Getting a Fair Amount From Your Workers' Comp Settlement

In order to determine whether or not you may be eligible for lasting disability benefits from the workers’ compensation insurance company used by your employer, you must first determine if a work related injury has caused a permanent impairment that restricts your ability to do your job properly. You may decide to simply accept the workers’ compensation payment of which the insurer has decided to pay, yet you also have the option to either negotiate a settlement with the insurance company or take the matter to court and have the judge decide what amount will be paid if you disagree with the original settlement.

Workers’ Comp Settlement Options

If you choose to negotiate a settlement with your employer’s workers’ compensation insurer in court, many states allow you to ask for a lump-sum of compensation as opposed to pre-determined weekly payments of disability.The settlement can also set aside a specific amount of money for future medical care, as well as money the insurer owes you for overdue temporary disability benefits and unreimbursed medical expenses. Conversely, if it is your preference, your are able to argue for a structured settlement in which you will be paid over a period of time, which will allow you to preserve your future rights to medical care.
Workers’ compensation settlements can be extremely complex and only an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer can navigate the intricacies and help secure the best settlement for you while also protecting your ability to receive additional benefits in the future. Specifically, the exact wording of the settlement itself can be critically important to the monetary amount you may receive from your social security benefits if you already receive them. Your settlement can reduce these payments if the wording of it is not precise.
For a disability settlement to be considered official, many states require that a workers’ compensation judge must review the settlement in its entirety. It is common for a workers’ comp judge to ensure that the settlement is fair to the victim especially if they are operating without the help of an attorney. Although this may be true, the power of the judge in this specific scenario can be highly limited, which gives good reason to consider hiring the help of an experienced workers’ comp attorney. It is also common that a settlement may be more beneficial to the victim when assisted by an attorney.

Contact a Workers’ Comp Attorney Today

Negotiating a disability settlement with a workers’ comp insurer is no simple task. These are very complicated cases in which every word included in a settlement is important to the victim and can affect both the money they will receive in the short term as well as their eligibility for additional compensation and benefits later on down the road. That is why it may be in your best interest if you are looking to negotiate a workers’ comp settlement to contact an attorney with years of experience dealing with workers’ comp cases as well as the insurance companies in order to receive the best settlement possible.
The articles on this blog are for informative purposes only and are no substitute for legal advice or an attorney-client relationship. If you are seeking legal advice, please contact our law firm directly.