Pre-Settlement Funding for Workers' Compensation
What is Workers' Compensation?
Worker’s compensation law is a specific area of law that provides protections to employees who have been injured while on the job. Primarily, it requires employers to purchase worker’s compensation insurance to cover the cost of any potential injuries sustained by their employees or contractors. Worker’s compensation laws also require employers to allow employees to seek medical treatment (using the employer's insurance plan) and replace lost wages caused by the injury.
Every state has its own worker’s compensation law. So, what a worker’s compensation law says in one state may not be the same in another. There are also laws for specific industries, such as the railroad industry. And, some industries are exempted from worker’s compensation laws.
Types of Workers' Compensation Cases
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Toxic Exposure: Workers can be exposed to toxic materials at work that either causes immediate injury or injuries that appear later in life. Common types of cases include asbestos or mesothelioma exposure.
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Construction Site Accidents: Construction workers face increased dangers in the workplace, making construction site accidents very common.
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Other Workplace accidents: Worker's compensation covers a variety of workplace injuries.
Filing a Workers' Compensation Claim
When someone sustains a workers' compensation injury, they must report the injury to their employer as soon as possible to trigger coverage by the worker’s compensation insurance. The employee and employer have to follow the correct process in their state, which includes filing the claim within a certain number of days.
Generally, once a workers' compensation claim has been filed, the employer must allow the injured employee to seek medical treatments for the injury and cover lost wages. What other benefits exist depends on the insurance and the State's workers' compensation law.
Workers' Compensation Claims are Not Lawsuits...
Workers' compensation claims are not lawsuits. If you file a workers' compensation claim, and the claim is not resolved by the time the statute of limitations runs, you can lose your right to compensation for your workers' compensation injury.
What if I'm not getting my workers' compensation payments?
Unfortunately, employers don’t always want their workers to file worker’s compensation claims. Deterring a worker from filing a claim is illegal, but it still happens often. When a claim is not filed or contested, or when an employer does not have worker’s compensation insurance, the injured worker suffers the most.
If you are currently waiting for compensation for your workers' compensation claim, we can help...
What if my employer doesn’t have workers' compensation insurance?
Although most states require employers to carry worker’s compensation insurance, some companies fail to do this. If your employer should have had insurance and they do not, they still need to comply with the worker’s compensation law in their state. In most cases, this means they still need to cover your medical expenses and replace your wages. What is covered under the worker’s compensation law in your state depends.
Unfortunately, not having insurance can significantly delay any kind of compensation for employees who are healing worker’s compensation injuries.
If your employer is not helping you with a worker’s compensation injury, it’s important to contact an attorney as soon as you can.
Hiring a Worker’s Compensation Lawyer
Some states have specific rules for how much lawyers can charge a client for their services in a worker’s compensation claim. For example, in some states, a lawyer can only charge up to a certain percentage of what they are able to recover for their client.
For more information about finding a personal injury lawyer for your worker’s compensation injury, visit our Find a Lawyer page.