"Can I get a copy of my own file?"

The three files

1. The medical reports. You are entitled to copies of the reports about you. Ask the claims administrator in writing, and ask your treating physician's office directly — the office usually produces them faster.

2. The Board's file. Your case lives in EAMS, the Appeals Board's electronic case system, under an ADJ number. The district office can tell you what has been filed and when. If you do not know your ADJ number, ask the adjuster for it in writing — it is not confidential and there is no reason to withhold it.

3. Your own records from any provider who has treated you, which you can request directly.

What to look for when you get them

The history. The first line of any medical report is the story of how you were injured. If it is wrong, everything built on top of it is unstable — and early errors propagate into every later report because evaluators read the earlier ones.

Body parts. Count them. If you reported four and the reports address two, that is the problem.

Work status on every date. Gaps in documented work status are the most common reason temporary disability payments stop.

The apportionment paragraph. Usually short, often near the end, and it decides more of your case than anything else in the document. A paragraph that names a pre-existing condition and attaches a percentage without explaining how and why is not substantial evidence. Reading your report properly.

And the rating string, if there is one. It is checkable arithmetic. Decode yours.

The free help nobody uses

Information & Assistance officers are at every district office, they are free, and they are not affiliated with any law firm or insurer. They will help you find your case, understand a form, and figure out what has been filed.

They are the single most underused resource in California workers' compensation, and we say so on the page about whether you need a lawyer at all. When you probably don't.