When a Workers' Comp Adjuster Stops Communicating

Attorney Answer

An adjuster who does not return calls is usually not breaking a rule — but your employer and its carrier owe you specific written items, and the way to move a withheld benefit is a filing, not another phone call.

Fla. Stat. § 440.185(2) provides: “Within 7 days after actual knowledge of injury or death, the employer shall report such injury or death to its carrier, in a format prescribed by the department, and shall provide a copy of such report to the employee or the employee’s estate.” You are entitled to a copy of it.

Fla. Stat. § 440.185(3) provides: “Within 3 business days after the employer or the employee informs the carrier of an injury, the carrier shall send by regular mail or e-mail to the injured worker an informational brochure approved by the department which sets forth in clear and understandable language an explanation of the rights, benefits, procedures for obtaining benefits and assistance, criminal penalties, and obligations of injured workers and their employers under the Florida Workers’ Compensation Law.” If that brochure never arrived, ask for it.

Beyond those, Florida's comp statutes do not set out a general duty for an adjuster to return calls on any particular schedule, and this page will not invent one. What the system gives you instead is a way to put a specific dispute in front of a decision-maker: a petition for benefits. Filing one is a legal choice with its own requirements, so bring the specific problem — an unauthorized test, a check that has not come — to a Florida workers' compensation attorney and ask whether a petition should be filed.

One structural point explains part of your confusion: it is common for a leasing or payroll company, rather than the business you report to each day, to be the entity on the claim. Ask in writing which company is the employer of record for comp purposes, which carrier is handling the claim, and what the claim number is.

Finally, a ladder fall is worth a second look at who was responsible. Fla. Stat. § 440.11(1) makes workers' compensation the exclusive remedy against your employer, with narrow statutory exceptions — but that exclusivity binds the employer only. Fla. Stat. § 440.39(1) provides:

“If an employee, subject to the provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Law, is injured or killed in the course of his or her employment by the negligence or wrongful act of a third-party tortfeasor, such injured employee or, in the case of his or her death, the employee’s dependents may accept compensation benefits under the provisions of this law, and at the same time such injured employee or his or her dependents or personal representatives may pursue his or her remedy by action at law or otherwise against such third-party tortfeasor.”

If the ladder belonged to someone else, or the fall happened on another company's property, a claim against that party can run alongside the comp claim. The rest of § 440.39 gives the employer or carrier a lien on what you recover, so the two should be handled together.

What you can do

1. Ask in writing which company is the employer of record, which carrier is handling the claim, the claim number, and the adjuster's name.

2. Ask your employer for a copy of the report it must send its carrier under Fla. Stat. § 440.185(2).

3. Ask the carrier for the informational brochure required by Fla. Stat. § 440.185(3) if you never received one.

4. Keep every appointment record, work-status note, mileage record and payment stub, and log the date of each call you make.

5. Put requests in email rather than voicemail.

6. Ask a Florida workers' compensation attorney whether a petition should be filed for whatever is being delayed, and whether anyone other than your employer may share responsibility for the fall.

7. Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts with someone who handles Florida workers' compensation cases is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. Fla. Stat. § 440.19(1) bars a petition for benefits unless the employer was advised of the injury under § 440.185(1) and the petition is filed within two years after the date you knew or should have known the injury arose out of your work. Section 440.19(2) tolls that period for one year from an indemnity payment or furnished remedial treatment — but not on compensability, maximum medical improvement or permanent impairment, which is why ongoing appointments are no guarantee that everything is still open. A claim against anyone other than your employer runs on a different deadline keyed to the date of the fall. Have a Florida workers' compensation attorney check these dates against your file.