is something that I know that the adjusters are not crazy about in Georgia because if they're paying for medical care out of state they typically don't have a good understanding of are these doctors conservative are these doctors not conservative. Adjusters like to give the medical care get medical care for the injury worker with very very conservative doctors if they can. It tends to keep the medical cost down and at the end of the day this is about money for the insurance companies. I hope this information's been helpful. Reach out to a Georgia workers compensation attorney. Find out what your rights are and stay safe! 

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So, a question we got today was What if I'm a subcontractor? Hello my name is Ty Wilson I'm a Georgia workers compensation attorney and we're answering questions today. And this question was, "I've been injured on the job but I'm a subcontractor. How does that change my situation?" Well, as a subcontractor you're not an employee and so you're not covered under the company that hired you. So, typically especially if you're in a contracting situation where you're maybe building a home or doing an one aspect of that flooring roofing framing drywall etcetera, you're responsible to have your own workers compensation insurance coverage. And if you have that well you have a claim now there are certain situations where the actual owner of the subcontracting company ops out of the coverage. And if that's the case and you're the owner well then you would not have coverage. However, if you have not opted out of your workers compensation insurance coverage and you have a policy you should have coverage if you don't have a workers compensation coverage or what we see all the time. They get the coverage in place cancel the next month because all they need to show is a certificate. Then you are stuck on your own and you do not have Protection that you may need depending upon the entry that you have. So reach out to Georgia workers compensation attorney. Find out get specifics and then you'll know do you have the ability to file a claim and pursue a claim under the workers comp the Georgia Workers Compensation Act or are you in a situation where you'll have to pay for it on your own. Stay safe and we'll see you on the next video. 

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We're covering some questions that we have received over the last couple of weeks. And I'm just gonna read the question. "I'm having a terrible time getting answers from the insurance company that represents the person that hit my daughter. They have so many excuses. But meanwhile, my daughter's car is towed. And she is still having medical issues from the accident. This stinks." Well, sorry to smile but this is the name of the game for the insurance company delay, delay deny. Maybe tell you something maybe not maybe not even answer your calls. And so, the fact that you got them on the phone they don't know what to say they make excuses. This unfortunately is not uncommon. This is clearly from a car wreck. Somebody wrecked into your daughter and so the answer or suggestions I guess to this question is you probably should reach out to a Georgia personal injury attorney or car wreck attorney as a result of the property. And you got two claims, so let's just kinda I guess stretch this out a little bit. When you get into a car wreck and there are injuries you actually have two claims they're set together but you have a property damage claim that be for the value of the vehicle. And then you have oddly entry claim. The property damage claim should be resolved fairly quickly. Now, here's the question the at fault insurance company do they have coverage on the claim? They may not and if they don't then you're gonna wanna reach out to your insurance company and see if you have what's called uninsured motors coverage. Uninsured motors coverage will provide bodily injury and property damage coverage. And so, you can get your car either repaired if it's repairable or a total loss. The insurance company will make that determination typically what they wanna do is they wanna send somebody out to look at the car and so when they look at the car they're gonna determine what is the fair market value that car what is the cost to repair it. If the cost to repair it is more than every insurance company is different but it's usually between 70 or 80% of the fair market value that car.

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We received a couple of questions I want to try to go through today. And so let's start with the first one. "Can an employer deny your workers compensation playing If you've been on the job for three days?" Well, the short answer is no, they cannot. We've represented people who were injured on the first day literally. Signing the agreement to work with the employer or walking outside of the place where they were signing the documentation and they got hurt. because someone had left the water there. It was in the way. They couldn't avoid it. They slipped they fell. They hurt themselves. Actually, pretty seriously. But if you are an employee and you are in the course and scope of your employment the employer arguably as long as you're an employee, as long as there's insurance and even if there's not insurance you still have a claim that there's other questions about the claim. Such as if there is no insurance does the employer have the money to pay the claim? And so forth. But if you're injured on the job and you're employed you're hired doing what you're supposed to be doing, you're not under the influence of alcohol, you're not under the influence of drugs, you're not horse playing, then you have a claim. And so for them to deny your claim after being at work for only 3 days, you do need to reach out to a workers compensation attorney or Georgia workers compensation attorney because your rights are being denied and you have something that you can try to pursue if that's something you wanna do. Obviously, that's gonna depend on how serious is the injury. If the injury is not that serious, and you can get to work somewhere else. You may wanna move on. If it is serious, you now are looking at possible surgery or you don't know but you can't hardly walk because you've got pain radiating from your back down to your feet or you've got pain radiating from your neck down to your hands, then you're gonna wanna reach out to a Georgia workers compensation attorney. Find out what is going on as far as what are your rights. What can you do what do you need to look out for? We offer free consultations as do most workers compensation attorneys. And so, check out find out what your rights are. Doesn't hurt to ask questions. Find out what you may be entitled to depending upon your current situation. And most of all stay safe. We'll see you on the next video.

