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Provisional time loss basics
Posted by: euser
December 16, 2010
Topic: Provisional time loss on Washington Workers Compensation Claims
Injured workers in Washington State are entitled to provisional time loss even before their claims are allowed. Under RCW 51.32.210 (state fund claims) and RCW 51.32.190(3) (self-insured claims), if time loss is certified by a doctor on the accident report or in the medical records, it must be paid within 14 days. Payments must continue at least semimonthly until the department issues a determinative order allowing or rejecting the claim. If the claim is ultimately rejected, RCW 51.32.240(3) allows the department to recoup the benefits from you.
The purpose of provisional time loss is to protect injured workers from possible financial hardship due to a delay in benefits, and to encourage the department and employer to quickly act on claims. Timely action is certainly necessary if you are unable to work, since the loss of a paycheck is certainly a financial emergency. According to the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, the "Legislature has apparently decided that this social and economic need of workers outweighs the prevention of the payment of any compensation until a determinative administrative decision has been made".
Provisional time loss does not depend on the eventual validity of the claim, and it only ends with the issuance of a binding order allowing or rejecting the claim. This order has meet the requirements of RCW 51.52.050.
