Covington Township Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
Claiming Workers’ Compensation benefits can help you on your road to recovery after an accident at work. It can also help your family continue to receive income while you cannot work, and if the breadwinner in your family passed, Workers’ Comp can even continue providing you with replacement income after your loss.
Whether you work in Covington Township or live there and work nearby, our attorneys can help you with your claim. Our lawyers take cases from injured workers and specialize in helping them file claims with their employers, appeal denials, challenge benefit values, and take your case before an administrative law judge as needed to get them the benefits they deserve.
For a free evaluation of your claim, call our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists today at Cardamone Law by dialing (267) 651-7945.
What is a Workers’ Compensation Claim and How is it Different from an Injury Lawsuit in Covington Township?
Workers’ Compensation is what is known as the sole remedy for injured workers in Pennsylvania. This system was instituted to make claims easier for workers after an on-the-job injury by making it possible to get benefits without having to prove fault like you would have to in a lawsuit. It also means lawsuits against your employer are blocked, and there are also some other big differences between how these claims work versus how lawsuits work.
Why Workers’ Comp?
It used to be that workers would get injured while doing their jobs, and their employers would fight tooth and nail to avoid being held liable for their accidents. In many cases, it became impossible to hold a coworker liable or to show a link between what your employer did and how your injuries happened. In many accident cases, the worker is the one who caused the accident, making a lawsuit impossible anyway.
Enter Workers’ Compensation. Instead of requiring you to prove fault like in a lawsuit, Workers’ Compensation rules require employers to cover their employees’ injuries any time the accident was work-related. This skips the need to prove fault and allows for coverage in situations where the worker was at fault, the employer was at fault, some other third party was at fault, or even in accident cases where no one was at fault.
Workers’ Comp Benefits vs. Lawsuit Damages
Workers’ Comp is designed to cover all medical expenses tied to your work injury. Lawsuits also cover these damages, but it is harder to get them in the first place because you need to prove fault first.
Workers’ Comp also covers replacement wages when a worker cannot work. They typically get 2/3 of their normal weekly wage covered, with the trade-off that they do not need to prove fault first. In a lawsuit, you might be able to recover a higher percentage of your wages, but that is only if you can prove fault in the first place. For many low-wage workers, the percentage you can claim through Workers’ Comp is actually increased up to 90%.
Workers’ Comp does not cover pain and suffering damages, but you may be able to claim these in an outside lawsuit.
Workers’ Comp Claims vs. Lawsuits
As mentioned, your employer is statutorily required to cover your injuries regardless of who caused them with Workers’ Comp. There is a rule barring recovery when the worker caused their own accident through drug or alcohol use, intentional actions, or illegal activities, but this probably would not be covered in a lawsuit, either.
In lawsuits, you cannot file a suit against your own employer, leaving Workers’ Comp as the only route to recover if your employer was at fault. It also is the only route if you were entirely at fault or if other “judgment-proof” people or entities would not be able to pay in a lawsuit, which would be common in a lawsuit against a coworker who might not be in a financial situation to cover your medical bills and lost wages.
The law does let you file lawsuits against third parties, such as manufacturers, drivers, or customers, that could allow you to claim additional damages to supplement your Workers’ Comp claim. However, those claims often come with subrogation, where your employer’s Workers’ Comp carrier can take back some of those lawsuit damages from you. All in all, with the higher rate that injury lawyers charge for lawsuits, you could ultimately get more coverage working with our Workers’ Compensation lawyers, who are limited to charging 25% of your winnings as fees. Contrast this with the common rate of 33% that lawyers charge for lawsuits.
Initiating a Workers’ Compensation Claim in Covington Township
Whether you live in Covington Township and work somewhere else or your job is here, our lawyers can help you with your claim. We practice throughout Pennsylvania, helping workers file their claims and get their benefits.
A claim starts with you telling your employer. You always need to notify your employer about on-the-job injuries and tell them you want to file a Workers’ Comp claim so they can get the claim started with their insurance carrier.
You also want to make sure that your employer has all of the info they need, including medical records, accident reports, and statements from coworkers (if you have them) to prove that the accident really happened, and that it was work-related. From there, the insurance carrier will likely take over, requesting any additional proof or information they need.
Our lawyers can step in and handle any discussions with the insurance carrier or your employer, helping to protect your claim. Claims are often denied because of missing or insufficient proof, which our lawyers can help find and provide. This usually requires locking down proof that the accident did actually happen at work or while performing work duties and that it did actually result in injuries that made it impossible to return to work for some time or permanently.
Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers in Covington Township, PA Today
For a free case evaluation, contact Cardamone Law’s Workers’ Compensation lawyers at (267) 651-7945.
