Look after the person. Then start the record, before anyone's memory settles.
An employee injury is a claim, a statutory obligation and a human situation at once, and the first hours decide how well all three go.
What loses itSettling directly with the worker or the family before the insurer is involved. It is understandable, it is usually well-meant, and it can put the whole payment outside the policy.
- Get medical treatment, and keep every paper it generatesThe first prescription, the casualty note, the admission record. The medical trail from hour one is what establishes that the injury happened when and how you say it did.Immediately
- Tell the insurer the same dayEven where the injury looks minor. Injuries that seem small at the time are the ones that turn into disability claims months later, by which point a late intimation is a problem.Same day
- Make the statutory reportsEmployee injury carries reporting obligations to the labour authorities, and separately under ESIC where the worker is covered. What is required and by when depends on the state and the severity, so check the current position rather than assuming.Check and comply
- Record the scene and the circumstances nowPhotographs of the location and the machine or process involved, the safety equipment issued, and written accounts from those who saw it, taken while it is fresh.Day 1
- Pull the employment and wage recordAppointment letter or muster roll, wage register, attendance, age proof, and the contractor's agreement where the worker is not directly employed. Compensation is calculated from wages and age, so these are the claim.Days 1 to 3
- Do not settle privatelyNot with the worker, and not with the family or the contractor either. A payment made outside the policy is usually a payment the insurer never agreed to, and it is very hard to reclaim.Throughout
- Be clear about who employed the workerDirect employee, contractor's worker, or sub-contractor's. Cover for contract labour is a specific extension and this single fact decides whether the claim sits under your policy at all.Day 1
- Keep the file open after they return to workResidual disability, relapse and later medical treatment all attach to the original incident. A closed internal file and an open liability is a bad combination.Ongoing
The quiet oneUnderinsurance. If the sum insured is below the value actually at risk, the average clause reduces the claim in proportion however well the rest of it is run. Check where you stand. It takes three numbers and nothing is stored.
Fire Claim
A fire, explosion, lightning strike or impact loss at a business premises.
Marine Cargo Claim
Goods damaged, short-landed or lost in transit by road, rail, sea or air.
Somebody hurt today? The first hour is medical, the second is the record.
Whoever placed your policy, and whatever stage the claim has reached.
Three deadlines
- Tell the insurer now, not after the assessment.
- Notice to anybody else responsible the carrier, the contractor, the police, within the time your policy sets.
- Every document within the time the insurer asks for it.