Direct deposit reduces stress for injured workers

Workers worry less about paying their bills and stay positive about their recovery.

With the holiday season, we’re reminded to focus on what’s important in our lives and to have a more positive outlook. This can be challenging for employees who suffer injuries on the job.

However, the Injured Worker Direct Deposit service launched earlier this year can relieve some of your recovering employees’ stress. Injured workers can choose to have their indemnity checks directly deposited into their bank accounts rather than mailed. The benefits of direct deposit are many:

• Quick, automated and reliable payments mean the employee worries less about paying bills and is able to focus on getting better.
• Less financial stress means a more positive frame of mind, which can speed an injured worker’s recovery and return to work.
• Injured workers who choose Pinnacol’s direct deposit option no longer wait for checks to arrive, deposit and clear.
• They no longer experience lost checks and the accompanying hassle of notarizing and returning paperwork.
• They no longer need to contact Pinnacol about where to mail checks as they journey from hospital to inpatient rehabilitation to home.

Automated payments enable worker to focus on recovery

A 30 year-old technician* is among many injured workers who feel these very real benefits. Injured in July when she fell from a ladder, this Colorado worker suffered a left tibia/fibula fracture, a severe compression fracture and a concussion, leading to two separate surgeries.

As the injured worker lay in a hospital bed, she tried to come to terms with her potentially life-changing condition. Would she fully recover? Would she work again? Immobilized, the injured worker felt bad about inconveniencing her parents, who insisted she come live with them. She fretted, too, about the weeks of painful inpatient rehab that lay ahead.

“But at least the injured worker didn’t have to worry about her indemnity payments,” said Pinnacol Senior Claims Representative Chris Perejda. “She had elected Pinnacol’s direct deposit option. So she rested easy, knowing that every two weeks, the money would be there to pay her share of rent with her roommate, as well as her other bills.”

Free of financial worry, the injured worker focused on getting well. She worked diligently through physical therapy. Today, she’s living again with her roommate, and in the near future, she’ll be released from care and return to work. It’s a recovery and a claim that could have taken several years, according to Perejda.

“Direct deposit was one small way that Pinnacol alleviated this young woman’s worry,” Perejda said. “A big part of recovery is mental. Pinnacol reduced her financial stress, and I believe that helped her stay positive and recover faster.”

*Some personal details in this story have been changed to protect the privacy of the injured worker.