Dealing With Insurance Companies

Lawyers for Commonwealth Edison Workers

Dealing with insurance companies can be difficult. Insurance companies sometimes put profits ahead of those who have been injured and harmed and may be issue inappropriate or unfair denials. As an electric worker who is employed by Commonwealth Edison, you face many different types of risks while working including shock, falls, repetitive stress, overexertion, and burns. If you suffered a job-related injury, you may be anxious about how you’ll make ends meet and take the time off you need to recover, given your inability to work. You may be able to obtain benefits. You should call the seasoned Chicago workers’ compensation lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca who have more than 60 years representing the injured.

Attorneys to Deal With Insurance Companies

Injured Commonwealth Edison employees in Chicago must notify their employer if they are injured on the job. While the notice may be written or oral, it is safer to provide the notice in writing, either email or certified mail, so that there are no later claims by Commonwealth Edison or its insurer that notice wasn’t timely. You have 45 days from the date of injury to provide the notice of injuries. Once your employer is given notice, it should let its workers’ compensation insurance carrier or administrator know, even if it disputes that you were injured on the job or are entitled to benefits.

If you can’t work for more than three days due to a job-related injury, Commonwealth Edison’s insurer should start making workers’ compensation payments to you and provide written requests for any other information needed to process the claim. When an insurer is denying a claim, it must give you a written explanation for the denial. However, just because you receive a written explanation does not mean that the denial is a legitimate one. It can be important to talk to an attorney about your claim.

Filing Your Claim in Chicago

Once you miss three days of work, Commonwealth Edison, your employer is supposed to file a Form 45, which is an Employer’s First Report of Injury with the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC). You will need to file your workers’ compensation claim with the IWCC within three years of getting injured or you will lose entitlement to benefits. It can be appropriate to put an Application for Adjustment of Claim on file, even if you are receiving payments because that will allow you to obtain a hearing more quickly in case your benefits are abruptly stopped. Your case will be assigned a case number and arbitrator and will come up for a status hearing every three months for at least three years; when you have an attorney, he can appear on your behalf at these status calls.

If you have a dispute with Commonwealth Edison’s insurer about a particular benefit or acceptance or denial of your claim, you can request a hearing from the IWCC. Initially, hearings are conducted by IWCC arbitrators. The arbitrator hears evidence and arguments from both sides, and then renders a decision. Either you or Commonwealth Edison’s insurer may appeal the arbitrator’s decision to a state trial court. That decision can, in turn, be appealed in a state appellate court and on to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Hire a Chicago Commonwealth Edison Lawyer

As a Commonwealth Edison worker, you likely hope that you’ll be given appropriate and safe conditions in which to work, along with appropriate equipment. Unfortunately, some electric workers suffer serious injuries on the job and need to make a claim for benefits. Even valid claims are sometimes denied, or only accepted in part. If you are injured on the job, you should retain a law firm with to represent you in your claim. Our attorneys represent Commonwealth Edison workers in Quincy, Rockford, Champaign, and Aurora, as well as Kane, Sangamon, Cook, Winnebago, and Adams Counties. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.