File Vermont workers' comp Form 5 - the Employee's Notice of Injury and Claim for Compensation - and do it within 6 months of the injury. Your employer's insurance company should also get a Form 1 from the employer, but bad advice from a boss does not turn a work injury into a personal-health-insurance problem.

What it can cover later is bigger than most people think. If you were hurt in a work-related crash near St. Albans - on I-89, Route 7, or a summer delivery run through tourist traffic - Vermont workers' comp can pay for future reasonable medical treatment, wage benefits if you miss work, and permanency benefits if the injury leaves lasting damage. That "rating" people talk about usually comes after you reach Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI), when a doctor measures permanent impairment.

What you need to prove it:

• The crash was work-related: dispatch logs, timecards, job assignment texts, delivery sheets, mileage logs, coworker statements, police report.
• The injury started then and never fully resolved: ER records, follow-up notes, imaging, physical therapy records, work restrictions, prescription history.
• Your job and income changed: pay stubs before and after, missed-time records, lighter-duty assignments, tax returns if overtime or side work dropped.
• You still need treatment or have permanent loss: doctor opinions tying future care, limitations, and any impairment rating to that crash.

Do not assume paying some bills through your own health insurance means you lost comp. That is a common line employers use to keep claims off the books. It also does not erase a separate claim against the driver who hit you if an 18-wheeler, tourist, or blowout caused the crash.

If road conditions matter - like frost-heaved pavement left over from mud season - photograph that too. In Franklin County, small details decide whether the insurer calls it a temporary strain or a permanent work injury.