The two main components of starting a workers’ compensation claim are giving notice to the employer and filing a Form 50 or Form 52 with the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission.
While it may seem relatively straight-forward, initiating a claim for workers’ comp benefits can be more complex than it sounds. That’s especially true because the workers’ compensation laws set strict deadlines for noticing and filing a claim. If you miss those cutoff dates, you likely won’t be able to collect the benefits you deserve.
Contact our Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Today
The proven South Carolina workers’ comp attorneys at Joye Law Firm can help you deal with the complex process of securing the benefits you deserve for a workplace injury or occupational disease. Respect, compassion and care are what you can expect from our lawyers and staff from the first time you contact us until your case is resolved. It is one of our firm’s client commitments that we return all our client’s phone calls within 24 hours or one business day.
Since 1968 we have helped injured people like you recover not just the money they are entitled to, but also their lives. Let us help you too. Just Call Joye. You can reach us at (877) 537-1920 or fill out an online form for a free case review.
Joye Law Firm has offices in Charleston and Myrtle Beach, but our highly qualified workers’ compensation attorneys are ready to take care of your case anywhere in South Carolina. We’ve successfully represented clients all over our state, including Florence, Richland County, Orangeburg, Columbia, Horry County (including Conway and North Myrtle Beach), North Charleston, Mount Pleasant and Summerville.
Experience Counts
The proven workers’ compensation attorneys at Joye Law Firm are committed to our clients. With more than 110 years of collective litigation experience, multiple South Carolina attorneys at Joye Law Firm have received an AV rating from the prestigious Martindale-Hubbell, and several have been recognized as Super Lawyers.
While every case is different, and past results are in no way intended to guarantee that a similar result can be obtained in another case, past results obtained by a law firm are an indication of the firm’s experience when it comes to serious injury and wrongful death cases. For more details about the results obtained for previous Joye Law Firm clients, please click on the Results tab on our home page.
How To File For Workers’ Compensation In South Carolina
The first step in the process of claiming workers’ compensation benefits is to give notice of your injury to your employer. The SC Workers’ Compensation Act requires you to give notice to your employer at the time of the accident or as soon as possible thereafter. However, the statute requires you to give notice within 90 days of the accident, unless certain exceptions are present.
Those exceptions include situations where it can be shown that the employer had knowledge of the accident, or that you were prevented from giving notice due to physical or mental incapacity or the fraud or deceit of a third party.
In repetitive trauma cases (carpal tunnel syndrome or tendonitis, for example), you must give your employer notice within 90 days of the date you “discovered or could have discovered by exercising reasonable diligence” that you have a compensable condition.
The second step in the process is to file a claim for benefits. If your employer does not report your accident, denies your injury by accident or if you think you didn’t get all of your benefits, you can personally file a claim with the Workers’ Compensation Commission.
To file a claim, you must submit either a Form 50 or, if it’s a case involving a death, a Form 52. On those forms, there is a box at the signature line that states, “I am filing a claim. I am not requesting a hearing at this time.” You should check that box unless you wish to have a hearing set for your case. The statute provides that you may file your claim by registered mail.
As with giving notice of your claim, there are certain deadlines that you must meet for filing. Generally speaking, you must file a claim within two years after an accident. In fatality cases, the two-year period runs from the date of death. If the injured person is mentally incompetent or a minor and had no guardian, trustee or committee, the two-year time limitation does not apply.
The time to file a claim works differently when dealing with repetitive trauma injuries or occupational diseases. In a repetitive trauma case, you must file a claim within two years after you knew or should have known that the injury is compensable. However, your claim for a repetitive trauma injury will be barred if it is filed more than seven years after the “last date of injurious exposure” — in other words, the last time you were exposed to the source of the repetitive trauma in the workplace. The seven-year limit applies regardless of whether you were aware that your repetitive trauma injury was related to your employment.
If you are claiming workers’ compensation benefits for an occupational disease (asbestos-related mesothelioma, for example), the two-year filing period does not start until you have been diagnosed “definitively as having an occupational disease and [have] been notified of that diagnosis.”
Because strict deadlines are enforced and because the filing process can be complex, it is highly advisable to consult with an experienced South Carolina workers’ compensation attorney to ensure that you receive all of the workers’ compensation benefits that you deserve.
Contact Our Charleston Workers’ Comp Lawyers Today
If you’ve been injured in a South Carolina workplace accident, you can trust our dedicated attorneys to get you the money and benefits you are entitled to.
Just Call Joye at (877) 537-1920 or fill out our free online case evaluation form.
