If you were injured in the workplace, if you developed a work-related illness, or if a prior medical condition was aggravated by conditions in your workplace, it is likely that you can seek Iowa or Nebraska workers' compensation benefits.

People often assume that a workers' comp claim is straightforward and they will have no trouble obtaining benefits. They often do not realize until too late that there could be problems with their claim or that their employer or the employer's insurance company could minimize or deny their claim.

Understand Your Rights in a Workers' Compensation Claims

Contact an experienced workers' compensation attorney as soon as possible after an injury occurs or illness develops. Call the Sawatzke Law Firm toll-free at 888-752-8140.

Your initial consultation is free, so you have nothing to lose by getting accurate legal information. If you talk with a workers' compensation lawyer at the Sawatzke Law Firm early in the process, we will be better able to assist you should a problem develop later on in the claims process. Your attorney can explain the process and the benefits you may be entitled to receive.

Problems Workers Encounter in Workers' Comp Claims

At the Sawatzke Law Firm, we represent a wide variety of injured workers: factory workers and laborers; construction workers and production line workers; restaurant staff; agricultural workers; school teachers; railroad workers; casino employees; power plant employees; union workers; pipe fitters and steam fitters; truck drivers; and self-employed people.

What these various workers often have in common is a lack of understanding of the ways in which they might damage their own workers' comp claim.

Your employer's workers' compensation insurance company has a trained professional called a claims adjuster asking questions and taking your tape-recorded statement. He or she is looking for information that could limit the payout on your claim.

• Sometimes injured workers misunderstand a question the adjuster has asked, and they answer in a way that hurts their case, when they could have truthfully answered in a way that did not.
• Some people fail to give a complete history of prior injuries. They think that because a prior injury is not related to their workplace injury, they don't need to talk about it. Or, they simply forget an incident that may have occurred 20 years before. When the insurer denies your claim and then brings up that information in court, it can make you look bad and can damage your case.

Before you give a tape-recorded or unrecorded statement to an insurance company, contact us. If you have retained our law firm, we will go with you when you make that statement. We will:

• Help you prepare in advance so that you have all of the information you need to answer the insurance adjustor's questions (For example, we will help you think through your medical history so you can accurately and succinctly report it to the adjuster.)
• Make sure the adjuster has all the information needed to ensure your earnings are calculated correctly
• Help you get any reimbursement you are due for time off work, mileage, and prescriptions
• Handle disputes over unpaid medical bills or authorization to see doctors or specialists

The attorneys and staff at the Sawatzke Law Firm are here for you. Contact our Council Bluffs law office to schedule a free initial consultation.

Sawatzke Law Firm

Call Toll Free: 888-752-8140

229 South Main Street
Council Bluffs, IA 51503-6504
Telephone: (712) 325-4000 ● Fax: (712) 325-5555
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From our Council Bluffs law office, the attorneys of the Sawatzke Law Firm provide legal representation in family law, workers' compensation, personal injury, and criminal law for clients across southwest Iowa, in communities such as Council Bluffs, Logan, Harlan, Denison, Clarinda, Atlantic, Sidney, Red Oak, Glenwood, and Audubon, and throughout the greater Omaha, Nebraska area, including Douglas County and Sarpy County.

Pottawattamie County ● Harrison County ● Shelby County ● Crawford County ● Page County ● Cass County ● Fremont County ● Montgomery County ● Mills County ● Audubon County