Can the insurance company stop my benefits for any reason?
Answer
Can they stop your benefits for any reason is a bit of a difficult question to answer, only because in one sense yes—sometimes they just do it, and even though they’re not supposed to, it could be a mistake, or perhaps sometimes it’s intentional. We don’t always know. But if you hired a lawyer and you were put on workers’ compensation benefits the right way and you’re entitled to those weekly benefits, then theoretically they cannot stop them without court intervention or you agreeing to it. You are protected, which means if they do for some reason stop your benefits even though they’re not supposed to, now there are legal ramifications to doing that and your lawyer can enforce your rights. So, for example, if they stop paying you for a certain period of time, you’re not only entitled to what they didn’t pay you—they may be responsible to paying you a penalty on top of it. Unfortunately, sometimes we do see cases where we have no idea why payment was stopped, but we know legally they can’t do that, and we can enforce your rights, go to court and get your payments resumed retroactive to when they stopped, plus penalties, plus attorney’s fees. So, ideally the insurance company pays everything they’re supposed to when they’re supposed to pay it. The reality, of course, as we know, is that doesn’t always happen, and that goes back to why it’s always a good idea to have an attorney waiting in your corner to promptly deal with a situation like that as soon as it occurs.