Being injured at work can be a huge stressor for so many people. Now knowing how you are going to pay your bills, when you are going to be able to go back to work, and what you have to do while you wait. The right worker’s comp lawyer can assist with workers comp claims and help you get the money you need to take time off and really recover.
What is Workers Comp?
When workers are injured on the job or at the workplace, workers comp steps in to help pay money and wages to the worker while they are unable to work. Workers compensation is a type of insurance that the employer pays for each month to help cover the cost of paying an employee that has been injured on the job. Workers comp varies in amounts depending on what happened, how long you are going to be off of work, and what your medical bills are associated with the injury that occurred.
Worker’s comp is designed to protect both the employer and the employee and helps to ensure that if you are injured at work, you are not going to be without funds to help keep your life going and to keep paying your bills.
What Does Worker’s Compensation Pay For?
Worker’s comp often pays out in a lump sum or in increments over an agreed upon period of time. These payments can help you keep your household going and can cover a huge range of different payments and bills that you might have. Often, worker’s comp will pay your medical bills directly to the facility where you were treated so that you do not have to worry about them and can instead focus on getting better.
Your worker’s comp claim may also pay out a fraction of your salary for a period of time until you can get back to work and can start earning your check again. The money that you get from a worker’s comp claim can be used for any bill or any expense that you have regarding your day-to-day life and what you would normally pay with your paycheck. This money is not specifically earmarked for any one sort of payment, except for the money that is paying the medical bills.
This means that if you are injured at work, and you cannot earn your salary, you can use the money that you get from worker’s comp to pay for your mortgage, electricity bills, groceries, gas and anything else that you would normally pay each month. The goal of worker’s comp is to provide you with money so that you can take the time off of work that you need and so that you can recover and eventually return to work without being injured.
Injury that occurs at work is covered by workers comp claims. You can think of it in this way, say you were injured at work by a piece of equipment, and you need to be off of work for three weeks. Your employer is going to file a claim with their workers comp insurance company, they will document the entire event thoroughly as well as your treatment. The insurance company will then either approve or deny the claim, and you will be awarded the money from the claim.
Some workers comp insurance companies pay out each month like a paycheck until you can return to work while others pay out in a lump sum. As mentioned, you can use your money for whatever you need to pay and for whatever you might have been paying prior to becoming injured. The claim is sort of a stand in pay check until you can get back to work and until you can get back to earning your money.
When to Hire a Lawyer?
Worker’s comp is notoriously difficult and can cause all sorts of problems for those that are filing claims. In many cases, the worker’s comp will try to deny claims, and it may be difficult for you to get the money you need and the money you deserve to pay the bills that you have while you are off work. If you are dealing with a worker’s comp claim that you think might be denied or that has been difficult, you certainly want to hire an attorney to help.
Often times, it is best to hire an attorney as soon as you have a claim so that they can help you through the process. They can assist you in collecting the information needed to file your claim, they can assist with speaking to the workers comp insurance company, and they can help fight to get your claim approved. An attorney that is experienced in workers comp claims can help you get the settlement you need so that you can recover and so that you can move on from your injury.
While an attorney is not always necessary, it is certainly helpful to have someone else on your side that has your best interest in mind and that wants to get you the money you deserve. The right attorney is going to be able to fight for you, work with you and help to keep you calm and focused through the claims process so that you can get the money you need to keep on going and so that you can be certain your claim is going to be approved.
Most employers are going to have workers comp insurance in place to protect themselves and to protect their workers so that everyone can keep on working and can keep on paying their bills even if they are injured. No one wants to get hurt at work, but knowing that you are not going to be left high and dry and that there are different ways that you can keep paying your bills can make it easier to deal with. The right attorney can make all the difference and can make this process even simpler.
