What Are the Time Limits for Making a Virginia Workers Compensation Claim?

Video Transcript

There are so many deadlines and exceptions in a workers comp claim that it is really hard to explain Virginia workers compensation time limits in a general way for this video.

The two most important deadlines are that you must notify your employer within 30 days of your injury and that you need to file your Claim Form with the workers compensation commission within 2 years of the date of the accident.

Many times an employer will say, “You have to tell me within 24 hours that you’ve been injured on the job,” but the law says that you have to notify the employer within 30 days that you were injured on the job.

This is to give the employer an opportunity to investigate the claim, to look at the machine where you were hurt, ask other employees, “Did they see what happened?” So the employer is not prejudiced.

In reality, the ideal is to notify your supervisor immediately so there is no excuse to deny and/or delay your claim. But as long as you’ve done it within 30 days, you have met the legal time limit for giving notice and ultimately, at a hearing which could be months away, you will win on this issue.

The next important deadline is that you only have two years to file a Claim Form with the workers comp insurance commission, which is the State agency that regulates workers compensation.

Many people think that notifying the insurance company and/or getting medical care that the insurance company is paying for and/or a weekly check from the insurance company means that they have done all that they need to do.

This is completely wrong and you must file a claim with the workers compensation Commission. Remember, the injured worker has the burden to prove everything about their work accident.

The insurance company and the employer can sit back and do nothing since they have no obligation to file a claim with the workers compensation Commission. Their horrible tactic is to voluntarily pay for everything until it becomes too expensive or the two years filing deadline has passed and then they drop you.

If this happens, you may have no recourse. So, always file a Claim Form with the Commission to protect yourself.

For additional information about filing your workers compensation claim be sure to get our free book, https://www.injuredworkerslawfirm.com/ultimate-guide-to-workers-compensation-virginia/.