Hurt at work in West Virginia? Deadlines, weekly benefit and how to file

Tell your employer about the injury right away. File your claim within 6 months (the date of the injury).

Temporary total disability (TTD) benefits can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages.

Your employer's insurer, not the state, usually decides first. If they deny or delay, the free help listed here can explain your options.

In West Virginia, temporary total disability pays two-thirds of your average weekly wage while your doctor certifies that you cannot work because of a work injury. Your employer's private insurance carrier (or a self-insured employer) decides the claim, and you can protest its decisions to the Workers' Compensation Board of Review.

What are my deadlines?How much will I get?Who is my doctor?Claim denied?

Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.

Deadlines are strict. If you are near one, call the state agency or free help today.

Free tools for West Virginia

Free tools that run in your browser. Nothing you enter is saved or sent until you download, copy or print a document.

Deadline helper

Worked out in your browser. Nothing you enter here is saved or sent.

If you are not sure of the exact day, use the earliest day you think it could be.

Enter the date of injury

We add the number from the law to your date. Nothing is saved.

Written notice to your employer

A letter that tells your employer, in writing, that you were hurt or made sick by your work.

Where the reply should be sent.

Required when you mail it. Not needed if you hand it in person.

In your own words, in English. Keep it short and factual. Do not guess why it happened.

It goes into the letter as you type it.

Other formats

Claim checklist: what to gather and do

A printable list of papers to keep and steps to take.

What you already have

West Virginia
Other formats

Your checklist

Deadlines in West Virginia

Tell your employer

Tell your employer about the injury right away.

File your claim
6 months
Waiting period

No temporary total disability is paid if the disability does not last longer than 3 days from the day you leave work because of the injury.

All the details →

Weekly benefit in West Virginia

What it pays
Two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages
Minimum rule

The minimum weekly benefit is 33 1/3% of the average weekly wage in West Virginia, but the minimum can never be more than the benefit figured using the federal minimum hourly wage (part-time workers have their own rule).

Applies to
The date of injury (the rate is fixed at the date of injury and is not adjusted later)

Law: W. Va. Code §§ 23-4-6(b)-(c), 23-4-14

Source: code.wvlegislature.gov

We do not offer a calculator for West Virginia: its rule has parts that a simple estimate cannot show. Read the rule above and ask the state agency.

All the details →

Who is your doctor in West Virginia?

Who chooses
You choose

In an emergency, get treatment at the nearest medical facility that can treat you. For treatment that is not an emergency, you may choose your own physician.

To change your treating physician, you must get prior authorization from your claims adjuster.

Source: wvinsurance.gov

Who is covered in West Virginia

Size of employer

West Virginia employers must carry workers' compensation insurance for their employees, except for the employers the law exempts (they may choose to buy coverage).

Special rules
  • Agriculture: Employers of five or fewer full-time employees in agricultural service are not required to carry coverage.
  • Casual employers: An employer with no more than three employees whose work is temporary, intermittent and sporadic and lasts no more than 10 calendar days in a calendar quarter is not required to carry coverage.
Not covered
  • Domestic service employees
  • Agricultural employers with five or fewer full-time employees
  • Casual employers (three or fewer employees, no more than 10 days a quarter)
  • Churches
  • Organized professional sports, including trainers and jockeys in thoroughbred racing
  • Volunteer rescue squads and volunteer police auxiliary units (paid employees must be covered)
  • Taxicab drivers who are independent contractors under a written agreement
  • Employees working outside the state (except temporarily)
  • Workers covered by the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act and similar federal programs
If your employer has no insurance

Claims involving uninsured employers are handled through the Uninsured Employers' Fund, administered by the Insurance Commissioner. Contact OIC Claims Services for help.

Uninsured Employers' Fund

Check your employer's insurance

Law: W. Va. Code §§ 23-2-1(b), 23-2C-15

Source: code.wvlegislature.gov

If your claim is denied or delayed in West Virginia

First step

Read the carrier's written decision; it must tell you the deadline to object. To protest, send a written objection with a copy of the decision to the Workers' Compensation Board of Review, P.O. Box 2628, Charleston, WV 25329-2628, within 60 days after you receive the decision, and send copies to your employer and the carrier.

All the details →

Fired or punished for filing in West Virginia

No employer may discriminate in any way against a present or former employee because the employee received or tried to receive workers' compensation benefits. It is also illegal to fire an injured employee while off work because of a compensable injury and receiving or eligible for temporary total disability, unless the employee committed a separate offense unrelated to the injury. An employer must reinstate an injured employee to the former position (or a comparable one) on written demand sent by certified mail, if the job is available and the employee can do it.

The law
W. Va. Code §§ 23-5A-1 to 23-5A-3
What you may get

The law allows a civil action to enforce these rights.

Where to file

Court (civil action)

Law: W. Va. Code §§ 23-5A-1, 23-5A-3

Source: code.wvlegislature.gov

Lawyers' fees and other benefits in West Virginia

An attorney for an injured worker may not charge or receive more than 20% of any award, and never more than 20% of the benefits paid over 208 weeks.

West Virginia also pays temporary partial disability, permanent partial and permanent total disability, death benefits to dependents and medical care.

Free help in West Virginia

State agency

West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC), Workers' Compensation

Phone
1-888-879-9842
Address
P.O. Box 50540, Charleston, WV 25305-0540

Free help

Good to know in West Virginia

  • The 6-month limit to file the claim application is 'jurisdictional': a late claim is forever barred.
  • Workers' compensation in West Virginia is handled by private insurance carriers and self-insured employers; you can look up an employer's carrier in the OIC Coverage Verification System (OIC Insurance Bulletin 22-07).
  • Most prescriptions in the first two weeks after the injury do not need prior authorization; after 12 weeks all medications need the adjuster's prior authorization.

Changes in 2024–2026

House Bill 5515 (2026 Regular Session, 'modernizing and updating workers' compensation statutes', effective June 12, 2026) amended many sections of Chapter 23, Articles 4 and 5 (including the claim-filing, waiting-period and benefit sections) and repealed several old sections. Since July 1, 2022, objections go to the Workers' Compensation Board of Review and appeals go to the Intermediate Court of Appeals.

Questions about workers' comp in West Virginia

How long do I have to file a workers' comp claim in West Virginia?

To get benefits, your claim application must be filed on the form prescribed by the Insurance Commissioner with the Insurance Commissioner, your employer's private carrier or the self-insured employer, whichever applies, within 6 months after the injury.

How much does workers' comp pay in West Virginia?

Temporary total disability (TTD) benefits can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages.

Can I choose my own doctor for a work injury in West Virginia?

In an emergency, get treatment at the nearest medical facility that can treat you. For treatment that is not an emergency, you may choose your own physician.

Can my employer fire me for filing a workers' comp claim in West Virginia?

No employer may discriminate in any way against a present or former employee because the employee received or tried to receive workers' compensation benefits.

What if my workers' comp claim is denied in West Virginia?

Read the carrier's written decision; it must tell you the deadline to object. To protest, send a written objection with a copy of the decision to the Workers' Compensation Board of Review, P.O. Box 2628, Charleston, WV 25329-2628, within 60 days after you receive the decision, and send copies to your employer and the carrier.

Not about a work injury?

Not about a work injury? Unpaid wages → Wage Claim Map · Hurt in a car crash → Accident Claim Map · A medical bill → Medical Bill Map · Unemployment benefits → Unemployment Claim Map · Other problems → robinclaim.com

Nearby states

Sources