Where to send the WorkCover claim form?
Once you have completed the WorkCover claim form, you should give a copy of it to your employer. You can do so either by giving it to them in person, mail or emailing it to them, or faxing it.
If for whatever reason you can’t or do not wish to provide the claim form to your employer, or your employer does not wish to take receipt of the claim form, you are able to send the claim form directly to the WorkCover insurer or to WorkSafe.
Note: this only applies to Victorian WorkCover claims.
Table of Contents
Option one – provide a copy to your employer
Once you have completed the WorkCover claim form (you can get a copy here if you need it), what most people do is they provide a copy of the claim form to their employer.
You will need to ensure that you have fully completed the claim form and signed and dated it before providing a copy to your employer.
The employer will then be required to complete a section of the form and then send the form off to the WorkCover insurer or to WorkSafe on your behalf.
The employer is required to notify you of the claim and they can do this by giving you a copy of the WorkCover claim form when they have completed and signed the relevant section.
Once the claim form has been sent to the insurer you should receive correspondence from the insurer.
This will be from wither Allianz, Gallagher Bassett, xChanging/DXC.
If you work for a company that is a self insurer, you should receive correspondence from their WorkCover insurance department.
They will confirm that they have received your claim and that the claim is being processed.
Employers are required to complete the form and send any WorkCover certificates of capacity to their WorkCover insurance as soon as possible, but no later than 10 days after receiving the documents from you.
Option two – provide directly to the WorkCover insurer
Sometimes people do not wish to provide the claim form directly to the employer.
If this applies to you you are able to send the claim form directly to the WorkCover insurer.
If you know who the WorkCover insurer is, you can send a copy of the claim form directly to them. Ensure to keep a copy for your own records.
If you do not know who the WorkCover insurer is, you are able to contact the WorkSafe advisory line and ask them to provide you with this information.
You will need the ABN number of the employer as well as the employers legal business name and trading name when contacting the WorkSafe advisory line.
Once you have the WorkCover insurer details, you should contact the insurance company and let them know that you wish to lodge a new WorkCover claim. You should ask them where they want the claim sent (most claims are now lodged via email so they will likely provide you with their specific new claim email address).
Once the claim has been submitted. The WorkCover insurer will send you confirmation that they have received the claim and that the claim is being processed.
Option three – provide to WorkSafe
A further option if you do not wish to send the claim form to the employer is to send a copy of the claim form to WorkSafe directly.
You can contact the WorkSafe advisory line and let them know that you wish to lodge a new WorkCover claim and ask them for the specific email address to send the claim to.
Once you’ve sent the claim form to them, they will send the claim form to the relevant WorkCover insurer.
Again you should receive confirmation that the claim form has been received and is being processed.
Next steps once claim has been submitted
Usually the WorkCover insurer will organise an appointment for you to be medically assessed by an independent medical examiner. They may also organise a circumstance investigation report.
The WorkCover insurer will generally make a decision to accept or reject your claim within 28 days from when the WorkCover insurer received the claim form.
Conclusion
The main way a WorkCover claim is submitted is by providing a copy of the claim form to the employer. After you have completed the form and signed and dated it.
The employer is then required to complete their section of form and send it off to their insurance company. Time limits apply in relation to this.
If you cannot or do not wish to provide a copy of the claim form to your employer, then you can send a copy of the claim form to the WorkCover insurer or WorkSafe.
Read more about the WorkCover claim process in Victoria.
