Indiana Workers' Compensation: Deadlines, Benefits and How to File

Indiana law requires most businesses to carry workers' compensation insurance, and employees are covered from their first day on the job. The insurance is paid for by the employer.

Report any accident to your employer (boss, foreman or supervisor) immediately. If you wait more than 30 days, your claim may be denied.

If there is a dispute, an Application for Adjustment of Claim (State Form 29109) must be filed with the Board within two years of the date of injury, or within two years after the last compensation was paid. If the deadline is close, send the application by certified mail; otherwise the filing date is the date the Board receives it.

Weekly income benefits are paid if you cannot return to work for more than seven days. The first weekly payment should be mailed 15 days after the date of injury. The first week of lost time is not paid until you have been out 21 days.

A worker who is temporarily totally disabled receives two-thirds of their average weekly wage over the past 52 weeks, up to the statutory maximum. Workers' compensation benefits are not taxable.

For injuries from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, the maximum average weekly wage used is $1,316, so the maximum weekly benefit is $878; the minimum weekly wage used is $75. Total compensation for temporary total disability, permanent partial impairment, permanent total disability and death combined is capped at $439,000. For injuries from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026, the maximum weekly benefit was $852 (total cap $426,000).

In Indiana the employer directs medical care. If you do not feel you are receiving adequate medical care, you may file an Application for Adjustment of Claim with the Board. If your doctor finds you at maximum medical improvement and benefits are stopped, you can request an independent medical examination through the Board.

Permanent partial impairment (PPI) is based on a physician's rating in degrees of impairment, using the statute's schedule of degrees for specific body parts (or the whole body), multiplied by a dollar value per degree. For injuries from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, each degree is worth $1,970 for degrees 1–10, $2,197 for degrees 11–35, $3,585 for degrees 36–50, and $4,569 for degrees 51–100. Loss of both hands, both feet, total sight of both eyes, or two such losses in the same accident is rated at 100 degrees.

Workers' compensation provides benefits to a worker's dependents if the worker dies from a job-related injury. Death benefits count toward the same overall compensation maximum ($439,000 for injuries from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027).

Report the injury to your employer; the employer files the First Report of Injury (State Form 34401). If you have trouble getting benefits, first talk with the insurer or self-insured employer. If that fails, file a Request for Assistance (State Form 45442) with the Board's ombudsman division for informal dispute resolution or mediation. If that does not resolve the dispute, file an Application for Adjustment of Claim (State Form 29109) to start the formal hearing process. If the insurer plans to stop your benefits and you disagree, notify the Board and employer in writing within seven days of receiving the notice.

A formal claim is assigned to a Single Hearing Member of the Board, who holds a hearing and issues an award. A party dissatisfied with the award may file an Application for Review by Full Board (State Form 1042) within 30 days of the date of the award; the full Board hears legal arguments (not a new hearing), usually within three months. Further appeals go to the Indiana Court of Appeals and then the Indiana Supreme Court.

An employer may not fire you for filing a workers' compensation claim. However, Indiana is an at-will employment state, so an employee can otherwise be fired at any time except for a handful of reasons. The Board advises contacting a lawyer if you believe you were wrongly discharged.

Temporary total and temporary partial disability benefits may be stopped once the injured worker has received 500 weeks of those benefits or has been paid the maximum total compensation allowed by law (IC 22-3-3-22). Other grounds for ending them include returning to work or being released to work by the treating physician, refusing suitable employment or a required medical exam, and being unable to work for reasons unrelated to the injury. The Board also publishes a maximum total compensation amount, by injury date, that applies to temporary total, permanent partial impairment, permanent total disability and death benefits combined (for example, $439,000 for injuries from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027).

Yes. Claims can be resolved by agreements under IC 22-3-2-15 and other stipulated settlements, which are subject to approval by the Worker's Compensation Board. The Board's checklist says agreements should state the weeks of temporary total disability paid, medical expenses, the impairment rating calculation and, for a Section 15 settlement, the dispute being settled; the Board discourages blanket releases of non-workers' comp claims, required resignations and liquidated-damage confidentiality clauses, and closely scrutinizes Section 15 settlements of accepted claims that give up the right to reopen. After a Section 15 full and final settlement, the claim cannot be reopened unless fraud in the settlement process is proven; after an Agreement to Compensation or compromise agreement, the claim can be reopened for a change of condition within 2 years after the last day compensation was paid (one year to increase permanent partial impairment).

In Indiana the employer's First Report of Injury is filed electronically with the Worker's Compensation Board (the Board offers a "Confirm First Report Filing" lookup). If a claim is disputed, a worker can ask the Board for informal help with a Request for Assistance (State Form 45442) or start the formal hearing process with an Application for Adjustment of Claim (State Form 29109); disputed claims can be searched online. Board switchboard: (317) 233-3009.

Indiana sets a schedule of claimant attorney fees for cases before the Worker's Compensation Board that result in a recovery: a minimum of $200; 20% of the first $50,000 recovered; 15% of recovery above $50,000; and 10% of the value of unpaid, out-of-pocket or future medical expenses. The Board keeps continuing jurisdiction over attorney fees and may order a different fee in a particular case.

The rights and remedies of the Worker's Compensation Act exclude all other rights and remedies of the employee, the employee's representatives, dependents or next of kin against the employer for a personal injury or death by accident, except remedies under IC 5-2-6.1.

If someone other than the employer (and not in the same employ) is legally liable for the injury, the worker or dependents may sue that person even though workers' comp is paid. Out of any recovery or settlement, the employer or its insurer is repaid the compensation, medical services and burial expenses it paid (sharing pro rata in the costs of the claim), and its liability for further compensation ends. If the worker recovers from the third party before receiving any compensation, the employer has no further liability.

If a dispute is not resolved through the Worker's Compensation Board's informal dispute process, the worker must file an Application for Adjustment of Claim (State Form 29109) with the Board within two years of the date of injury; the case is then heard by a Single Hearing Member. A party dissatisfied with the hearing member's award may appeal by filing an Application for Review by Full Board (State Form 1042) within 30 days of the date of the award; the Full Board hears legal arguments rather than a new hearing. Any further appeal goes to the Indiana Court of Appeals and then the Indiana Supreme Court.