Minnesota workers' comp glossary
Claim Petition
The formal pleading that starts a contested Minnesota workers’ comp case, filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings when the insurer denies or refuses to pay benefits.
A Claim Petition is how a denied claim becomes a court case. When the insurer denies your injury or refuses to pay specific benefits, filing a Claim Petition with the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) formally puts the dispute in front of a compensation judge under Minn. Stat. § 176.271 and § 176.291.
The petition lays out the who/what/when of the injury and lists every benefit claimed (wage loss, PPD, medical bills, rehabilitation), and it should generally be supported by a medical report connecting the injury to work. The insurer answers, the case gets scheduled, and along the way most claims pass through discovery, possibly a settlement conference, and often mediation before any hearing.
You can file one yourself (DLI and OAH publish the forms), but this is the point in a claim where procedure starts to have teeth: pleading benefits correctly, serving the right parties, attaching adequate medical support, and dealing with intervenors are all traps for the unrepresented. Attorney fees on a Claim Petition are contingent and capped by Minn. Stat. § 176.081.
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General information, not legal advice. Reviewed by Daniel C. Swenson, Minnesota workers' compensation attorney, Robert Wilson & Associates.