We talk to an average of 10 people a day about Illinois workers’ compensation claims. We hear a lot of the same stories and see a lot of the same insurance companies. By far the one that workers seem to have the most trouble with is Sedgwick.

They are a big company that acts as a third party administrator for big corporate clients. Places like Walmart, Delta, Xerox, Amazon and others use them to process work comp claims. They get these big corporate clients, in my opinion, in part because they do such a good job of not paying people what they are properly owed. And in my experience they lie a lot, and a recent caller to my office proves it.

He was working for one of Sedgwick’s big clients and had to unload product and stock shelves. Doing that caused a repetitive arm injury and a recommendation for surgery from his doctor. Here’s what he said which proved their dishonesty.

Workers comp sent out forms to get me to sign allowing access to my medical records, and I sent it back immediately. As I uploaded the signed forms to Sedgwick site, I saw that my claim was denied before they even got the doctor notes and records.

In other words, the plan was to deny his case no matter what. That happens a lot in workers compensation when there isn’t a specific accident, but instead a problem from working over a period of time. Often there is no sincere interest to learn the truth, but a financial strategy to tell you no regardless of what the facts show or what your doctor thinks.

To them it’s not immoral or gross, it’s just a business strategy. They make money by saving money and from their viewpoint, if you disagree with it, you can hire an attorney. Never mind the fact that they know that many people are trusting or naive about how the law works and will take their word for it. So their business decision can cause you significant financial and/or medical harm.

They of course aren’t the only insurance company that does this, but in my opinion they are the worst one.  The best thing you can do is level the playing field and get an attorney in your corner who is experienced, honest and will be an advocate for you. The good news is that it doesn’t cost anything to hire an Illinois work comp lawyer. If you want to have a free consultation to learn about your rights and options, contact us any time at 312-346-5320. We help everywhere in Illinois.