Montgomeryville, PA Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
Workers’ Compensation claims can be difficult to navigate without a lawyer on your side. Evidence collection costs and the formalities of hearings can stop unrepresented workers in their tracks.
Working with our lawyers is often the difference between getting your claim accepted and endlessly being denied by employers and their insurance carriers. Our lawyers can bring cases to court, front the cost of doctor’s exams to gather evidence, pay for depositions, and collect reimbursement for these costs at the end of the case. All the while, we represent you and fight for your best interests before judges and insurance companies.
For a free case review, call the Certified Workers’ Compensation Specialists at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945.
When to File a Workers’ Comp Claim for Work Injuries in Montgomeryville
Missing the deadline to file can shut down your claim entirely.
Notice Deadline
The Workers’ Comp Act instructs workers to notify their employers of injuries within 21 days. Notice after this point could delay your claim.
Once you give notice, employers then decide whether to pay within 21 days. However, they can extend their decision deadline by 90 days if they pay temporary benefits for that additional period.
The Act also says that notice given after 120 days is too late and blocks compensation. While you can miss the 21-day deadline, missing the 120-day notice deadline ends your case immediately.
Filing Your Claim on Time
Initial claims are filed with your employer by notifying them of the injury. This step does not necessarily need a lawyer and starts the process of having the insurance company analyze the claim.
Court Deadline
Once denied, you have 2 years to file your “Claim Petition” before a Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ). This deadline is the one you need your lawyer for, and most claims will be filed well before this deadline.
Keep in mind that these cases are filed with special Workers’ Comp Judges, not through your local courthouse like a lawsuit.
What Do You Need to Start Your Claim?
First, you need an injury to be able to file. Your injury has to be serious enough to disable you and keep you from working for at least 7 days before you can get wage-loss benefits. However, medical care is paid throughout the process, so any injury serious enough to need medical care is serious enough to notify your employer and get Workers’ Comp.
Second, you need evidence of when and how the accident happened. When you notify your employer, they likely have incident report forms for you to fill out with information like where the accident happened, what injuries you suffered, and how much you can work now.
Third, any further support or evidence will come later. For your initial claim, your employer’s Workers’ Comp carrier may get your records or have you submit additional medical records, bills, etc. We can find these for you.
How Does a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Help Me?
Our lawyers are certified specialists in Workers’ Comp – something not every lawyer can say. We have additional training and experience in Workers’ Comp so that we can represent you, collect evidence, file the right petitions, and help with all stages of your Workers’ Comp claim.
Evidence Collection
At the beginning of your case, we can talk to doctors, gather evidence of your injury and disability, get evidence linking it to your work tasks, and file your claim in court. If your case is denied, we can appeal.
Settlements
Throughout the process, we can also negotiate with the defense. Your employer and their insurance carrier will often want to settle your case, and we can negotiate for an appropriate settlement.
We can also keep an eye out for potential complications, like unpredictable medical costs or potential interactions with Medicare/Medicaid that might make settling more difficult.
Other Workers’ Comp Issues
Lastly, you do not stop needing a lawyer when you get benefits granted. A settlement ends your case entirely, but ongoing benefits can be reduced if you return to work, restored if your injury comes back, and terminated for various reasons. We can represent you in these stages of the case, fighting for you to keep your benefits, return to work, or whatever other goal you have in this system.
What is a Good Settlement for a Work Injury in Montgomeryville?
Workers in suburban areas like Montgomeryville work in all kinds of industries, and the potential injuries they face can vary greatly. In any case, settlement calculations start by looking at lost earnings, medical expenses, and extra payments for specific injuries, accounting for all of this in the total.
Lost Earnings
Lost earnings pay 2/3 of your missing wages. This amount is capped at $1,347 per week in 2025 – the state average weekly wage (AWW).
If 2/3 of your wage would be under half that, you take half the state AWW instead: $673.50 per week. If 90% of your wage is under half the state AWW, you make 90% of your lost wage.
Here is the hard part: these wages continue as long as you cannot work. Predicting how long this will be often requires medical experts. If you go down to partial incapacity, your wage-loss benefits change to 2/3 the difference in what you make now and your pre-injury AWW for up to 500 weeks.
Medical Costs
All medical costs to treat the work injury should be reimbursed or covered. If your care is done with, you can calculate these costs. With ongoing disabilities and treatment, we need experts to help calculate costs.
Specific Injuries
Lastly, the Act lists a number of weeks for certain injuries and pays 2/3 of your AWW weekly for that time. This covers permanent amputation, serious facial scarring, lost hearing, lost vision, and lost function. Injuries like a lost thumb, lost eye, or amputated leg would receive these additional benefits, so put them into the calculation, too.
Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers in Montgomeryville, PA Today
Call Cardamone Law’s Workers’ Comp lawyers at (267) 651-7945 for a free case review.
