If you were recently injured in a workplace accident or have contracted a serious illness because of your working conditions, getting the benefits owed to you through your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance could be essential for your recovery. Unfortunately, insurance companies are never eager to pay out the money they get through premiums paid by policyholders, which means the insurers that provide workers’ compensation coverage often fight much harder against claims than many first-time filers expect.
The first step to obtaining fair workers’ compensation benefits in Dawsonville is seeking help from a knowledgeable workers’ compensation lawyer with years of experience successfully handling claims like yours. Another important step is understanding exactly what kinds of benefits may be available through workers’ compensation. Here is a brief overview of what Smith Hulsey Law could potentially incorporate into your claim.
First and foremost, workers’ compensation claimants in Dawsonville may be eligible to receive medical benefits to make up for money they have had to spend and can reasonably expect to spend in the future on medical treatment. Covered treatment can include:
However, each claimant will need to prove a particular expense was “reasonable necessary” for it to be covered by workers’ compensation, and they typically have to get care from an employer-approved physician to keep that coverage active.
If a work-related injury or illness renders an employee unable to perform their normal job duties for several days or more, that employee can potentially receive temporary partial disability (TPD) benefits or temporary total disability (TTD) benefits depending on whether they can still perform at least some of those normal duties during recovery. These workers’ compensation benefits are technically supposed to be equal to two-thirds of the weekly income lost by the claimant because of their condition, but there are maximum caps applicable to these benefits, which a Dawsonville lawyer can explain in more detail.
Someone who suffers a catastrophic injury on the job can receive TTD workers’ compensation benefits indefinitely, whereas most claimants in Dawsonville are subject to a limit of 400 weeks of TTD coverage at most. Additionally, if a covered worker remains partially disabled for more than the maximum 350 weeks of TPD coverage allowed, they can receive permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits for differing periods of time depending on what type of injury they have sustained. For example, 160 weeks for the loss of a hand or 225 weeks for the loss of an arm.
Finally, if a worker passes away from a work-related accident or injury in Dawsonville, their surviving family members can receive workers’ compensation benefits in their loved one’s name. These can include up to $7,500 of reimbursement for funeral and burial costs, as well as weekly benefits to make up for loss of financial support for dependents.
Even if you know what steps you need to take to file a workers’ compensation claim and what benefits you should be eligible for through that claim, the process as a whole can still be very challenging to go through alone. That is especially true if your work-related injury or illness will continue to negatively affect you for years or decades to come since that may substantially change the type and amount of benefits available to you.
You have professional legal support available with ensuring you get all the workers’ compensation benefits in Dawsonville you need. Reach out to Smith Hulsey Law today for assistance.
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