How Should I Respond to Workers Comp Insurer's Letters

[Grr1348]

California

I suffered repetitive stress injury, I was put on light duty, and soon resigned. So far WC has paid all medical bills.

Today I received two letters from WC insurance company.

1st letter. "Please sign enclosed Medical/Employment Records Release Forms".

There are two forms. One is a release of medical records with a HIPAA reference. The other is "I authorize (the insurance co.) to obtain records from any source relating to my employment or employment history".


2nd letter. "In order to compute your temporary disability rate, it is necessary that we have specific information as to your earnings for the year prior to your injury".

An attached form asks for earning for each of the past 12 months and says, "attach copies of your earnings, i.e., W-2 forms and pay stubs".


How should I respond to these two letters?

I worked for the "injury" employer for 11 of the past 12 months prior to the injury. Surely they know how much they paid me. I have a W-2 from last year, but probably don't have the pay stubs for each check.

As to the prior employer, I have a W-2 for the year, but I don't know that I could find the pay stubs from that month.

The "injury employer" doesn't communicate with me. I did not know that a temporary disability payment was even being considered.

This injury has pushed me into full retirement from work. Be that as it may, I don't want to lose any payments due to me just because I signed or didn't sign a request I didn't understand.

Thanks.

[Mr. Knowitall]

If you want worker's comp benefits, you will authorize the release of your medical records and document your wages.

[Lastingimpression]

For the most part, the insurance company is doing what any insurance company would do, accept I don't agree with the part about getting your previous pay info...they can well get a hold of that from your employer; unless you were employed by someone else that previous year, than maybe they will need you to get this information for them...just do this for them. I agree with Mr. Knowitall's response...if you want to get paid, make sure the insurance company knows the details of your pay history...after all, what is it going to hurt if they know what you made previously?

Keep in mind, the insurance company is not on your side! They will do everything they can to deny your claim and they will poke and prode into your entire life, just to find anything they can to deny you. If you are worried about revealing too much information, get a lawyer and he will walk you through the whole process. You do have a lot of rights, under the laws pertaining to your state. I would advise you to do a little research and look up the laws so you know how the insurance company is to handle your claim.

Don't back down...don't be afraid....stand your ground for the predicament that you are in!