Workplace injuries can happen to anyone when they least expect it and that is why it’s essential that you get informed about Oklahoma workers’ compensation as much as possible and find out ways to prevent being a victim of workers’ compensation fraud.
Every day many cases of people representing workplace injuries surface and accused parties are usually the injured workers themselves as well as Oklahoma employers and their insurance companies. Workers conduct workers’ compensation fraud when they exaggerate or lie about an injury suffered at the workplace. Such people who try to abuse the system do so by conniving with other stakeholders such as co-workers present at the scene of the accident as well as their workers’ compensation attorneys and medical service professionals who examine and treat them when injured. However there isn’t much motivation for a worker to abuse the workers’ compensation laws due to the fact that usually the compensation settlement will be lower than the amount of money he or she would have been paid for work done during that period.
There are so many reasons why an Oklahoma employer may engage in workers’ compensation fraud. Basically the bigger the number of injury claims filed by an employee, the higher the premiums charged against an employer by insurance firms. Employers seeking to lower their insurance premiums may therefore be tempted to begin misrepresenting workplace injuries suffered by their workforce. Employers may also try to influence the medical reports of their injured workers through payment of bribes to medical professionals in order to deprive their injured workers of their deserved workers’ compensation settlements.
Insurance companies also stand to gain a lot when they engage in workers’ compensation fraud. This is because such firms thrive on higher profits and the lower the settlements they pay in a specific year, the higher their profitability. Misrepresenting workplace injuries may therefore be attractive to insurance firms in their quest to become more profitable and competitive on the market. Some fraudulent activities normally conducted by insurance companies include delaying of payments as well as failure to pay deserved amounts to injured workers. Some insurance firms may also refuse to pay deserved benefits to injured workers entirely.
To sum things up, job related injuries can happen to anyone when they least expect it so it is very important to understand how to prevent being a victim of injury or of workers’ compensation fraud. Even thoughthere isn’t much motivation for a worker to abuse the workers’ compensation laws, it does happen. And a few employers have also been accused of trying to influence the medical reports of their injured workers through payment of bribes to medical professionals in order to deprive their injured workers of their deserved workers’ compensation settlements.
So, the bottom line is to consult with a qualified and experienced Oklahoma workers’ compensation attorney if you feel like a victim of either injury or fraud.
