As a self-insured business owner, one of the primary concerns you might have is to ensure that all claims you pay for worker injuries are valid.
Unfortunately, fraudulent claims are possible. It is sometimes difficult to spot fraudulent workers’ compensation claims, but there are some red flags that you can keep an eye out for when you have a worker who claims they were injured while doing their job duties.
Injuries on their first workday of the week
It’s possible that an injury will occur any day of the week, but it can be a bit suspicious when an employee claims to be injured within minutes after starting work for the week. People have been known to try to pass weekend injuries off as work-related.
Injuries without any witness
Some workplace injuries might occur without a witness, but this might be a sign that something is amiss. If the worker is usually around others and suddenly wasn’t near anyone when they were injured, it’s often necessary to look deeper into the incident.
Subsequent injury claims
It’s estimated that around 37% of individuals who file a claim will file a subsequent claim. If you have an employee who makes frequent injury claims and they’re not in a high-risk occupation, that may be cause for concern.
Vetting an injury claim isn’t easy. You want to treat your employees fairly — but you also need to manage your costs. Paying invalid workers’ compensation claims hurts your bottom line. If you think that you’re being taken to the cleaners by an invalid claim, it may be time to speak with an attorney.
