What Is 8 CCR §10465: Answer Deadline and Rules?

The Answer shall be accompanied by a proof of service upon the opposing parties.

What is 8 CCR section 10465?

It is the Appeals Board’s rule for how fast, and in what form, a defendant must answer the filing that opens a worker’s case.

A California workers’ comp case opens at the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board once a worker, or the worker’s attorney, files an Application for Adjudication of Claim. The defendant named in that filing, almost always the employer’s insurance carrier or a claims administrator, then has to respond in writing. Section 10465 is the current rule that controls that response: when it is due, what it must say, and what it must come with.

This rule binds the defendant only. A worker never files an Answer. If a worker wants the case to keep moving without one, the next step is a Declaration of Readiness to Proceed, a separate filing covered in its own guide.

How fast must the defendant answer?

Whichever deadline arrives first controls: 10 days after that declaration is served, or 90 days after the Application itself is served.

Labor Code section 5505 is the older statute behind this deadline, and it still gives a defendant 10 days from service of the Application. Section 10465 narrows that further with a shorter-of test. In most cases, nobody files one right away, so the defendant effectively gets the full 90 days after the Application is served. The moment a Declaration of Readiness to Proceed is served, though, the clock changes: the defendant then has only 10 days from that service date, even if the 90 days have not run out.

Count calendar days, not business days, from the date of service shown on the proof of service. A document served by mail, fax, or e-mail rather than handed over in person can add more time under a separate rule; this site’s guide to that extension explains how many extra days apply and how to find the mailing date that starts the clock.

What can the Answer say, and what must come with it?

The Answer has to use the Board’s own form, point to something specific, and arrive with proof that the other side was served.

Labor Code section 5505 lets the defendant disclaim interest in the claim, argue that the Application is inaccurate or incomplete, or raise a specific fact, paper, or document as a defense. Section 10465(a) adds a hard line against vagueness on top of that: a general denial, one line simply denying everything, does not count as an Answer under this rule. The defendant has to point to something real, such as a dispute over whether the injury happened on the job or whether the worker was an employee.

Subdivision (b), quoted above, adds a separate requirement: the filed Answer must be accompanied by proof that it was served on the opposing parties, not just filed with the Board. A copy that only reaches the Board, with nothing sent to the worker or the worker’s attorney, has not met this rule.

What happens to a defense the Answer never raised?

A judge decides, case by case, whether to let the defense bring up a point it left out of the Answer.

Section 10465(c) gives a workers’ compensation judge discretion over this exact problem. Evidence on a matter, or an affirmative defense, that the Answer never pleaded is only allowed on whatever terms the judge or the Appeals Board sets. In practice, that can mean the defense is barred from raising the point at all, or allowed to raise it late only if it accepts a delay or another condition in exchange. Leaving something out of the Answer is a real risk for the defense, not a shortcut past paperwork.

How does this deadline connect to other WCAB filings?

Section 10465 only works alongside the two filings that start a case and the request that can shorten its own clock.

Labor Code section 5500 is the statute that keeps WCAB pleading to just two documents: the Application for Adjudication of Claim and the Answer. Our card on that pleading rule covers both filings together. The practical side of the Answer, meaning who actually prepares it, how it reaches the worker, and what happens when none ever arrives, is covered in a separate guide; this card stays focused on what section 10465 itself requires. Once an Answer is filed, or the 90 days pass without one, the case is ready to move toward a Mandatory Settlement Conference once a hearing request is on file.

What should you do about an Answer, on either side of it?

If you are the injured worker, read any Answer you receive closely and save it with the rest of your claim file. If 90 days have passed since your Application was served and no Answer has arrived, that gap is worth raising, since the case may already be ready for its next filing. Yazdchi Law P.C. reviews Answers, Applications, and WCAB filing deadlines for California workers who are moving a disputed claim toward a hearing.

Call (661) 273-1780 or use the contact form for a free consultation about what an Answer in your case says, or whether one is overdue. Eman Yazdchi reviews each workers’ compensation matter individually before deciding how to proceed.