A workers’ compensation insurance carrier can take up to 45 days after they are notified to determine if they are going to approve or deny your claim. Once denied, you have the right to request a hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Once requested, the carrier has up to 30 days to respond. The court date will then be scheduled “no sooner than 120 days” later. As you can see, even if all goes smoothly, you can easily be looking at 6 months before you appear before the ALJ. This time can be (and usually is) much longer than this if there are medical disputes that will likely involve a medical panel report. Of course, your case can be resolved with a settlement agreement at any time in the process, and—depending on the facts of your case—this may be the most appropriate action to take. As always, we can give you a free evaluation of your case and show you the strengths and weaknesses that the ALJ will focus on.
Timeline for a claim