How long does the insurance company have to accept my claim?

After you file the claim form, the claim is presumed compensable if not rejected within 90 days (Lab. Code §5402) — and up to $10,000 of medical treatment must be authorized while they decide.

Why is my case taking so long?

The usual drivers: you are not yet permanent and stationary (nothing rates until you are), QME/AME scheduling runs in months-long cycles, apportionment and body-part disputes add report rounds, and settlement requires WCAB approval. Delay in benefit PAYMENTS is different — that can draw penalties.

Can I speed my case up?

You control the paperwork: report promptly, file the claim form, attend every appointment, and get the P&S report checked the day it lands — WPI, apportionment, job description, every injured part addressed. The rating math itself takes a minute on the calculator; it is the medicine and the disputes that take the time.

How Long Does a Workers’ Comp Case Take in California?

Q: How long does a workers’ comp case take in California?

Simple accepted claims with full recovery can close in months. Cases with permanent disability commonly run one to two years — the medical recovery has to finish (permanent and stationary) before rating and settlement can even begin, and disputed medical-legal exams add months per round. Litigated cases can run longer.

The honest timeline of a California workers’ comp case, phase by phase: the 90-day decision window, treatment and TD, the P&S hinge, the QME loop, rating, and settlement — and what actually makes cases run long.

“How long will this take” has an honest answer nobody likes: simple claims close in months; permanent-disability cases commonly run one to two years; litigated ones longer. The reason is structural — the case can’t be valued until the medicine is done. Here is the clock, phase by phase.

Phase 1 — Filing and the 90-day window

Report the injury and the employer must provide the DWC-1 claim form within one working day of notice. Once filed, the insurer must accept or reject within 90 days or the claim is presumed compensable (§5402) — and up to $10,000 in treatment must be authorized while they investigate. Many delays people blame on “the system” are actually unfiled paperwork.

Phase 2 — Treatment and TD (the healing clock)

Treatment runs while you recover, with temporary disability replacing wages — generally capped at 104 weeks of payments (§4656). This phase is as long as the medicine is: weeks for a sprain, a year-plus for surgery and rehab. Nothing about permanent disability can be measured yet.

Phase 3 — P&S: the hinge

Everything pivots the day a physician declares you permanent and stationary. TD ends, PD advances begin, and the P&S report carries the inputs — WPI, apportionment, work restrictions — that become the rating.

Phase 4 — The dispute loop (where months go to die)

If either side disagrees with the report, the QME/AME process begins: panel requests, strike lists, scheduling windows, the exam, the report, supplementals, maybe a deposition. Each round is commonly measured in months, and apportionment fights add rounds. This loop — not the rating math — is why comparable injuries can differ by a year in case length.

Phase 5 — Rating and settlement

Once the reporting settles, the rating computes in minutes — string, percentage, dollars. Then the real negotiation: Stip vs. C&R, the medical tail, and WCAB approval of whatever is signed. Payment delays at any phase are a separate problem with their own penalties.

The part you control

File fast, show up to every exam, and audit the P&S report the day it arrives — every injured part addressed, the job description accurate, the WPI and apportionment checked against the calculator. The system’s clock is slow; don’t add your own delays to it. Estimates for informational use; not legal advice.