Getting Workers’ Comp after a work-related accident is vital. This might be the only way to recover compensation for your injuries, to get your medical bills paid, and to support your family while you are out of work.
Our lawyers can stand up to insurance carriers and employers to fight for your full benefits. Never trust that your employer will have your back, especially when they are more concerned with listening to their insurance carrier’s objections than paying attention to your needs.
To get started, call Cardamone Law’s Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at (267) 651-7945 today.
How Do I Get Compensation for a Work Injury in Willow Grove?
When you get hurt, your first thought might be to file a lawsuit. For a few important reasons, lawsuits are usually unsuccessful for work injuries. This would leave many victims without compensation if it were not for Workers’ Compensation.
Why Can’t I Sue?
Many workplace accidents are caused by something your employer did or something you did. The law prevents lawsuits against an employer for work-related injuries, meaning that lawsuits fail. Additionally, if you hurt yourself, there might be no one to sue.
Even when you can file a lawsuit against a third party, your employer’s blocked share of the blame might block you from getting full compensation. Additionally, lawsuits against contractors and coworkers might not result in compensation if they cannot afford your damages.
This leaves Workers’ Comp as your best option in many cases, even where a lawsuit might be allowed. However, lawsuits against dangerous equipment manufacturers, transportation companies, and vendors might be great supplements to this system.
Using Workers’ Comp
All employers are required to carry Workers’ Compensation insurance to cover employees’ on-the-job injuries. This insurance coverage is no-fault, meaning that it pays regardless of who caused the injury.
Whether you were hurt by your employer, a coworker, an outside third party, or even your own mistakes, you can still file for Workers’ Comp. This guarantees money is available even in situations where a lawsuit would fail.
What Compensation Does Workers’ Comp Pay?
In an injury case, you typically suffer three areas of damages: medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Workers’ Comp covers all related medical bills and 2/3 of your lost wages (in most cases), but it does not pay pain and suffering damages. It does, however, compensate for permanent injuries, amputation, lost vision, lost hearing, and serious facial scars with “specific loss” benefits.
Medical Coverage
When you get medical care coverage, your employer should cover all necessary care. However, they will demand that you treat with a doctor from their approved provider list in the first 90 days. After that, you can use whatever licensed providers you wish.
Lost Earnings
Wage-loss benefits pay 2/3 of your average weekly wage (AWW) for as long as your disability keeps you from working. If you return to partial work with accommodations or reduced duties/hours, you should get 2/3 of the reduction in wages from your pre-injury wage level.
There are caps and floors on these wages, so your specific pay rate is important in calculating your wage-loss benefits.
Specific Loss Benefits
Specific loss benefits pay 2/3 of your AWW from before the accident for a time period listed in the Workers’ Comp Act. Each injury is assigned a pay period (in terms of weeks), such as 100 weeks for a lost thumb and 275 weeks for serious facial disfigurement.
These additional benefits come on top of any wage-loss benefits, but they are not, strictly speaking, “pain and suffering” damages.
How Do I File for Workers’ Compensation Benefits in Willow Grove?
Workers’ Comp claims start with getting medical care and reporting the injury to your employer. From there, they will decide your initial claim – usually by denying benefits.
Then you should get a lawyer. Working with a Workers’ Compensation lawyer can help you guarantee you are filing the correct way and make sure that all of the information you need is in your claim. We can then take your Claim Petition before a Workers’ Comp Judge and seek out a hearing on your benefits.
The judge will decide after the hearing whether to grant you benefits and what they should be. We can also negotiate a settlement instead of waiting on the judge if the employer and their insurance company are willing to work with us.
Is There a Trial for Workers’ Compensation?
Workers’ Comp cases are decided by Workers’ Comp Judges. These WCJs work in a separate court system from normal trial courts, and they do not hold jury trials.
Instead, the case will be decided after multiple informational hearings and arguments to the judge about whether your injury qualifies for benefits and what benefits should be paid. Along the way, we will collect medical records, doctor’s reports, and witness depositions to provide the judge with enough evidence to make a decision.
Do I Have to Testify at My Workers’ Comp Hearing?
Whether the injury victim has to testify or not will depend on the judge. Some judges are content with depositions, but many will want to have you come in, explain your injuries in person, and answer questions they or the employer have about the injury case.
Workers’ Comp cases are so fact-sensitive that having you testify might be the best way to get to the heart of the issue. You will not be expected to have deep medical knowledge or technical legal expertise; that is what doctors’ reports and our attorneys are for.
Should I Settle My Workers’ Comp Claim?
A high percentage of Workers’ Comp claims are resolved with settlements, but it is impossible to say whether you should settle without looking at your case details first. Many cases should settle, as it gives both sides the ability to end the case and walk away without having to constantly monitor the case afterward.
However, some injuries are unpredictable, and it can be difficult to ensure your settlement has enough money to cover future medical care costs for an injury or illness that might get worse.
Call Our Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in Willow Grove, PA Today
For your free case evaluation, contact Cardamone Law’s Workers’ Comp lawyers at (267) 651-7945.
