What to Know About a Gallagher Bassett Workers' Comp Claim

What is Gallagher Bassett, and why is it contacting me about my injury?

Insurers and self-insured employers across California pay Gallagher Bassett to run the day-to-day handling of a workers' compensation claim. No state deadline or benefit rule changes just because Gallagher Bassett happens to be the one holding your file.

Yazdchi Law P.C. has no business relationship with Gallagher Bassett; we are a separate, independent law firm. Below, we cover what Gallagher Bassett actually does, how to get in touch about your claim, and the California requirements that stay in place no matter who ends up handling your file.

Gallagher Bassett is not an insurance company, and it does not sell policies to the public. An employer or its insurer pays an outside firm like Gallagher Bassett instead, covering the cost of running the claim day to day. That includes taking the first report, lining up a handler, and making the calls on treatment and payment.

The California Code of Regulations has a formal name for whichever company is legally on the hook for a claim: a claims administrator (Title 8 section 9811(a)). Depending on the employer, that role might sit with the insurer itself or with a self-insured employer handling matters in house. It can also sit with an outside firm, as happens here, that either one brings in to run the claim. When a self-insured employer is the one doing the hiring, that outside firm picks up a further label under state law: third-party administrator. It also cannot start the job without a certificate of consent on file (Labor Code section 3702.1).

Not every California claim goes through Gallagher Bassett. Some employers and insurers use State Fund, and others use a different outside administrator altogether. Regardless of the name on your file, the statutes and regulations covered next apply in full.

How do I reach Gallagher Bassett or check my claim?

Use the phone number and claim number on your own claim letters and benefit notices. They identify your specific file and the office handling it.

A claims administrator assigns a specific handler or team to each file. A general company number is not the fastest way to reach that handler. Your own paperwork works better: the claim form acknowledgment, a benefit notice, or any letter about your treatment or payments. Each one names your claim number and the office handling it.

If you cannot find those documents, your employer's human resources or workers' compensation contact can tell you which office is handling your file and how to reach it.

California law puts your employer on a short clock once it learns about your injury: a claim form has to reach you within one working day. The same one-day deadline applies to any injury that keeps you out of work or needs medical care beyond basic first aid (Labor Code section 5401). That form is what gets your Gallagher Bassett file moving.

What deadlines and payments does California law set, regardless of the claims administrator?

California sets one set of deadlines and payment rules, and Gallagher Bassett must follow them the same as any other claims administrator.

Once your claim form is on file, a 90-day countdown begins: the company has that long to accept or deny your claim (Labor Code section 5402). Let that countdown finish with no denial on file, and your injury is presumed covered by law, though evidence that turns up later can still undo that outcome. None of this delays your care, either: the law already requires up to $10,000 of treatment to start no later than one working day after the claim form is filed.

Missed work time starts a separate clock. When your injury keeps you from working, the first temporary disability payment is owed no later than 14 days after your employer finds out about both the injury and the time lost (Labor Code section 4650). Pay it late, and state law tacks on an automatic increase without any request from you.

Separate state regulations control how an investigation has to run. Gallagher Bassett must look into your claim promptly and fairly. The aim is to learn what you are actually owed, not to hunt for reasons to say no (Title 8 section 10109). Those same rules force written updates at fixed points in the process. One example ties to that first disability payment: a required notice, owed within 14 days of your employer's own knowledge of the injury and the missed work (Title 8 section 9812).

Treatment often runs through a medical provider network: an approved roster of doctors created under Labor Code section 4616. Where your claim has no such network, a different rule takes over: Labor Code section 4600(c) allows you to name your own treating doctor once 30 days have gone by since you reported the injury.

Step	Deadline	Law
Report injury to your employer	Within 30 days	Labor Code 5400
File your workers' comp claim	Within 1 year	Labor Code 5405
Insurer must accept or deny	Within 90 days	Labor Code 5402
First disability check	Within 14 days	Labor Code 4650
Appeal a denied treatment	Within 30 days	Labor Code 4610.5

What if Gallagher Bassett denies or delays part of my claim?

A denied or disputed treatment request goes through independent medical review. Most other disputes go before a workers' compensation judge.

Picture your doctor requesting a treatment that utilization review turns down, slows, or changes. From there, the next step is requesting an independent medical review, sometimes called IMR: a neutral physician, with no tie to the company, goes through your medical records instead. Bigger disagreements go a different route. Whether the claim is covered at all, or how large a permanent disability award should be, lands instead in front of a workers' compensation judge. Getting there takes a specific filing: an Application for Adjudication of Claim, submitted to the WCAB by you or your attorney. From there, whichever side loses that round can ask the board to take another look at the ruling.

A payment that is held back or refused for no good reason, rather than by honest mistake, triggers its own California penalty. The amount is up to 25 percent of what is owed, capped at $10,000 (Labor Code section 5814). Our page on workers' comp delay and bad faith in California walks through that penalty in more depth. Free, neutral help answering claim questions is available from the DWC Information and Assistance Unit at 1-800-736-7401. For a claim Gallagher Bassett has denied outright, our denied claim page lays out the usual next step.

Should I hire a lawyer for a Gallagher Bassett claim?

Hiring help usually starts to matter once something specific goes wrong, such as a denial, a delay, a fight over treatment, or a confusing settlement offer.

Plenty of claims never need one. A lawyer tends to earn their fee once the file gets complicated: a flat denial, a check that quits showing up, pushback on medical treatment, or a permanent disability number nobody has explained well. The firm reviews each potential case individually and does not take on every matter.

No attorney in a California workers' comp case sets their own price. A workers' compensation judge has to sign off on the amount first, and approved fees typically land between 15% and 18% of whatever the claim recovers (Labor Code section 4906), a rule that applies to a Gallagher Bassett claim like any other. Our page on workers' comp lawyer costs in California has the longer explanation.

Gallagher Bassett is one possible name on a workers' comp file; State Fund, a different insurer, or another administrator could just as easily be the one you are dealing with. Either way, Yazdchi Law P.C. weighs each potential matter on its own facts rather than accepting every call that comes in, and nothing written here is meant to advise you about your specific situation.

Call (661) 273-1780 or use the contact form. When you reach out, mention how the injury happened, which company has your claim right now, and where matters stand so far.

Helpful next steps

Four more pages are worth a look: how a claim unfolds from start to finish, what a denial means next, and the going rate for a lawyer's help.

• Understand each stage of a California workers' comp claim
• Steps to take after a workers' comp claim denial
• Is my claim different if State Fund is the insurer instead?
• Learn what a California workers' comp attorney charges