Paying your own medical bills because you're scared to report the crash is the mistake that costs people the most.

What the insurance company wants you to believe: keep this "quiet," use Medicare or your own health coverage, don't miss work, and don't "make trouble" if you were hurt in a company van, a parking lot, or near a Lowell construction zone with lane shifts and flaggers. They hope fear of losing hours will stop you from opening a workers' compensation claim.

Reality: in Massachusetts, your employer cannot legally fire you, discipline you, or cut you off for exercising workers' comp rights. That protection is in M.G.L. c. 152, § 75B. If you were hurt while doing your job - driving an HVAC service van, walking through a customer lot, loading tools, or getting hit near road work - workers' comp can cover reasonable medical treatment and part of lost wages, even if nobody meant for the crash to happen.

Your employer is supposed to report the injury to its workers' comp insurer and the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents if you lose 5 or more full or partial calendar days of work. Don't wait for them to "get around to it." Give notice in writing and keep a copy.

A few rights people in Lowell often don't realize they have:

• Workers' comp is separate from fault.
• If a different driver, property owner, or contractor caused the crash, you may also have a third-party claim.
• Massachusetts uses modified comparative fault: you can still recover from that third party if you were 50% or less at fault, but not if you were more than 50% at fault.
• Medicare is usually not supposed to be primary for treatment that should be covered by workers' comp.

If your hours suddenly get cut, your route disappears, or you're pushed out after reporting the injury, that timing matters. Save schedules, texts, write-ups, payroll records, and the names of anyone who saw what changed.