Filing a Workers' Comp Claim in Utah — Steps & Deadlines

Filing a workers' compensation claim in Utah involves specific steps and deadlines that must be followed carefully.

You must report your workplace injury to your employer within An injured employee should report the injury or illness to the employer immediately; failing to report within 180 days may disqualify the employee from benefits. Report timing for employers is set by commission rule: under Utah Admin. Code R612-200-1, an employer that has workers' compensation insurance must report the injury to its insurance carrier within 7 days after receiving initial notice (an authorized self-insured employer reports to its claims administrator, and an employer without coverage contacts the Division directly), and the insurance carrier or self-insured employer must then submit a First Report of Injury to the Division within 14 days after receiving initial notice; injuries requiring only first aid need not be reported §34A-2-407. Written notice is always recommended even if verbal notice is given.

If the insurance carrier or self-insured employer has developed a preferred provider program, the employee is required to use preferred provider physicians and preferred health care facilities (the program must allow a selection of more than one physician in the specialty needed), with exceptions for emergencies, conditions the employee in good faith believes are nonindustrial, and rural employees unduly burdened by travel; if no preferred provider program is developed, the employee may have free choice of health care providers §34A-2-111. Make sure to:

You have Medical expenses: the employee must submit (or make a reasonable attempt to submit) the expense to the employer or insurance carrier within 1 year from the later of the day the expense is incurred or the day the employee knew, or with reasonable diligence should have known, that it relates to the industrial accident — this limit does not apply to prosthetic devices or in a permanent total disability case. Disability compensation (temporary total, temporary partial, permanent partial, permanent total): an application for hearing must be filed with the Division of Adjudication no later than 6 years from the date of the accident, and the employee must be able to meet the burden of proving entitlement by no later than 12 years from the accident (the commission may still enter an order a reasonable time beyond 12 years in limited circumstances, such as an ongoing commission-approved reemployment plan or active adjudication of compensability). Death benefits: an application for hearing must be filed within 1 year of the date of the employee's death to file a formal claim §34A-2-417. Application for hearing before the Utah Labor Commission; adjudication by an ALJ §34A-2-417.

After filing, the employer's insurer will investigate the claim. They may accept, partially accept, or deny the claim. If denied, you have the right to request a hearing.

Application for hearing before the Utah Labor Commission; adjudication by an ALJ §34A-2-417. A party may file a motion for review with the Division of Adjudication within 30 days of the ALJ's decision (heard by the commissioner or, on request, the Appeals Board); an aggrieved party may then seek judicial review in the Utah Court of Appeals within 30 days of the final order §34A-2-801.