West Chester, PA Workers’ Comp Lawyer

Workers’ Compensation is supposed to be there for you after a work accident.  It should, if it is working properly, pay for all medical expenses and for around 2/3 of your lost wages while you are disabled from a work injury.  However, insurance carriers and employers who do not want to pay for these benefits often try to fight or unfairly deny benefits, requiring injured workers to get lawyers and go to court to get their benefits.

Our attorneys represent injured workers and help them file petitions to get benefits granted.  For those already on benefits, we can fight to help you keep your benefits, get the medical care you need covered, help you plan for independent medical exams, and plan for winding down benefits when you are ready to return to work.

For a free evaluation of your case, call Cardamone Law’s Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists at (267) 651-7945 today.

How Workers’ Compensation Claims Work in West Chester, PA

Workers’ Compensation insurance is actually paid for by your employer; you should never have to pay into the policy as part of your job.  However, this means that the insurance carrier works for your employer, not for you.  Even so, Pennsylvania law sets up a robust oversight system, where Workers’ Compensation Judges are put in place to hear petitions for benefits when claims are denied and to handle other aspects of a Workers’ Comp case.

Initial Claims

Your initial claim is filed by your employer with the insurance carrier after you report a work injury.  They are supposed to pay claims when they are work-related and are not caused by your intentional acts, drug use, alcohol use, or illegal activity.  However, many insurance carriers and employers either ignore the claim or reject it, meaning that you have to get a Workers’ Compensation lawyer and file your claim petition with a Workers’ Comp Judge.

Claim Petitions

When you file, the case goes before the judge with the major questions noted above, and the case will primarily focus on whether the injury was indeed work-related and whether it is disabling enough to justify wage-loss benefits.  There may also be settlements in these cases, paying for all medical bills and lost wage benefits in one lump sum.  A successful claim will see the worker awarded with ongoing benefits or a settlement.

Additional Petitions

In many cases, the case is not over just because the claim has been granted.  There may be petitions filed later once your injury gets better and your doctor says your condition no longer keeps you from working.  If you return to work or an independent medical examination – which your employer can request every 6 months after the first 2 years of benefits – shows that your injury has improved enough, you may be taken off “total incapacity” benefits and moved to “partial incapacity” benefits.  You may also need to seek out utilization reviews to get coverage approved for medical treatments that might be new, novel, or unique to your situation if the insurance carrier refuses to cover them.

When to Work with a Lawyer

In any case, you may need help from our attorneys at the beginning, in the middle, or near the end of your case as your benefits wrap up and you start returning to work.  You may even need help reopening your benefits claim if you return to work but the injury gets worse again.

Benefits Paid Through Workers’ Compensation in West Chester, PA

Workers’ Compensation pays four main areas of benefits:

Medical Benefits

Any medical care you need for a work-related injury should be paid by your employer or their insurance carrier at no expense to you.  This covers everything from emergency medical care to hospital stays to surgeries to rehabilitation to medication to mental health therapy, and more.  These benefits should be paid whether the injury allows you to recover and return to work or return to work at a limited capacity, and benefits should certainly be paid if the injury is disabling and you cannot go back to work.

Wage-Loss Benefits

Also known as “indemnity benefits,” wage-loss benefits should be paid if your work injury is sufficiently disabling that you lose earning power.  Whether this injury is temporarily disabling or permanently disabling, benefits should typically be paid at 2/3 your average weekly wage before the accident.  If your injuries let you work but only at a limited capacity, then your benefits are instead 2/3 of the difference between what you made before and after the injury.

There are also caps on these damages.  In 2025, the maximum weekly benefit is $1,347.  While there is a cap, there is also a floor, allowing low-wage earners to receive 90% of their wage or half this weekly maximum, whichever is lower.

Specific Loss Benefits

If you suffered a specific loss, such as a permanent amputation or permanent loss of function in a body part, you may be entitled to additional payments listed in the Workers’ Comp Act.  These benefits are also paid for lost vision, lost hearing, and serious facial scarring.

Each injury listed has a specific number of weeks’ worth of benefits assigned to it.  For example, a lost big toe gives you 40 weeks of benefits, a lost thumb gives you 100 weeks of benefits, and a lost eye gives you 75 weeks of benefits.  Check with a lawyer or reference the Act to see what benefits should issue for your specific loss injury.

Death Benefits

If a loved one passed away from a work injury, the surviving family members should be entitled to ongoing wage-loss benefits instead of the injured worker, along with funeral/burial benefits.  These benefits depend on the specific number of people in the family (e.g., whether they were married and how many kids they had/supported).

Call Our West Chester Workers’ Comp Attorneys Today

If you or a loved one was hurt in a work accident or if a loved one died in a work-related accident, call our Workers’ Compensation attorneys at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945.