RIVERSIDE LAWYERS HELPING INJURED GIG WORKERS
Lyft drivers can be seriously injured in accidents and from repetitive stress. Although you may have signed an independent contractor agreement with Lyft, you may still be eligible for workers’ compensation reimbursements. In Riverside, workers are presumed to be employees. Accordingly, Lyft bears the burden of establishing that you are not an employee. Even so, you may face difficulties getting the medical benefits you need.
Recurrently, insurers may appeal an independent medical exam if they suspect an employee of malingering or believe that the treatment recommended by the physician is inappropriate. Since an insurer’s independent medical exam for Lyft drivers may affect the medical reimbursements and disability payments provided, you should meet with a Riverside workers’ compensation attorney at Perris, Sun City, Corona, Temecula, Moreno Valley, San Bernardino, Hemet, Victor Valley, Beaumont, Banning, Yucca Valley, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indio Brawley to prepare your claim.
INSURER’S INDEPENDENT MEDICAL EXAM FOR LYFT DRIVERS
As a Lyft driver, you may sustain catastrophic injuries such as broken bones, amputations, paralysis, or traumatic brain injury in a car accident. In other cases, driving for long periods of performing repetitive motions may cause repetitive stress injuries. To prevent you from receiving workers’ compensation insurance coverage, Lyft’s insurer will need to establish that you are not an employee at the relevant proceeding. For example, if you are not receiving the disability payments that you need, you may ask for a hearing before an arbitrator at the Riverside Worker’s Compensation Commission. At that hearing, Lyft’s insurer would need to show that you are not an employee by establishing the elements of the ABC test: (1) you are free from the company’s control over how you drive; (2) your driving is outside Lyft’s typical course of business; and (3) you’re involved in an independently established profession or occupation.
Even if Lyft is unable to establish that you are an independent contractor, you may face substantial push-back to the payment of reasonable and necessary medical care and disability benefits. Lyft’s insurer may require an independent medical exam (IME) if your physician requests authorization for expensive medical treatments. It refuses your physician’s medical opinion, seeks more evidence of your disability, or determines the appropriateness of certain work restrictions. If you do not undergo the required IME, Lyft’s insurer may stop paying reimbursements.
DURING THE IME
Earlier to the IME, your medical records and other documents will be sent to the IME doctor. If the insurer is debating one or more of your claims, it may send a letter to the IME doctor asking precise questions, such as whether the diagnosis your treating physician provided is precise and whether your injuries are work-related. The insurer may ask the doctor to evaluate whether and when you will be able to return to work, as well as the nature and anticipated duration of any partial disabilities. IMEs are not necessarily impartial because insurers typically retain doctors who are known to side with insurers in the course of a disagreement about the proper treatment or the extent of disability.
AFTER THE IME
Regularly, IME doctors recommend a conservative course of care. They may refuse your treating physician’s recommendations about medical care, or they may require you to return to work for Lyft without the restrictions recommended by your doctor to allow your injuries to heal properly. It can be wise to bring someone with you to the IME and to pay careful attention to how long the IME lasts and the nature of the exam.
THIRD-PARTY LAWSUITS
In case you are not injured on the job due to a car accident, you may be able to obtain damages through a third-party lawsuit. Unlike a workers’ compensation claim, in a personal injury lawsuit, your lawyer must begin that another party was inattentive by a multitude of indications.
TALK TO A RIVERSIDE ATTORNEY ABOUT YOUR CLAIM
The Law Office of Dr. Peter M. Schaeffer is one of the Insurers Independent Medical Examinationlawyers in Riverside; you can effortlessly visit us at any location in California, as we are present in all major locations like Riverside, Perris, Sun City, Corona, Temecula, Moreno Valley, San Bernardino, Hemet, Victor Valley, Beaumont, Banning, Yucca Valley, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indio Brawley.
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