Injured at work in Chesapeake? A Virginia workers’ comp claim can pay your medical bills and replace part of your wages, but the insurance company doesn’t have to pay a claim that misses the legal test or the filing deadline. Pathfinder Injury Law takes only Virginia workers’ compensation cases, and only for the injured worker.
We do not have an office in Chesapeake. You can meet with us by phone or video, or at our Richmond office by appointment. Your first consultation is free. Call 804-505-0633 or use the form on this page.
What Has to Be True for My Claim to Pay?
The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act sets the first hurdles. Miss one and the rest of the claim may not matter:
- Who is covered: Virtually all employers with three or more employees regularly in service in Virginia are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Being called an independent contractor doesn’t always settle it. What matters most is whether the company has the right to control how the work is done.
- What you have to show: that your injury arose out of and in the course of your employment, and that it was caused by an identifiable incident at a reasonably definite time that produced a sudden mechanical or structural change to your body.
- Notice: give your employer written notice of the accident within 30 days, although exceptions exist (Va. Code § 65.2-600).
- Filing: Your claim must be on file with the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission within two years of your date of accident, although exceptions apply. File it even if the insurance company is already paying you (Va. Code § 65.2-601).
- Fault: it doesn’t matter whether your employer caused the accident. Your own conduct can matter, for example willful misconduct or willfully breaking a known safety rule.
For the paperwork, see how to file a workers’ comp claim.
What Kinds of Work Lead to Injuries in Chesapeake?
Health care and retail each employ about one in eight workers in the city, and construction is third, according to the state’s Virginia Works community profile. The public schools and the city government top the state’s list of the largest employers. Next come Amazon Fulfillment Services and Chesapeake General Hospital. Others on the list include:
- Warehouses and distribution: Amazon Logistics, Dollar Tree Distribution, and QVC
- Builders and contractors: Mid Eastern Builders, Archer Western, Burns & McDonnell, and Electric Motor and Contracting
- Factories: Plasser American, which builds railroad track maintenance machines, and Sumitomo Machinery
- Shipboard contractors: International Marine & Industrial Applicators, which blasts, paints, and repairs ships, and Prism Maritime, which upgrades Navy combat systems
- Health care: Sentara Healthcare
- Stores: Walmart, Food Lion, The Home Depot, Target, Kroger, and Lowe’s
Sudden injuries that come out of work like this include:
- Falls from ladders, roofs, and unfinished floors on job sites
- Trench and excavation accidents
- Workers struck by heavy equipment or a backing truck
- Hands and arms caught in conveyors or sorting machines
- Forklift accidents and falls from loading docks
- Crush and pinch injuries while assembling heavy machinery
- Nurses and aides hurt helping a patient out of bed or a chair
- A back, shoulder, or knee injury from one specific lift
Some injuries are simpler to prove than others. A fall from a ladder or a hand caught in a conveyor happens at one moment and usually gets reported the same shift. A back injury from unloading a truck is easier for the insurance company to fight: it may say the injury came on gradually instead of from one identifiable incident, or that the problem is degenerative. Note the exact lift, the time, and the person you reported it to.
More on construction accidents, warehouse injuries, and back injuries at work.
Pathfinder Injury Law focuses only on Virginia state workers’ compensation. If you’re a federal employee, a railroad worker, or a shipyard or port worker, or if you were hurt in another state, your claim may fall under a different system. Give us a call anyway. We’ll help you figure out where your claim belongs, and if it isn’t one we handle, we’ll point you to a lawyer who does.
What If I Work for a Subcontractor?
Construction jobs often stack several companies on one site: a general contractor, subcontractors, and sometimes subcontractors under them. That can make it hard to tell who is supposed to cover you.
If the subcontractor you work for doesn’t carry workers’ comp insurance, the contractor above it on the job may have to pay your benefits (Va. Code § 65.2-302). Write down every company name you see on the site: on trucks, signs, hard hats, and paperwork.
If you were paid as a 1099 worker, read what to do when your employer lists you as an independent contractor.
Where Does a Disputed Claim Go?
The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission decides claim disputes that aren’t settled (Va. Code § 65.2-700). Its nearest regional office is next door in Virginia Beach at 281 Independence Blvd., Suite 310, and the Commission lists it as a hearing and mediation location. Other hearing locations in the region include 22 Lincoln St. in Hampton and 100 N. College Dr. in Franklin (Commission locations).
The Commission doesn’t say on that page which cases are heard where, and its rules allow hearings by video over Webex (16VAC30-50-30). You can ask for a hearing whatever the insurance company decides. Expect the insurance company to bring a lawyer. Here’s how to fight a workers’ comp denial.
What Benefits Can I Get?
- Wage checks while you can’t work: If a doctor says you cannot return to work at all for a temporary period because of your injuries, you may receive two-thirds of your pre-injury average weekly wage, up to a maximum weekly compensation rate.
- Wage checks on light duty at lower pay: two-thirds of the difference between what you earned before and what you earn now, up to the weekly maximum.
- Medical treatment: the insurance company is required to pay for treatment that is reasonable, necessary, and causally related to the accident. That doesn’t mean it will.
- Permanent partial disability: a set number of weeks of pay for a permanent loss of use of certain body parts, based on a doctor’s rating.
- Death benefits: These benefits can pay for a limited amount of funeral expenses, medical bills incurred before the death, and lost wages for certain periods of time for certain survivors or dependents who meet statutory criteria.
Pain and suffering isn’t part of workers’ comp. Read more on what workers’ comp covers in Virginia.
What Papers Help at the First Meeting?
None of this is required before you call. Bring what you have, or send it later if we meet by phone or video.
- Medical records, work notes, and visit summaries
- Medical bills
- Anything from your employer: the accident report, the list of doctors you were given, emails or texts about the injury
- Letters or emails from the insurance company
- Anything from the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission
Do You Take Cases From Great Bridge, Deep Creek, and Western Branch?
Yes. We take cases from Great Bridge, Deep Creek, Western Branch, South Norfolk, and the rest of the city, which runs south to the North Carolina line. If you live here but were hurt across that line, call us. Depending on where you were hired and where your employer is based, Virginia’s system may still apply. Nearby, see our pages for Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, and Suffolk.
Get Help With Your Workers’ Comp Claim
Pathfinder Injury Law handles only Virginia workers’ compensation claims. Call 804-505-0633 or fill out the form on this page.
