If you are a NC painting contractor with any employees at all, there is no question that you should purchase a workers compensation policy.  If you don’t and you are paying someone to work for you, whether you consider them a subcontractor or not, then you shouldn’t go a day more without a policy. To learn more about the NC rules on who must buy a policy and who can go bare, click here.   But assuming you already have a workers compensation policy, how exactly do you file a claim?

Filing a workers compensation claim is really pretty simple.  You should be sure to move quickly and file the claim as soon as possible after the employee is injured.  In NC the claim form states that you must file the claim within 5 days of the injury.  So, to file the claim you must complete a Form 19 claim form and mail, fax, or email it to your insurance company claims department.  The Form 19 is a standardized claim form to be used for all workers compensation claims in North Carolina.  The reason for this is that the policy and claims payments are all overseen by the NC Industrial Commission.

If you don’t have a form 19 on hand, check your policy as most insurance companies will insert a few blank ones in the policy that they send to you.  It’s ok to make copies of this form when you run out.  You can also get one in pdf form from the NC Industrial Commission website.

The Form 19 will ask for contact information for you and for your injured employee.  They will also need to know the details of the injury, how and when and where it occurred.  This information usually comes from the injured employee’s supervisor.  Also,  you will need to fill in the occupation of injured person and information about how many hours they work each week and what their wagers are per hour and per day.  This information will help settle the disability portion of the claim.

The rules require that you provide a copy of the completed Form 19 to the injured employee or the employee’s representative (read lawyer) at the same time that the Form 19 is submitted to the insurance company.  Last of all, you must give your injured employee a blank Form 18 which is a form they can use should they wish to contest the claim settlement.  You can obtain blank Form 18 copies the same way you got the form 19, by clicking here,  or you may call the NC Industrial Commission at 800-688-8349.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we work hard to help our clients be informed insurance consumers.  As a painting contractor it is important for you to know in advance just how to properly file a workers compensation claim.  Trying to figure all of this out after an employee is injured will just slow things down for you and downtime can only cost your company money.

Should you need help with  your painters insurance policies, from workers compensation to your general liability, commercial auto and equipment insurance, please consider us as we specialize in insuring painting companies of all types and sizes all across North Carolina and South Carolina.    We can put our extensive knowledge to work for you with one quick phone call.  Call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us online at www.LowRatesForPainters.com.

Thanks to the help of the Clinard Insurance Group family of customers, we were able to donate $690 to local nonprofit groups in January of 2011.  This is possible through our referral rewards program which designates a $5 charitable donation for each and every referral that we receive throughout the year each year.  charities 2010.wmv

Here’s a quick overview of how our Referral Rewards program works.  Any time that we receive a quote request that was referred to our agency we do 4 things.  First of all, we send a $5 treat gift card to the referring client, just as a way of saying thanks.  These cards are from Wendy’s, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme and various other places.  Next we put the referring client’s name in our monthly drawing for a $50 gift card to the restaurant of their choice.  We also put their name in the hat for a chance to win $1000.  The winner of that drawing is announced in early December each year.  Last of all, we donate $5 to a local charity.  Our customers can vote on their favorite charity by calling us, or by completing the form online here.

So this year we had $690 to give away and we delivered that to the following three local nonprofits:

Sunnyside Ministries – This organization is engaged in providing emergency help to families in South Central Forsyth County and Northern Davidson County who are in need of help due to financial crises. 

Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC – This organization collects perfectly edible food that might otherwise end up in a garbage dump and they then distribute this food to those in need across an 18 county area.

Crisis Control Ministry – This organization is engaged in helping people in crisis to meet essential life needs and to become self sufficient.

Each of these groups received a check for $230 thanks to the generous referrals of our clients in 2010.  To watch a video of Gina Carlson delivering these checks, please click here.

For 2011, we are going to do it all over again.  Your referrals not only help Clinard Insurance Group, but they work directly to help promote and support some of the many fine nonprofit organizations that are right here in NC.  We thank all of you who referred your friends and family to us last year and we hope that many more of you will refer your friends and family to us in 2011.  Thanks for your support.