In a Pennsylvania injury case, you can often file through Workers’ Comp if the injury was work-related. This can be faster than filing a lawsuit in many cases, but the timeline can still be quite confusing.
The short answer is that every case is different, but most claims take around 3-8 months if they settle and more like 10-12 if they are contested. The shortest a case can take is a few weeks, but Workers’ Comp claims can take up to a year or more in very complex, contested cases. From there, your pay may take up to 30 days, though some benefits are paid on an ongoing basis and come every week or two weeks.
Call our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at Cardamone Law for help today: (267) 651-7945.
How Long After My Claim is Granted Do I Get Paid?
Let’s say you have already settled your case or the judge has just decided that you should get benefits. At that point, how long it takes to see your benefits is different in these three situations:
Lump Sums
If you agreed to a lump sum payment, you would get all of your money at once. It usually takes up to 30 days for insurance carriers or employers to process the money and get it to you.
However, sometimes settlements come with a check in hand or delivered even sooner.
Structured Settlements
Other settlements do not see the money paid at once. You may opt for a structured settlement where, instead of paying you at once, you will get a monthly check for a portion of the settlement paid over time.
This still likely means the first check will come within 30 days, but the rest will come on whatever schedule you agreed upon.
Ongoing Benefits
Other cases involve no settlement at all (or a settlement just for the wage-loss portions). This means payments are issued as such:
- Your care providers bill the insurance company directly, so you do not actually get this money (except for reimbursements for medical marijuana, which are usually processed within about a month).
- Your wage-loss checks come weekly or bi-weekly, depending on your pay structure before the injury. The first check should start on the next payday, though you will get back payments for missed income while you fought the case if you were disabled for at least 2 weeks.
- Specific loss benefits pay a weekly or bi-weekly check, but these benefits usually do not start until your total disability period has ended (e.g., until you are found to have under 35% total body impairment).
Timeline of a Workers’ Comp Case
All in all, Workers’ Comp claims can take anywhere from a few weeks to almost a year, with anywhere from 3-12 months being possible. This is made up of the following stages, each with its own timeframe:
Notice and Initial Filing
You should call our Workers’ Comp lawyers and work with us to report your case as soon as possible, but it is typically reported within 21 days. However, you can technically report as late as 120 days after injury. Any delay here delays your ultimate payment.
From there, the employer gets 21 days to decide whether to pay you or not.
However, claims for wage-loss benefits cannot be paid until you are out of work for at least 7 days, so you typically will not receive an answer in the first week.
Pay Without Prejudice Period
If your employer decides they need more time to investigate your claim, they can start paying benefits at 21 days after your claim, then extend their decision-making period by 90 days. During that time, you receive benefits, but they can stop them after 90 days “without prejudice” (i.e., without a claim that they are going back on their word).
Claim Petition
After your employer denies your claim, you can file a Claim Petition with a Workers’ Comp Judge. This usually takes us a couple of weeks to prepare, though some petitions are simpler to write up. We may have even already started on the petition if we were pretty sure you would be denied.
You have up to 3 years from the injury to file this, but you should file far sooner.
Evidence Collection
This is where the case takes the longest. We need time to collect evidence, and so does the other side. Every time we submit things to the court, the other side gets time to respond. This can potentially take up to 90 days for each side (around 6 months), if they need that long.
Hearings
How long it takes to schedule a hearing depends on how busy the judge’s docket is. However, the hearings themselves typically take a day or a few days in court for the judge to get everything needed to decide your case.
Decisions
Decisions often come within 30 days of the last hearing, unless additional evidence and additional hearings are needed.
Final Timing
All in all, this can mean that a claim can be granted as soon as a week after your initial injury, though this is rare. Concerted negotiations can lead to settlements, potentially shortening the case and cutting it off at any point.
However, if both sides take the full advantage of their time (without delaying too long), it can take at least 21 days to file, 21 + 90 days for a final denial, a few weeks to prepare the Claim Petition, a few weeks to respond, 6 months for evidence, a few weeks for hearings, a month for a decision, and a month for payment.
That easily takes the case into at least a year, barring further delays. However, if we are ready to go, and the insurance company does not try to delay too much, it is possible for cases to move on a quicker timeline.
Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers for Help with Your Case Today
Call Cardamone Law’s Philadelphia Workers’ Comp lawyers at (267) 651-7945 to get started.
