Can I Get a Cash Settlement for a Work Injury in Pennsylvania?

If you get hurt and need Workers’ Compensation, you will typically receive benefits in the form of direct payment to your care provider for your medical care and weekly or bi-weekly checks for your lost wages. However, you can often renegotiate for a lump-sum settlement.

If your employer/their insurance carrier is willing to negotiate and sign an agreement with you, you can receive your benefits in the form of a one-time cash settlement instead of getting those benefits in a weekly/bi-weekly trickle. When you do, you should work with a lawyer to make sure that there is enough money in that settlement to cover all of the benefits you need, since you cannot go back and re-open the settlement to claim additional money.

For a free review of your case, call our Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation lawyers at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945.

Settling a Workers’ Compensation Claim in Pennsylvania

As mentioned, Workers’ Comp benefits typically include coverage or reimbursement for all medical care, plus checks paid to you weekly or bi-weekly (usually set to match your previous pay schedule) to cover lost earnings. These wage-loss benefits usually equal 2/3 of your average wage before the accident. In addition, you can get some other benefits for permanent injuries. However, you can forego all of those weekly payments and ongoing medical care coverage and instead get all of the money paid to you at once if your employer is willing to agree to a settlement with you.

Like with most injury cases and court cases, settling means you and the other side come to an agreement out of court and avoid the need for hearings or trials to decide the facts and issues in the case. Insurance carriers are often willing to settle because it saves them time and money, but you usually should have a lawyer represent you to avoid settling for too low of a value.

Compromise and Release Agreements in Pennsylvania Work Comp Cases

These agreements to settle usually come in the form of a “compromise and release agreement,” where you sign off on a compromised settlement amount and agree to release the insurance carrier and employer from any further claims or cases on the basis of this injury. When you are considering a compromise and release agreement, it usually needs to be approved by the Workers’ Comp Judge on your case before it can be legally binding.

The judge will often hold a hearing to ask you some questions and make sure that you have had time to review the settlement agreement and that you understand your rights and what you are getting out of the agreement. For this reason, it is usually important that you have a lawyer and that our lawyers negotiate the agreement; otherwise, the judge might stop the case and send you off to find a lawyer before allowing the settlement to go through.

What Does a Settlement Cover for Workers’ Comp?

As mentioned, settlements need to cover not only the ongoing wage-loss benefits but also your medical care and any benefits paid for permanent injuries.

Wage-loss benefits usually equal 2/3 of your wages from before the accident. If you were to continue receiving benefits on an ongoing basis, these payments would not grow over time to account for cost of living or inflation; they are locked in. This means we can calculate how much to get in a settlement by estimating how much longer you will receive benefits based on the severity of your injury and potential future prognosis. If you return to work, the wage-loss benefits equal 2/3 of the difference between old and new wages, making calculations a bit harder because your wages going forward might change and grow over time.

The cost of all medical care you might need going forward to treat the injury will also need to be included. For this reason, it is sometimes hard to settle if your injury might fluctuate and get worse, requiring additional care down the road. However, if you are already healed up or have constant treatment needs, calculating a settlement can be simpler.

Permanent injury benefits are called “specific loss benefits,” and they are paid to compensate you for an amputation, lost function, lost hearing/sight, or substantial scars to the face. These amounts are set by statute in terms of a number of weeks’ worth of wages, so they are straightforward to calculate, too.

Are Settlements Paid in Cash for Workers’ Comp?

Although we refer to these settlements as “cash settlements,” it is unlikely that the money will be paid in a briefcase full of cash. Instead, these lump sum settlements usually come in the form of an annuity, where you actually end up breaking the money into monthly payments anyway, or in the form of a one-time check delivered to you directly.

We Have Secured Large Cash Settlements on Behalf of Clients Injured at Work

Attorney Michael W. Cardamone, Founder and President of Cardamone Law, and a Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialist, has secured a $190,000 offer for a client who sustained injuries to her spine from work-related activities.

Negotiations lasted several months and reignited once the case was put into litigation by the Work Comp insurer, who claimed our client had made a full recovery. Our client’s physicians, and claimant herself, vigorously disagreed with the allegation of a recovery, and Cardamone was able to secure a victory at the outset of the case, called “Supersedeas”. That victory gave us leverage in the negotiations.

Call Our Pennsylvania Workers’ Comp Lawyers Today

For help, call (267) 651-7945 for a free case review with Cardamone Law’s Philadelphia Workers’ Comp attorneys.