What to Expect From a Worker’s Comp Settlement: A Realistic Guide

Over 340 million people get into work-related accidents every year.

When it comes to workplace injuries, many people feel as though they don’t have many options. While you may think you’re responsible for paying for your medical expenses, you can get compensated for your injury or sickness.

Using a worker’s comp chart settlement chart, you can see how much you can get to help you cover everything. Depending on the type of injury or illness you have, the amount you can get will vary. Because of this, you should know what to do to help you get as much as you can.

Keep on reading to learn more about workers’ comp.

What Is Workers’Comp? Workers’ compensation is a type of insurance that most businesses use to protect their employees. The main thing workers’ compensation is for is to provide coverage for medical bills and time lost from work. Whenever an employee gets injured at the workplace, they can continue to earn money while missing work.

Although workers’ compensation benefits vary depending on the state of the company, it generally offers the same protection in every state. You can expect your company to cover both injuries and illnesses. You should also get enough coverage to avoid having to file a lawsuit.

How to File a Worker’s Comp Claim

If you’ve been injured or gotten sick because of another employee, you can file a workers’ comp claim to start seeking compensation. While many people are unaware of the process, you don’t need to do much. Filing a claim is as simple as getting some paperwork and submitting it to your employer.

Here are the necessary steps for filing a workers’ comp claim.

Report the Injury or Illness

The first thing you need to do when you get sick or injured is to report it to your employer. Keep in mind that filing a workers’ comp claim for an illness should only be done if you’ve gotten something serious. If you get a cold, you won’t get any compensation.

No matter what type of injury or illness you get, it must be work-related. Because of this, you’ll need to prove that it happened in the workplace. Your injury must be acquired because of the negligence of the company and not your own.

One example of a qualifying injury is slipping at work because another employee mopped the floor and didn’t place a sign down. When you get injured because of something out of your control, you’ll be more likely to get the proper compensation.

Proving that you got sick at work can be difficult, but you could get compensated for something like mesothelioma. This can be acquired when you’re exposed to asbestos, which is something that companies are supposed to protect their employees from.

Get the Necessary Paperwork

After you report the incident to your employer, you’ll need them to give you the necessary paperwork to fill out. If you’re seeking something like workers comp settlement back injury payments, you’ll need to write down info about the injury.

Some of the basic information that you’ll provide include your address, where you work, what type of injury or illness you have, and your insurance. If an employer doesn’t provide you with these documents, you may file a lawsuit because they’re preventing you from getting compensation.

Have Your Employer Submit the Paperwork

When you’ve filled out the documents, your employer will need to submit them to the workers’ comp insurance provider. You’ll also need your doctor to send a medical report that verifies you have an illness or injury.

Whether you’re seeking workers’ comp or not, your employer will also send documents to the state’s workers’ compensation board. This is done for documentation in case something else comes up in the future.

Find Out What’s Determined

One of the most important steps in the process is finding out whether you’ll get compensation for your injury or illness. You’ll find out shortly after your employer submits the documents to the insurance provider.

If you’re approved, the insurance provider will contact you and explain to you what your worker’s comp settlement amount is. You’ll also be notified if the claim isn’t approved, but you can continue to fight if you think you deserve compensation.

With a workers’ comp attorney, you can accept the payment that’s offered or negotiate for more money. When denied, you can ask the insurance provider to reconsider their decision.

Return to Work

When you’ve recovered from your injury or illness, you’ll then return to work after noticing your employer and the insurance provider. If you’ve suffered severe injuries, you may continue to receive payments after returning to work.

Should you continue to experience injuries or illnesses at work, your employer will start having to pay more for their insurance. After your first time getting workers’ comp, you may see them change their training policies to prevent people from getting sick or hurt in the future.

Finding a Workers’ Comp Attorney

To ensure that you get the compensation you deserve, you’ll need to work with an experienced lawyer. Finding a workers’ comp attorney will prevent you from getting your insurance claim declined because you don’t know what info to provide.

In many cases, people will miss out on compensation because their employers don’t go through the necessary workers’ comp process. No matter what the situation, you should start looking for a lawyer soon after you get injured.

Look Online for Several Attorneys

To find a good workers’ comp attorney as quickly as possible, you’ll need to look online. On the internet, you can find a lawyer in your area within minutes by searching for something like, “workers’ comp lawyer near me.”

You’ll see the websites of several law firms and lawyers, so go through them and look for as much information about them as you can. You can often tell if a lawyer is legitimate if their website looks professional. If a lawyer doesn’t have a website, you should avoid them because it will be hard to find info about them.

Put together a list of several lawyers that interest you. When getting workers comp settlement after surgery, you’ll need someone that can provide everything for you. Try to find ones that offer a variety of services to their clients.

Check Their Backgrounds

After making a list, start looking into the backgrounds of all the attorneys that interest you. You need to find information about their past cases so you know if they can win for you. One of the best ways to learn about an attorney is by checking reviews from other clients. Using Google Reviews, you can see what people see about an attorney as soon as you search them up. Next to the contact information that Google provides, you’ll see all of the reviews and a rating based on a 5-star scale. Go through all of the reviews and ensure that you read the negative ones.

Keep in mind that when a lawyer generally wins their cases, their services will most likely cost more. This is because they’ll have a higher demand than other lawyers. If getting compensation is a major concern for you, you should consider investing more in a lawyer that has a better chance of winning.

Reach Out to Attorneys

Before settling on an attorney, you need to reach out to each of the ones on your list and ask them about their services. Contacting attorneys and setting up meetings will let you familiarize yourself with them before you choose one to work with.

Many people make the mistake of hiring an attorney that doesn’t fit their schedule or style. If you’re available to talk at any time, it’s best to find someone that also has that kind of availability. You should also ensure they prefer to use the same contact method as you.

Find out how much they’ll charge for their services. Some attorneys won’t charge their clients anything unless they win the case, but it’s best to ask this before hiring them.

Once you decide to work with an attorney, they’ll have you explain your case to them. From there, they’ll take care of anything you haven’t done yet and explain the entire process to you.

One of the main jobs of a workers’ comp attorney is to ensure that their client has a clear understanding of everything that’s going on.

The Compensation You Can Get from a Worker’s Comp Settlement

Although the exact worker’s comp settlement amount that you’re eligible for will vary depending on your case, you should get enough to cover most things. Many of these cases result in the victims getting compensation for their medical expenses. If you have to miss work, you may get money to cover for that.

To increase your chances of getting the most compensation you can get, you’ll need to work with an attorney. Providing that you do your research, you shouldn’t have a problem finding one that will suit your needs.

Check out our other articles to learn more about a variety of topics!

Thanks to Susan Silvers