GQ Corner
Q. I have a claim on which my request for a Designated Doctor Examination was denied by the Division. In speaking with them regarding the denial, they advised that the employer submitted the report of injury with a different date of injury than the date of injury reported to the carrier by the injured worker. He initially could not call the specific date of the incident, but later provided clarification confirming our DOI, which was a few days off from the employer’s DOI. How do I correct this?
A. To correct a date of injury on a file, you would need to draft a DWC 24. The Issue would be phrased as follows: “What is the date of injury?” And the resolution would read: “The Parties agree that the date of injury is (INSERT DATE OF INJURY).” The employer doesn’t need to be involved, but can be if you so desire. You would then send to the DWC for signature. Once you get a signed and approved agreement, you would then send a new DWC-32 with the DWC-24.
Q. The employee was injured on 6/1/2018 and received an MMI date and impairment rating yesterday. He never missed time from work, and now wishes to commute his Impairment Income Benefits. Can he do so since he never missed a day of work?
A. Unfortunately, no. Rule 147.10 states that the claimant has to have returned to work for three months earning at least 80% of his pre-injury AWW. There is no exception for no-loss-time cases. However, since this is a no loss time claim, once 91 days have lapsed, the remaining weeks can be commuted if the proper DWC form is filed and accepted by the carrier.
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