Are You Confused About Filing a Workers' Compensation Claim in Arizona?

You should never be reluctant to report an injury that you suffered while on the job. In fact, Arizona's Workers' Compensation Law requires that workers who sustain an on-the-job injury "forthwith report" their injury to their employer. "Forthwith" means that as soon as you realize you have an injury that may be related to your work, you must report it to a supervisor or manager immediately.

Arizona's "no fault" system means that it does not matter how or why you were seriously injured. No one can be blamed for your accident. Even if you placed yourself in harm's way during a work day and were hurt because of it, this aspect of your case is irrelevant under state law.

Still, you should report your work injury to your employer as soon as possible. Failure to "forthwith report" an on-the-job injury can result in the insurance company denying liability for your injuries.

Inform Your Employer of Your Serious Injury — Then Inform Snow, Carpio, and Weekley.

Another reason it is important to report your injury and file an Arizona workers' compensation claim as soon as possible: It generally takes about 30 days to receive an initial determination of the insurance carrier's acceptance or denial of a claim. Your claim may be filed directly with the Industrial Commission of Arizona, or your attending physician or hospital will do so. They are required to report any industrial accidents to our state's Industrial Commission.Once your serious injury has been reported, we can start the hard work of investigating the details of your accident and strive for the results you need.

What is the State Compensation Fund?

When Arizona passed the first Workers Compensation Act in 1925, the Industrial Commission of Arizona acted not only as the state agency administering claims, but as a state owned insurance company with the authority to regulate other insurers providing workers comp coverage in Arizona.  This presented more than the mere appearance of a conflict of interest.  So in 1968, the legislature created a separate agency, the State Compensation Fund, to be operated as a separate, but still state owned, insurance company.  Since 1991, the State Compensation Fund has operated as a quasi state agency that offers work comp coverage more or less on equal footing with private carriers.  More recently, the "Fund" as it is often referred to, has become more or less a private mutual insurance company.  Renamed SCF Arizona in recent years, the "Fund" continues to evolve into a completely private insurance company with fewer and fewer ties to the state. 

However, many of our clients still confuse the "State Compensation Fund" with the Industrial Commission of Arizona, which is still the state agency governing work injuries in Arizona. 

My experience with SCF Arizona is that it is one of the easiest insurance companies to deal with, both on administration of claims, as well as litigation.  SCF has offices in Phoenix and Tucson, although all claims processing is handled out of Phoenix. 

Chad T. Snow is an attorney who handles exclusively workers compensation claims in Arizona.  He has offices in Phoenix and Tucson and can be reached through his website at Snow, Carpio, and Weekely.