What Is an Answer to an Application for Adjudication of Claim?

What is an Answer in a California workers' comp case?

This filing tells the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) which parts of a worker's case the defendant disputes, in a formal written reply.

A workers' comp case at the WCAB starts when a worker, or the worker's attorney, files an Application for Adjudication of Claim. That filing asks a judge to open a case file so disputes can be decided. Once the defendant receives a copy, it gets a chance to respond in writing. That written response is the Answer.

California keeps this part simple on purpose. The WCAB recognizes only two pleadings for a contested claim: the Application and the Answer. Nothing else is required to start the case.

This guide explains who files the Answer, how long the defendant has, what it can say, and what happens when one never arrives.

Who files the Answer in a California workers' comp case?

The defendant named in the Application, usually the employer's workers' compensation insurance company or a third-party claims administrator, files the Answer.

Under Labor Code section 5505, any defendant may file an Answer. In practice that defendant is the employer's insurance carrier or claims administrator, and its attorney typically prepares and files the paperwork. The worker does not file an Answer. A worker who wants the case to keep moving uses a different form instead, covered later in this guide.

How long does the insurance company have to file an Answer?

Two rules set the clock: the statute gives 10 days after the Application is served, and the Appeals Board's own regulation adds a shorter-of test that controls filing in practice.

Labor Code section 5505 is the law that created this deadline. It gives the defendant 10 days from the date the Application is served to file an Answer.

Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, section 10465, is the Appeals Board's current rule for how this works. It sets the Answer due within the shorter of two windows: 10 days after a Declaration of Readiness to Proceed is served, or 90 days after the Application itself is served. (8 CCR section 10465.) That second window usually gives the defendant more time than the bare 10 day statute, unless the worker's side moves first.

What defenses can an Answer raise?

An Answer can disclaim interest in the claim, dispute that the Application is accurate or complete, or raise a specific fact or document as a defense, but it cannot simply deny everything in one line.

The same law lets a defendant use the Answer to disclaim any interest in the claim, argue that the Application is inaccurate or incomplete, or bring forward a fact, paper, or document as a defense. The Appeals Board's own rule adds a limit on how vague that response can be.

A general denial is not an answer within this rule.

In practice, the Answer has to point to something specific, such as a dispute over whether the injury happened on the job, whether the worker was an employee, or whether the claim was filed on time. Those are the same kinds of issues that show up when a workers' comp claim is denied in the first place.

What happens if no Answer is filed?

The case does not stop just because no Answer was filed, but the defense may lose the chance to raise points it never put in writing.

Nothing in the law lets a claim close itself out for lack of an Answer, and nothing automatically hands the worker a win either. The worker can still move the case toward a hearing by filing a Declaration of Readiness to Proceed. What changes is how much the defense can argue later.

Evidence upon matters and affirmative defenses not pleaded by Answer will be allowed only upon such terms and conditions as the Appeals Board or workers' compensation judge may impose in the exercise of sound discretion.

In plain terms, a judge decides, case by case, whether to let the defense raise a point it never answered in writing. Skipping the Answer is a real risk for the defense, not a shortcut.

Do I have to respond to the Answer myself?

No. California law only requires two pleadings, the Application and the Answer, so a worker does not file a formal written reply.

No pleadings other than the application and answer shall be required.

That does not mean the Answer should be ignored. Read it closely. Note which points it disputes and which it leaves alone. Save a copy with the rest of your claim file, and talk through anything confusing with your attorney before the case moves toward a hearing or conference.

How can I see the Answer filed in my case?

The Answer uses an official Appeals Board form, and once it is filed it becomes part of your case record in the state's electronic case system.

The defendant files the Answer on the Appeals Board's own form, listed on the state's forms page as WCAB Form 10. (DWC forms page.) Once filed, it becomes part of the same electronic record as the rest of your case. To look up what has actually been filed in your case, see our guide to searching the WCAB case system.

An Answer is one step inside a longer process. See our claim process guide covering the pleadings stage that includes the Application and Answer to see what comes before and after this step. After the Answer and a request to set the case for hearing are both on file, many cases move toward a mandatory settlement conference.

An attorney is useful here when the Answer raises a defense you do not understand, denies something you can prove with records, or never shows up at all and the case needs to keep moving. Yazdchi Law P.C. reviews each matter individually and does not take every case. Call (661) 273-1780 for a free consultation, or use the contact form to describe what the Answer in your case says.