Workers’ Compensation is supposed to act quickly to get workers the benefits they need. If you were hurt, you can get medical care right away, and your employer should pay for it. However, it can take a bit of time for you to get your wage-loss checks.
If your claim is accepted, you can technically get your benefits paid as early as the 8th day of disability. More likely, insurance carriers will take the full 21 days they are allowed to make a decision, then pay on the next payday. If they deny your claim, it takes a few months (2-3) to decide your claim in court and get you your first benefits check.
For help getting your benefits, call the Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945.
When Do Workers’ Comp Checks Go Out?
Typically, Workers’ Comp checks for wage-loss benefits are paid to you on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, whichever matches your usual pay schedule from before the accident. Medical care benefits are paid directly to the provider as they come up, so you usually never see a check for this.
What is the Quickest I Can Get Paid?
Workers are expected to report injuries within 21 days, and your employer/their insurance carrier gets 21 days to respond and approve your benefits with a Notice of Compensation Payable. If we assume you give them notice on the day of injury, and that the earliest day you could get paid happens to be a payday, then the soonest you can get a check is the 8th day of disability.
You must be out of work for 7 days before you qualify for wage-loss benefits, so the 8th day is the first possible day of payment, assuming they accept your claim early. If you are out for 14 days, they pay the back wages for the first week, too.
If they take the full time, then you will get paid as early as 21 days from the injury, or the next payday after that.
What is a Realistic Timeline for My First Workers’ Comp Check in Pennsylvania?
This 21-day timetable is quite possible, but not likely. If they deny your case, then they should tell you so by 21 days from your notice. Then you can file a Claim Petition.
The ensuing court battle often takes a few months, meaning 2-3 months from your injury is a reasonable wait time.
When Do Temporary Benefits Start and End?
Instead of agreeing to pay your claim and starting your ongoing benefits within 21 days, your employer can also agree to start paying you on a temporary basis and extend their investigation period by 90 days. This means that you will start getting benefits at 21 days, but they can turn them back off after they complete their investigation.
With this setup, your benefits may be turned back off again after 90 days (that’s 111 days from your initial notice). From there, you will have to go through all the steps of dealing with a denial.
How Long Does it Take to Fight a Denial?
As mentioned, fighting a denial can take 2-3 months in many cases, but claims going as long as 6 months or even potentially years are not unheard of.
The delay here comes from a few places. First, the employer gets 21 days to decide your claim, which they can extend 90 days. From there, we can file a Claim Petition with the court, but the employer/insurance carrier needs time to get notice of the claim, and the court needs to schedule out a hearing.
Evidence Collection
In the meantime, there is evidence that needs to be collected and medical appointments to attend. You often need to undergo an exam (paid for by your employer) to prove your disability. You may also need to get competing exams from doctors we choose if that exam doesn’t go well. Our Philadelphia Workers’ Comp lawyers can also hold depositions to interview witnesses, and the defense may do the same.
Hearings
Your first hearing might not be the one where all the decisions are made, and it could take multiple rounds of hearings before everything gets sorted out. Once you get to the final hearing, the judge often takes a week or so to hand down the decision and grant benefits.
Benefits Start Date
After this, your benefits can start.
This ultimately means a few months of delay in most cases, but additional evidentiary needs, additional disputes, and complex cases could require a lot more time to work out.
Is Settling a Workers’ Comp Case Faster?
In most cases, settling your claim is faster. However, the insurance carrier may require you to undergo medical exams, and we may need to go through rounds of depositions and other evidence collection – plus negotiation meetings/conferences – before there is enough evidence to convince them to settle.
An insurance carrier can offer a settlement after the initial 21-day deadline for a decision or sooner, but many settlement offers are signed in the weeks and months after you submit your Claim Petition. In any case, this is often faster than waiting for the Workers’ Comp Judge’s decision.
The settlement itself will usually state when the check should be delivered, with it typically coming within a month after the settlement. This check should cover the full settlement amount unless you have arranged for an annuity.
How Long Does a Lawsuit Take?
In many cases, you can sue alongside a Workers’ Comp claim. Your employer has to pay the Work Comp claim regardless of who was at fault for the accident, but you can hold outside third parties liable in court if they were the ones who ultimately injured you.
Lawsuits often take much longer than Workers’ Comp claims, so it is usually important for injured workers to get their wage-loss benefits and medical care costs paid through Workers’ Comp while they pursue their lawsuit. At the end of that case, you can get the rest of your damages, such as pain and suffering, paid for.
However, lawsuits often take 6 months on the short end, and most take at least a year to 18 months, if not longer, before a jury decision. If you settle this claim, it often goes faster, too, potentially taking only a few months.
Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers in Pennsylvania for Help
Call our Pittsburgh, PA Workers’ Comp lawyers for a free review of your potential case by calling Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945 today.
