Filing your claim is the step that officially puts your employer's insurance company on notice and starts your right to benefits. In California, it centers on one document: the DWC-1 claim form.
What the DWC-1 form does
The DWC-1 is the form that opens your workers' compensation case. Reporting your injury verbally is important, but returning a completed DWC-1 is what triggers the legal deadlines that protect you — including the insurer's duty to respond and to authorize up to $10,000 in medical treatment while your claim is being investigated.
How to fill it out
- You complete only the "employee" section — your name, address, the date and place of injury, and a description of what happened and which body parts are affected.
- List every injured body part, even minor ones. Parts you leave off can be excluded later.
- Sign and date it, keep a copy, and give it to your employer. Send it in a way you can prove — hand-delivery with a dated copy, or email.
- Your employer fills out the "employer" section and forwards it to their insurer.
What happens after you file
Once you submit the DWC-1, the insurance company generally has 14 days to tell you the status of your claim. They then typically have up to 90 days to accept or deny it. If they don't deny it within 90 days, the claim is usually presumed accepted. While they investigate, you're entitled to that initial medical care up to the $10,000 cap.
Deadlines to keep in mind
- 30 days — to report the injury to your employer.
- 1 year — the general statute of limitations to file a workers' comp claim (from the date of injury, last benefit, or last treatment, depending on the situation).
- 90 days — the insurer's window to accept or deny after you file.
Because these deadlines interact in ways that depend on your facts, don't assume a missed date ends everything — but don't sit on your rights either.
Keep good records
From this point forward, save everything: the claim form, letters from the insurer, medical bills, mileage to appointments, and a simple log of your symptoms and missed work. Organized records make every later step — benefits, disputes, settlement — far easier.