Unless you work for a very small company or are classified as an independent contractor, you should have access to workers’ compensation insurance through your employer. That insurance should provide you with benefits to help you keep your life in order after a work-related injury or illness. Unfortunately, the insurance companies that provide this coverage—and sometimes even the employers who buy policies from them—are never on the side of workers who are trying to get the benefits they’re rightfully owed.
If you want to get paid fairly after getting hurt or sick on the job, there is a good chance you will benefit from contacting a Pevely workers’ compensation lawyer. At OnderLaw, we know every underhanded trick and legal loophole that insurance companies use to deny coverage to workers in need, and our experienced personal injury attorneys will help you fight against these tactics and get the fair compensation you deserve.
The primary purpose of workers’ compensation is to minimize the financial impact that a work-related injury or illness has on the affected worker. This is only fair for workers who got hurt or became sick because of tasks they were performing for their employer. Workers’ comp is supposed to cover all expenses for reasonably necessary medical care to restore an injured or sick worker to “maximum medical improvement”—in other words, to get them back to their pre-injury condition or as close to it as reasonably possible.
Additionally, if your injury or illness leaves you unable to work for several days or more, workers’ comp should provide you with partial wage reimbursement for the shifts you have to miss while recovering. Generally, workers’ comp covers about two-thirds of your average wage prior to getting hurt or sick, but the exact amount of temporary partial disability (TPD) or temporary total disability (TTD) benefits you can receive may change slightly depending on the circumstances.
Finally, if you suffer permanent harm from a work-related accident or illness, you can seek long-term benefits through workers’ comp in the form of permanent partial disability (PPD) or permanent total disability (PTD) benefits.
As our compassionate Pevely workers’ compensation attorneys can further explain, benefits may also be available to family members of workers who lose their lives through work-related accidents.
All the benefits listed above may seem fairly straightforward, but actually getting them can be anything but simple. There are numerous procedural requirements and rules you need to follow to qualify for benefits in the first place and remain eligible for them in the long term. Missing even one could give the insurance company an excuse to deny some or all of the benefits you should receive.
On top of that, insurers will fight as hard as they can to question whether you’re really hurt as badly as you claim to be, whether your injury or illness was work-related, and whether specific forms of medical care—including those recommended by your doctors—were necessary to get you back in working shape. Overcoming opposition like this is virtually impossible without support from a reliable and experienced lawyer who has successfully handled workers’ comp claims in Pevely in the past.
Workers’ comp can be a vital lifeline after a serious accident at work or after getting sick because of your working conditions. However, it can also be difficult to understand and to get paid fairly, especially if you try to pursue your claim without professional legal guidance.
At OnderLaw, we don’t just take on cases, we take on causes. Call today to learn how a Pevely workers’ compensation lawyer can help you get the benefits you deserve.