If your TTD check is late, you are entitled to 25% penalty. The first payment from the insurance company is due 14 days of it learning that you are disabled. That means that it needs to have a note from the doctor in its file. The payment is late if it is mailed 7 days after it became due.
After the first payment is due, if your disability continues, then the subsequent payments are due every 14 days.
It sounds straightforward but it isn't. First, the insurance company needs the doctor's note in its file before it must pay you TTD. The doctor does not send the note to the insurance company. That is the injured worker's job. If you don't know who the insurance company is, deliver it to your employer.
The next issue is proving you gave it to your insurance company or your employer. The best proof is a receipt signed and dated by whomever you gave the note to.
The next problem is that these doctor's notes often expire. If the doctor wrote you off work until the next follow up visit, it's your job to get another work release from him at that follow up visit and deliver it to the insurance company or your employer. And keep the proof of that.
The next problem is proving the payment was late. Keep the envelope the check came in. Make a xerox of the check. The check should be dated. The envelope should have a post-mark.
So in sum these are the things you need to prove that the TTD check was late and that you are entitled to penalties:
- A doctor's note saying you cannot work,
- Proof that you delivered the doctor's note to the insurance company or your employer,
- Copy of the late check,
- The envelope the late check arrived in.
Keenan Powell has practiced Workers Compensation law in the State of Alaska for over 30 years and has dedicated her practice to Workers Compensation representing injured Alaskans. www.keenanpowell.com.
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