You want to see where it goes ? You want to see what the company doctor tells you?

If I were injured on the job and was being told that the company had a work injury program that is specifically designed to provide medical and wage benefits, I’d also want to do what I could to make sure I followed the rules necessary to qualify for those benefits! Unfortunately, Texas Non-subscriber programs do not work that way no matter how sweet they (employer or insurance representatives) paint you the picture. Because a non-subscriber employer (Non-subscribers: Amazon, Walmart, HEB, Lowe’s, etc.) has elected to go outside of the Texas Workers’ Compensation program, the main purpose of the non-subscriber program becomes assessing and managing the liability risk for the company.

You want to see where it goes? Here are our predictions based on years of experience in these cases:

• Not Negligent: If you were injured as a result of a complete accident, where no one was at fault, your claim is going to be denied pretty early. You’re likely to receive an adverse benefit determination before any major medical tests or treatment is approved. It’s best that your prepare yourself and start looking for other ways to get the medical attention that you will need to get better.
• Employer Negligent: If there is an argument that your employer’s negligence led to your injury, then your employer and their insurance turn their attention to doing as little as possible to document the way that the accident occurred and, focusing on doing as little as possible to approve treatment that would explain what injuries you have and how they related to the incident. Eventually, you may get some treatment approved but, that treatment was very likely the least that could have been done to get you well. Even if you’ve had surgery, you could still have problems and if those problems keep you from working, you’re likely to lose your job and at some point, the insurance says “enough is enough” and cuts you off of treatment. The insurance company has now saved on costs by providing minimal care, they have convinced you that they tried to help and, they’ve now managed to dispose of the problem, …YOU! Take control of your case early!

Related: Not Your Typical Texas Workers’ Compensation Case

If You Wait to Hire a Lawyer Until You Get Denied, You Can’t Expect Immediate Solutions!

In these non-subscriber work injury cases, there is plenty of information out there that provides you a good idea of what you can expect in your case. The mistake that several injured workers commit is that they wait until the company has muddied up the case. As an injured employee of a Texas Non-subscriber Employer, waiting to hire a work injury lawyer will only hurts you. It doesn’t mean that if you wait, you have no case but, what it means is that if you wait, you have given your employer and their insurance an opportunity to implement legal tactics to make it more difficult to prove that your employer’s negligence lead to the incident that caused your injuries. Contacting a lawyer at this point does not mean that you’ll have immediate solutions to a lot of the problems that your employer has already created for you: making work on restrictions, cutting your hours, failing to accommodate you, not paying you, etc. etc. You have to give yourself a fighting chance and contact a lawyer early on in your case so that the situation is management and not yet at the point of desperation.

When you wait to consult a lawyer, you are going to face company representatives and insurance adjusters and representatives that have been trained on to lessen the impact on the company. Meanwhile, you’re thinking that they company, and the work injury program is there to help you. It’s the perfect recipe for control and abuse.

Don’t Believe the Myths Out There!

Once you suffer a work injury, everyone that you know is going to want to tell you how these cases play out. The truth is, every case is different and what you should be thinking is, whether you are going to be able to get better and continue to work. If you can be sure of this, it’s time to consult a lawyer before it gets physically, mentally, and financially impossible for you to handle.

The company and its insurance are immediately preparing to defend their case. Shouldn’t you also have the same opportunity to protect your rights? Get the work injury advice that you deserve.

I handle nonsubscriber cases all over the State of Texas. At Sandoval Law Firm, PLLC, we are ready to go to work for you!

Attorney Hector Sandoval