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So another question we received the other day is, "Is it true that you can't get money from a settlement if your injuries are back and neck?" Well, this is a very short answer but, no. That's not true at all. In fact a big portion of the claims that we have represented have been neck and or back claims. And so, there's no barring or saying that you can't settle. A lot of things go into settlement. Does the employer wish to settle? There are certain employers that have just a policy of not settling their workers compensation claims. So, there's not a lot that can be done about those types of employers. I know in particular it's one of the bigger employers in the state of Georgia that has a policy of not settling. And the attorneys know this. And so, when you try to hire an attorney, unless they find that there is something else that they can go after a benefit that you're being denied like weekly checks or medical care something where they can get paid attorney's fees, potential turn them down just because for the attorney they don't like working for free. They cost money to set up a claim. It cost money. It may be nominal at first but it does cost money over time to keep up and maintain a file. And so, as an attorney they want the case to settle. And so, it's important that if you are getting an attorney you realize that. And when you speak with an attorney talk to him about it. Well, when do we consider this is that something that we'd consider settling in your claim depending upon where you're at. It depends on have you got the medical care you need. Do you need more medical care? Are you surgical? I mean there's a lot of questions that go into it. So, it's best to hop on the phone. Quick phone call. Find out so that the attorney can find out exactly where you're at. Say, okay well these are some things you need to look out for and depending upon who you're with. As far as doctors you may wanna consider changing doctors. You may wanna consider an independent medical evaluation There's a lot that goes into it. A lot of moving parts. So, you're encouraged to reach out to a Georgia workers compensation attorney. Find out kind of where you're at. And then of course, stay safe. And we'll see you on the next video. 

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Look, Ty Wilson here. I'm Georgia Workers Compensation attorney practicing law in the state of Georgia. and our video topic for today is choke points and what we mean by choke points are. What are some of the things in workers compensation claims that can cause unnecessary delay denial, frustration what have you? And so, when someone first gets injured on the job one of the most important things they can do at that point in time is provide notice to their employer that they've been hurt and that they like medical care for their injury. So, that is a choke point. If you don't give them notice currently within 90 days well they can deny the claim and the courts will support them in that decision. And so, it's critical that you file the workers compensation claim with your boss and or supervisor who may send you to HR may handle it themselves but you tell them head to toe everything that feels funny or different as a result of the injury. and make sure that you are explaining what your injuries are so that they can investigate it. If it's a very serious injury, well, you may be carted off by ambulance and then you wanna contact your employer by telephone if they're not there in the hospital which they may or may not be and you wanna just let them know, "Obviously I was heard at work I'm gonna need medical care." And then once you are released from the hospital, they will set you up with the medical care. Choosing of the doctors, that is another choke point. What is supposed to happen? Is the employer is supposed to have something called a posted panel of physicians? There are multiple versions of a posted panel of physicians  there is what we call the traditional. There are multiple forms with as little as six doctors and as many as a managed care organization which is like a telephone book of doctors. And so, and there's in between. And so, there are many different forms of opposed to panel physicians this is why it's very important that  upon being injured you speak to your employer and you say, "Look, I've been hurt. I need to get care for my injuries this is a work injury claim." If they refuse at that point in time you really need to reach out to counsel, legal counsel and speak to a workers compensation attorney...

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We received another question the other day. Someone had been injured on the job. They got surgery on one of their legs and they got returned back to work. And when they got returned back to work they were subsequently fired at work. And then, they're still getting medical care. And so it looks like they're gonna need another surgery down the road or at least that's what they're talking about. And so, the question is, "Do they qualify for income benefits?" And the answer is, "It depends." The question is, "How did they get fired?" Was this something that they got fired because they weren't moving fast enough because of their injury? If it's something related to their injury, then the argument is, yes, they can get income benefits.  It may be a fight may have to go to a hearing etc. However, If they smart it all or they said, "I'm not gonna do that." And they were fired for reasons unrelated to their injury. Mainly due to attitude or something like that. Then the answer is, "No." They would not qualify for income benefits because if the employer and the insurer can prove that they terminated the injured worker for reasons unrelated, completely unrelated to the injury, then they don't have to pay income benefits. Stay safe! 

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We received a good question the other day from someone who was asking, "Can an independent medical evaluation or defense medical examination doctor put you on modified duty when they're not your authorized treating or your main doctor?" And the short answer is, they can put that in their records. They can make that recommendation. However, the reality is your authorized treating physician is the one who makes that determination. Now, keep in mind, a lot of times the employer and the insurance company's attorney is getting a defense medical examination so that they can have some evidence against what your authorized treating physician is saying. So, your authorized treating physician is saying out of work completely. Well, I've got a doctor now who says you could go back to light duty work. And lo and behold, I bet they're gonna also tell you that they got a job for you. And so, this is part of strategy through the workers comp system. And it is entirely possible that this could happen. We see it happen  actually all the time. However again, the authorized training physician is the one who should have the most weight if this is in front of a judge. So, hope that answers your question. Stay safe!

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We received a question the other day about someone who had been terminated as a result of a work injury. And they were asking well, "How long does the employer have to wait to post a job for my position?" Well, here in the state of Georgia, we are At-will State. They can terminate you for cause or for no cause at all. And so, there is no set time out or time frame from which they have to wait before they post a new job opening. So, they're free to do it whenever they feel that they need to fill that position. Hope that information has been helpful. And we'll see you on the next video. 

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And the fact of the matter is you can settle the case without a lawyer. You will probably do better if you have a lawyer. That being said, there are some people who are absolutely opposed to hiring attorneys. And so, you will basically resolve your case for whatever the insurance company  wants to resolve their case for. When you have an attorney, there are some arguments that can be made that make an increase the value  especially depending upon the timing of your settlement. If you're settling the case at the end where there's no future medical care. Your checks have been cut off. And the permanent permit is minimal. In that case,  has less value than if you're still getting checks.You still have medical care to go and complete. And maybe you don't have a permanent permit yet because you are still treating. So, those two different types of claims. The earlier you get an attorney involved likely the better the situation for you. Then attempting to close it out at the end once all of the items that carry value have been either determined or settled.  We hope that information is helpful. And we'll see you on the next video.

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