In this video, Brad explains what has to happen before weekly workers’ comp checks can legally stop in North Carolina on an accepted claim that has not reached the 500-week cap, what an illegal stoppage looks like in real life, and filing a Form 23 for one client after going seven months without checks. Within 30 days of filing it, the case settled for $60,000 in back benefits, penalties, and future disability. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What those weekly checks actually are
If you got hurt at work in North Carolina and a doctor has you out of work, the insurance company pays you a weekly check. That is called temporary total disability, TTD, and it is two-thirds of your average weekly wage. The wage math itself is covered in the Form 22 guide.
Here is the thing people get wrong: that check is not a favor. It is not the insurance company being nice. It is the legal trade. You gave up the right to sue your employer in civil court, and in exchange the law says they pay you while you cannot work.
The three ways checks can legally stop
Once the insurance company has accepted your claim and started paying weekly checks, Brad’s list is short. On an accepted claim that has not reached the 500-week cap on weekly benefits, the checks can legally stop three ways:
- You go back to work. You return to your job, or suitable employment, and you are earning wages again.
- Your case settles. You and the carrier reach a settlement, it is approved, done.
- The North Carolina Industrial Commission orders it. The carrier goes to the Industrial Commission, the agency that administers workers’ comp in this state, makes its case, and the Industrial Commission enters an order saying the checks can stop.
Notice what is not on that list. The adjuster deciding you seem fine. A nurse case manager’s opinion. The insurance company’s own doctor saying you can return to work. The company just going quiet.
Two situations sit outside the video’s list. First, a carrier paying disability benefits under a Form 63 can contest the claim within 90 days of receiving notice of the accident. Second, temporary total disability ends at the 500-week cap unless you can show your entitlement to extended disability benefits. Both are explained in more depth on the North Carolina workers’ compensation hub. If neither applies, and you did not go back to work, did not settle, and no Industrial Commission order showed up in your mailbox, the stoppage may have been illegal. Not a paperwork hiccup. Illegal.
What an illegal stoppage looks like
An illegal stoppage does not announce itself. There is no letter saying the carrier decided to break the law this week. The check just does not come. Then another week goes by. You call the adjuster and get voicemail. Maybe you eventually get a vague letter, maybe nothing at all.
Most people assume the insurance company must have been allowed to do it, so they wait. They borrow money. They get behind on rent. And the weeks stack up.
“That assumption — ‘they must have been allowed to’ — is the most expensive assumption in workers’ comp. Sometimes they weren’t allowed to. And the law doesn’t just make them pay it back — it can make them pay penalties on top.”
— Bradley H. Smith
The real case: seven months of stopped checks, one form, thirty days
Brad’s client had a foot injury from work, the kind that needed surgery. The medical bills were covered, and the weekly disability checks came. Then the checks stopped. Just stopped. No return to work, no settlement, no order from the Industrial Commission. The client went seven months without those checks before hiring Brad.
Brad filed a Form 23 with the North Carolina Industrial Commission. That forced the carrier to hire an attorney, and the carrier’s own lawyer, looked at the file and acknowledged it: the stoppage was an error. Within thirty days of filing that Form 23, the case settled for $60,000: the back benefits that should have been paid all along, plus penalties, plus money for the client’s future disability. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
“One form. Because the law was clear, the violation was clear, and once someone put the right piece of paper in front of the Industrial Commission, the carrier’s own lawyer couldn’t argue with it. The facts didn’t change. What changed is that the carrier’s mistake was on the record — and they knew it.”
— Bradley H. Smith
What Form 23 actually is
When an insurance company stops paying benefits it should be paying, a Form 23 is the request to the North Carolina Industrial Commission to reinstate them, to turn the checks back on. It takes the situation out of the adjuster’s voicemail and puts it in front of the Industrial Commission.
Here is why it moves cases: the moment that form is filed, the carrier cannot ignore you anymore. Someone with a law license has to look at the file and answer for the stoppage, to the Industrial Commission, on the record. And North Carolina law has penalties for benefits that were not paid when they were due: not just pay it back eventually, pay it back with a penalty on top. That was part of what went into the $60,000 above. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What to do this week if your checks stopped
- Count the weeks. Write down the date of your last check and every week since. That is the record of what is owed, and it grows every week.
- Run the three-trigger list. Did you go back to work? Did you settle? Is there an order from the Industrial Commission, an actual document, in your hands? If it is no, no, and no, keep going down this list.
- Check your mail, all of it. If the Industrial Commission had approved stopping your checks, you would have paperwork saying so. No paperwork is itself a signal. Keep every letter, every check stub, every envelope. Dates matter.
- Ask the adjuster in writing why the checks stopped. Not a phone call. An email or a letter, so their reason is on paper. Keep track of the dates you called and got nothing back; the silence is evidence too.
- Do not assume it was legal, and do not sign anything. Not a settlement offer, not a resignation form, nothing, until someone who knows this system has read it with you. Brad’s client waited seven months to ask. You do not have to.
Frequently asked questions
Can workers’ comp stop paying you without notice in North Carolina?
On an accepted claim that has not reached the 500-week cap, checks can legally stop when you return to work, when the case settles, or when the North Carolina Industrial Commission orders it. If none of those happened and no paperwork arrived, the stoppage may have been illegal, and Form 23 asks the Commission to reinstate the benefits.
What are the three legal ways workers’ comp checks can stop in NC?
For an accepted claim under the 500-week cap: you go back to work or suitable employment; your case settles and the settlement is approved; or the Industrial Commission enters an order saying the checks can stop. A carrier paying disability benefits under a Form 63 can also contest the claim within 90 days of receiving notice of the accident (see the NC hub). An adjuster’s opinion, a nurse case manager’s opinion, or the carrier’s own doctor saying you can return to work are not on that list.
What is a Form 23 in NC workers’ comp?
A Form 23 is the request to the North Carolina Industrial Commission to reinstate benefits an insurance company has stopped paying but should still be paying. Once it is filed, the carrier has to answer for the stoppage to the Industrial Commission, on the record.
Are there penalties when a carrier stops paying illegally?
North Carolina law has penalties for benefits that were not paid when they were due, on top of paying them back. In the case in the video, penalties were part of the $60,000 settlement. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
My checks stopped and nobody told me why. What should I do first?
Write down the date of your last check and every week since, run the three-trigger list, keep every letter and envelope, ask the adjuster in writing why the checks stopped, and do not sign anything until someone who knows the system has read it with you.
Have a specialist read the file before you wait another week
Bradley H. Smith is certified as a specialist in workers’ compensation law by the North Carolina State Bar and is licensed in both NC and SC. No attorney’s fee unless we recover.
Call (980) 281-9984 for a free consultation, or start with our Charlotte workers’ compensation lawyer overview.
Keep learning
- Hurt at a New Job in NC? How Your Workers’ Comp Rate Is Calculated
- North Carolina Workers’ Compensation, Explained (the NC hub)
- The 38% Underpayment Hiding in Your NC Workers’ Comp Form 22
- What Happens When You File a Workers’ Comp Hearing Request in NC?
- Charlotte Workers’ Compensation Lawyer, certified as a specialist in workers’ compensation law by the North Carolina State Bar
- More short answers from Brad: the Video Center
Last updated: September 1, 2026.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Case examples are shared with client details anonymized. This page is general information about North Carolina law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different. Talk to a lawyer about yours.