The Life of a Worker’s Compensation Claim in Indiana 

In Indiana, when an employee gets injured at work, the first step in the process is that the employee needs to timely report the injury. This should happen as soon as the injury occurs. Employers need to know an injury has occurred so that your worker’s compensation benefits can begin as promptly as possible. Once the employer has knowledge that a work injury occurred, it has 7 days in which to file a First Report of Injury (“FROI”) with the worker’s compensation Board of Indiana. 

From there, the employer has 30 days in which to either accept compensability of the claim or to deny compensability. 

If the employer denies the claim, it must file a denial with the Worker’s Compensation Board stating the reason why. If the Worker’s Compensation Board finds that the claim is compensable, the employer is liable for all benefits owed to the injured worker. On a denied claim, the burden of proof is on the injured worker to show that the work accident caused their injury. 

If the employer accepts compensability of the claim, it must file a State Form called Agreement to Compensation of Employee & Employer, in which it memorializes the injured worker’s average weekly wage and the rate at which replacement wages will be paid while the injured worker is off work due to their injury. When accepted, the employer will direct and pay for the injured worker’s medical treatment. 

Under Section 4 of the Worker’s Compensation Act, injured workers may recover benefits for all reasonable and necessary medical treatment related to the work injury, replacement wages paid at 66% of the average weekly wage while unable to work due to the work injury, and permanency or permanent partial impairment (“PPI”) resulting from the work injury. 

Once an injured worker has gone through their entire treatment process, that is, the doctor tells them that they are as good as they can possibly get, better known as Maximum Medical Improvement (“MMI”). Then the doctor assesses a PPI rating, and at that point that the claim is likely ripe for either settlement or litigation before the Worker’s Compensation Board. 

For settlement, a settlement demand to the defendant is made for statutorily owed benefits such as PPI, future medical care, back benefits, and settlement consideration. 

If the claim is to be litigated, discovery from the other side may be requested, depositions conducted, motions made and ultimately argue the claim before an Administrative Law Judge. However, an adverse decision can be appealed to the Full Board where all six Indiana 

Administrative Law Judges plus the Board Chairperson will review the decision of the single Hearing Member who made the initial finding. 

This is what the life of a worker’s compensation claim looks like in Indiana. It usually takes several months to several years to go through the whole process. It is slow and can be frustrating. It can be highly embattled, contentious and fraught with pitfalls. For these reasons it is advantageous to have an experienced worker’s compensation attorney in your corner to help navigate the process and apply pressure on your behalf when needed. 

Confused about a legal issue? Need help with a worker’s compensation claim? Connect with an experienced attorney who can help you navigate the legal process and provide you with assistance. Finderson Law LLC offers free consultations to discuss your case. Give our firm a call at (260) 420-8600, use the chat box on our website, or text us using the website link! 

We are always here to help bring our clients comfort, hope and ease regarding the complications of the law. As attorney Roger Finderson is now licensed in Florida, we are happy to help Floridians alongside our Hoosiers in every way.