Workers’ compensation, in theory, is very straightforward. Its purpose is to offer you the money you need to recover after you get injured on the job. In most US states, businesses are actually required to have insurance to help deal with such situations. However, this does not mean problems cannot appear.
In some situations, you will need to hire a workers’ compensation lawyer like https://www.mcwhirterlaw.com/workers-compensation-lawyer/. Some of the important ones to remember are the following.
The Employer Does Not Promptly Pay Benefits Or Denies The Claim
Bone fide claims are often rejected by insurers and employers. This is because they know many workers are going to fail at filing an appeal. When you hire a qualified, experienced workers’ compensation lawyer, there is nothing to lose. You do not pay anything up front and there is a much higher possibility that you are going to receive a full settlement for what you suffered.
The Settlement Offer Does Not Cover All Medical Bills Or Lost Wages
You might not know if the settlement offer you received is actually good enough. This is completely normal. If you are faced with such a situation, the best thing you can do is to arrange a consultation with a workers’ compensation attorney. This simple step allows you to know if you should receive more or not.
One thing you might not know is that those who make the decisions sometimes sign off on the agreement without considering if it is fair or not. That is why you should get in touch with a lawyer since you do not want someone else to decide if the deal is good for you or not.
The Injury Will Prevent You From Working To Any Extent In The Future
In some unfortunate situations, you might suffer a permanent disability. It does not matter if it is total or partial. You should receive weekly payments in order to cover future lost wages. Unfortunately, insurance companies do all they can to avoid having to pay this. A very good workers’ compensation lawyer can easily help you to get the right compensation for illnesses or permanent injuries.
You Will Need Social Security Disability
When the injury settlement does not have the right structure, workers’ compensation benefits can end up lowering the disability payments you receive in the future or right now from Social Security. Experienced lawyers fully understand this and will draft the perfect settlement agreement in order to eliminate or minimize such an unwanted offset.
The Employer Retaliates
If the employer decides to fire you, slashes your hours, demotes you, reduces how much you are paid, or starts to discriminate against you as you filed the claim, you absolutely have to contact the workers’ compensation lawyer. Your legal rights have to be protected and no boss should ever retaliate against an employee for taking advantage of their rights.
At the end of the day, the truth is that hiring a workers’ compensation attorney is always a very good idea, even if your case seems simple. At the very least, this should guarantee you receive a truly fair compensation.