Get Ahead in Your Personal Injury Case

What To Look For In A Workers' Compensation Settlement

17 May 2019 by Kenneth Pierce

When a workplace accident has you seeking help, a workers' compensation settlement might be offered. Workers' compensation insurance assists hurt workers with a disability wage while they cannot work and payment of medical expenses. When it comes to settlements, a mistake could mean a loss of valuable financial compensation at a time when you really need it. Read on for more information about what to look for in a complete workers' comp settlement offer.

Seek Advice Before You Sign Anything

There is more to a settlement than many hurt workers realize. If you agree without seeking advice, you might end up losing thousands of dollars that you might otherwise be entitled to. For example, some hurt workers are eager to close the case and accept an offer to settle as soon as they receive it. Perhaps they believe that it's enough, that it's all they are entitled to receive or that they have no choice. Once you sign your name on the settlement paperwork, it cannot be undone. You cannot add more benefits or ask for more money—your case if over.

Know About Your Injury Prognosis

You must have detailed information about your medical condition before you can even begin to evaluate a settlement. In some cases, the workers' compensation insurance carrier will pressure you to accept a settlement based on preliminary medical information. For example, if you hurt your back while at work, your doctor may be treating you with injections to help relieve the pain. The injections are working and you feel well enough to return to your job so you agree to accept a settlement. Unfortunately, your back pain returns and the injections are no longer working. Your doctor says you may need surgery. With a back injury, the ramifications can be difficult to predict but an expert medical opinion would have told you to wait a few more months to know the final outcome.

What Makes a Good Settlement Offer?

Without a workers' compensation lawyer to advise you, it's easy to accept a low offer. Be sure the offer you accept contains the following elements before you sign away your chances for future compensation.

Payment of all medical expenses past and present. You should have no unpaid, pending or outstanding bills at the time you agree to the settlement. That includes medications, physical therapy, transportation to the hospital, diagnostic testing, and more.

An estimation of future medical treatment needs. Your attorney will have you examined with an eye to determining how much more treatment you will need and the cost of that treatment.

Any lost wages not covered by disability wages. Disability wages are only a percentage of your normal pay and you deserve the full amount. Additionally, if you are permanently disabled, you are entitled to be paid what you would have earned in your lifetime.

Don't make a move without speaking to a workers' compensation lawyer about your case.

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