WORKERS INJURY COMPENSATION LAWYERS
Work can be a dangerous place. Merely earning a living should not be a hazard to your health or enjoyment of life. If you’re in any doubt about your right to claim workers compensation or work damages please contact us without obligation. This is because we are one of the best No Win No Fee workers injury compensation lawyers, with offices in Ipswich and Brisbane.
There are two types of claim for injuries in the workplace:
- workers compensation
- work damages.
They are not the same and different considerations apply to each claim. The claims are different, but they are paid by the same insurance company, in Queensland usually WorkCover Queensland.
WHAT IS WORKERS COMPENSATION?
If you are injured:
- at work, whether your actual workplace or another location that you have been assigned
- during breaks
- or travelling to and from work,
you can claim workers compensation. If injured travelling to and from work, in a motor accident, in addition to workers compensation, you may have an overlapping damages claim arising out of the motor accident.
You may also claim workers compensation if you are injured by medical negligence whilst seeking medical treatment for a work injury.
You might also be entitled to claim workers compensation if you are injured during a period away from home, for example, whilst staying overnight as a requirement of work. Always ask if you are unsure about your right to claim workers compensation.
Workers compensation requires no element of blame (what lawyers call fault or negligence). An injury at work or the required connection to work triggers the right to claim workers compensation no matter who was at fault for causing the injury.
This is commonly referred to as workers comp.
Time limits apply! Generally, you must make a claim workers compensation within 6 months of your injury. There are exceptions to that general rule. However, if you are aware that your injury resulted from your work and you try to claim workers compensation after 6 months, you may run into problems. (Different time limits apply for work damages).
WHAT DOES WORKERS COMPENSATION COVER?
The workers compensation scheme covers many things when you are injured at work but in general you will get compensation with:
- weekly payments of income support
- payment of treatment expenses
- reimbursement of travel expenses to obtain treatment
- payment of rehabilitation
- and payment of return to work programs.
You have a right to get compensation for any work related injury.
You may also be able to get a lump sum payment for permanent impairment for something that results in a work disability. As well as lump sum compensation, you may also get periodical payments.
TIP: seek legal advice from a law firm such as ours before accepting any lump sum payment. This is because you may exclude yourself from a second and much larger claim. We call that a work damages claim.
Workers compensation covers physical injuries and psychiatric injuries. It covers injuries of “latent onset”. This means, injuries that you acquire but hide from you because the symptoms are not yet obvious (e.g. asbestos related diseases). Injuries may be a single event, such as an injury to your back whilst lifting. Or they may occur over a period of time, such as a repetitive strain injury (RSI) to a typist’s wrist.
WHO PAYS FOR WORKERS COMPENSATION?
In Queensland, workers compensation payments rarely last forever. WorkCover Queensland insures most employers in the State for workers compensation liability. Other employers are “self-insurers“.
The insurer (or self-insurer) may stop paying you because they have a medical opinion that your work injury is no longer stopping you from working. That is, that there is no permanent work disability.
Your workers compensation claim may end when the insurer sends you a Notice of Assessment of your Work Related Impairment. This medical opinion may come from their Independent Medical Examiner or IME, who is a doctor who works on managing your case, Note that the IME is not working in your health’s interest, but in the insurance company’s!
When your workers compensation claim is nearing an end or has ended, seek legal advice. The reason is you may have a much larger and more significant claim. This is a common law claim, which is known also as a negligence claim or a work damages claim.
As far as what you have to pay us for your claim – you may be eligible for our No Win No Fee guarantee.
WORK DAMAGES (COMMON LAW CLAIM OR NEGLIGENCE CLAIM)
The law imposes a very high standard of care upon employers to protect workers from work injuries. It is usually not difficult to establish negligence or fault in the field of work injuries. The insurance company of the employer usually has the responsibility to pay.
As at 25/2/2015 in Queensland, before being able to consider a work damages claim, you must have:
- an accepted worker’s compensation claim
- and an assessment of permanent impairment of greater than 5%.
Work damages claims are far more wide reaching than workers compensation claims.
For a start, you get compensation for wage loss in an entirely different way. This means that you may recover the full wage losses of the past and future predicted wage loss to likely retirement age because of the effects of your injury. You are also likely to receive payment for pain & suffering beyond any lump sum payment offered as part of your workers compensation claim.
Workers Compensation Claims differ a little
In essence, a workers compensation claim pays you for some of your losses “in arrears” or as they happen. A work damages claim does that and more. PLUS, a work damages claim pays for predicted future losses for a work disability including wages, pain & suffering and treatment expenses.
Work injuries can include conditions resulting from long term exposure, or events from long ago, including:
- Asbestos Disease Claims
- Silicosis Claims
- Skin Cancer and Melanoma Claims.
So if you have this type of injury or illness please get in touch.
CONTACT OUR WORKERS INJURY COMPENSATION LAWYERS NOW
Please contact us to discuss your workers comp injury claim. We are experts in injury law. We are available for home visits in Brisbane, Ipswich, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and out to Toowoomba. Our practice include Queensland and northern NSW.