Kutztown Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Workers in Kutztown and the surrounding areas should almost universally be covered by Workers’ Compensation.  As long as you are an employee (as opposed to an independent contractor), you should be able to file a claim against your employer for coverage after a work-related injury, paying for your medical bills and replacement wages while you are unable to work.

These payments often do not come without a fight, however.  Our attorneys represent warehouse workers, food service workers, retail workers, farmers, office workers, medical staff, and all sorts of workers across the region, helping them to file their claims and get the benefits they need, even when their employers and insurance carriers put up a fight.

For a free case evaluation, call (267) 651-7945 to speak with the Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at Cardamone Law right away.

Fighting for Compensation in a Workers’ Comp Case in Kutztown

Insurance carriers and employers often deny Workers’ Comp claims at first blush rather than accepting them and paying you the benefits they are legally obligated to.  This means that when you notify them of your injury and await a determination, you might be waiting a long time if they simply ignore your claim, or you may soon be met with a denial.  From there, you can file in court and seek benefits from a Workers’ Comp Judge.

Workers’ Comp Judges exclusively hear Work Comp claims, starting with a Claim Petition.  Our Workers’ Compensation lawyers can file your case with evidence that your injury was work-related and that your condition keeps you from returning to work at full capacity, listing the benefits we think you deserve.

Benefits from these claims usually involve replacement wages that equal 2/3 of your average wage before the injury (or 2/3 of the difference between your current and old wages if you are able to work to a limited extent).  We can also claim medical coverage so that you do not have to pay for any medical care to treat the work injury.  Along with this, additional benefits might be paid for permanent lost function, amputations, lost hearing or vision, or serious scars on the face.  If a loved one died in a work accident, then we can fight for death benefits instead.

Many cases ultimately settle, and the Work Comp Judge needs to approve those settlements.  In these cases, the insurance carrier pays for everything in one “lump sum” (potentially structured as an annuity instead).  This means that if your condition is likely to get worse later or require additional medical care down the line, settling might not be the best choice for you.

Even after the initial benefits are paid, so long as you did not accept a settlement, then the case might go on for years with additional court dates arising if the employer challenges your ongoing need for benefits, if your benefits need to switch over to partial disability (or back to total disability), or if there are treatments you need covered that the insurance carrier refuses to cover.

Workers’ Comp vs. Lawsuits for Injuries at Work in Kutztown

Many workers go straight to the idea of suing an employer after getting injured while working, but Workers’ Comp laws in Pennsylvania often prevent lawsuits.  An employer cannot typically be sued for injuries, leaving only lawsuits against third parties as an option in your case.  However, Workers’ Comp can be better for your case anyway for a few reasons.

First, Workers’ Comp pays when your employer is at fault, when no one was at fault, and even when you are at fault.  This is essentially a no-fault system, and it covers injuries as long as they are related to work, without virtually any question about who was at fault.  The main exception to this is that benefits cannot be paid if you intentionally injured yourself or got hurt while on drugs or alcohol or doing something illegal.

Second, Workers’ Comp does not stop you from suing if you want to seek damages from other parties in a lawsuit.  However, our lawyers do not typically handle those cases, and there are often complex subrogation claims whereby the insurance carrier can ultimately claim some of that money back from you to reimburse them for what they paid in Workers’ Comp.

Lastly, Workers’ Comp lawyers often cost less than lawyers for other injury lawsuits, given that we are capped at charging 20% for most services, and Work Comp Judges typically need to review and approve our fees.  In other claims, you might pay upwards of 33% of your award to your lawyers, potentially canceling out any additional damages you got anyway.  Moreover, if the defendant (the employer and their insurance carrier) denied your claim on unreasonable grounds, we can typically claim attorney’s fees from them.

How a Workers’ Compensation Specialist Can Help in Kutztown

Some of our attorneys are Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists.  This means that they have a required level of experience and additional training and certifications in Workers’ Comp law that allow them to hold themselves out as specialists.  Most attorneys cannot claim this level of certification and experience, but our lawyers can.

This means that when we say we focus our practice on Workers’ Comp cases, it is true; all we do is represent injured workers and work to get them – and help them keep – the benefits they deserve.  We understand the ins and outs of the Workers’ Comp system, and we can pick up your claim at any point in the process, whether you are filing for your initial benefits after an injury or seeking to keep your benefits or get additional procedures covered after years of being on benefits.

No matter what the insurance carrier or employer has done to try to challenge your case, we can stand up for you.  We are also financially leveraged to pay for things like depositions and medical evidence gathering – things we can get reimbursed when we win your case – so that you do not have to pay up front.

Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers in Kutztown, PA Today

Call Cardamone Law’s Workers’ Comp lawyers at (267) 651-7945 for a free case evaluation.