When do WorkCover WA provisional payments commence?

WorkCover has taken the view that when provisional payments are made, they are to be made from the date of first incapacity. This is the date of incapacity noted in the first medical certificate.  Accordingly, if a worker chooses not to make a claim for a lengthy period of time but then makes a claim with a first medical certificate backdating the date of first incapacity for a lengthy period, the employer is obliged to make provisional payments from the date of first incapacity, notwithstanding that a worker may not have made a claim for a period of time.

Accordingly, employers and insurers who receive a claim which has not been made expeditiously following a date of injury, need to consider the consequences of pending a claim.  If the claim is pended and provisional payments are to be made, the period of provisional payments, when made, may be for a lengthy period of time if the first medical certificate backdates the incapacity. The employer/insurer might wish to consider declining the claim instead.