How Much Do You Get for a Workers Compensation Settlement?

The good news about workers’ compensation benefits is that you will not have to wait for all of them; some will be given to you immediately. In most states, there is a law in place that requires employers to pay your medical bills before your claim is either accepted or denied. Once either your employer’s insurance company, your employer, or the state says that you are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, is when you will know that you are eligible. The entitlement of your injury depends on the severity of your injuries and your ability to work.

Medical Benefits Will Begin Immediately

All of the medical bills that are revolving solely around your workers’ compensation injury will be paid for by either your employer, your employer’s insurance company, or the state (if the state is the insurer), directly after you file for your workers’ compensation claim. Your claim does not necessarily have to be denied or accepted before you can start receiving benefit.

When do My Non-Medical Workers’ Compensation Benefits Begin?

Permanent disability benefits (a.k.a. loss of earning power benefits), Temporary disability benefits (a.k.a. time loss compensation),  and other Workers’ Compensation Benefits will not be given to you until your claim is formally accepted or allowed. Before you receive a check for your benefits, you will first receive a letter in the mail that officially claims that your claim was either accepted or denied. If you think that your application is wrongfully denied, then you can request an appeal. You will not receive benefits until your appeal is accepted.

Even when your claim is accepted, you will not receive workers’ compensation benefits until your injury is assessed and approved. For example, your doctor must complete a form that states that you are unable to work due to your work-related injury and that you should be eligible for some workers’ compensation benefits.

Your temporary disability benefits will be halted when your employer and doctor sees that your injury is not stopping you from working. For example, if your doctor sees from your appointment that your injury is not preventing you from working, then your employer will stop your temporary disability benefits.

Does Workers’ Compensation pay me each week?

Under the Workers’ Compensation Act in all states, your employer must pay you your benefits as they would pay you for your paycheck normally. If you are paid on a weekly basis, you should receive your workers’ compensation check weekly! Although the Pennsylvania law states that your check should be distributed the same as your normal paycheck, they are often late. If you notice that you are working and only receiving partial workers’ compensation checks, then you should keep track of your paystubs and make sure that you are getting the money that you deserve from the insurance company!

There are rules as to when workers’ compensation payments must be made. The rules are as follows:

1. An Insurance carrier must give written notice within 21 days of the injury being reported, stating that it is either being accepted or denied. Insurance carriers are required to stick in a time frame, but they will usually take all of the time that they are allowed.
2. If an injured worker misses less than seven days of work, then compensation does not need to be given. Disability is not required for disability that requires less than fourteen days of work. However, if more than fourteen days of work are missed, then the days that were earlier lost will become payable.
3. Benefits are considered payable under the workers’ compensation act “in periodical installments, as the wages of the employee were payable before the injury.” This states that if a worker was paid weekly when they were working, then their benefit checks should also be paid weekly. Same goes for if the paychecks were issued biweekly. Insurance carriers often ignore what the status of their paycheck billing was and issue the check bi-weekly.
4. Payments will not be considered late if they are made on either the day before or the day of the paycheck date. For example, if the employer pays the employee on a Friday but the end of the pay period is on a Monday, then the insurance company is allowed to pay the workers’ compensation check on Monday. Sometimes, insurance companies will issue the employee’s check sooner than the employer would have issued their paycheck. Although there is nothing wrong with the insurance company paying the check out early, the employee will have a harder time convincing the judge, at a later point, that the insurance company issued a check later than they should have.
5. Penalties, of up to 50%, can be issued to the insurance company is a payment is sent late. What is considered unacceptable by the insurance company, however, is decided ultimately by the workers’ compensation judge. On a more practical note, it is very unlikely that an employer will issue a penalty to an insurance company if a payment is a couple days late.