Let’s face it, when you’re injured at work, the last thing you’re thinking about is how to navigate the Workers’ Compensation claims process. And who could blame you? All you know is that you’re hurting and you want to get better – so you can get bac
k to work. After all, there are bills to pay and mouths to feed.
But, in all honesty, figuring out how your Workers’ Comp injury translates into future medical expenses and possible job limitations should be at the top of your list. Because the longer you wait, the more uninformed decisions will be made that could jeopardize your Workers’ Compensation claim, your health and your future.
Here are the major steps to consider as you work to settle your Workers’ Compensation claim:
- Reach the end of your healing period.
- Make sure your employer has provided you with sufficient medical care.
- Verify that you’ve been paid benefits at the correct compensation rate.
- Assess the seriousness of your injury, most importantly, if you have a permanent impairment and permanent work restrictions.
- Determine if you have lost the ability to make your pre-injury wage.
- Decide if your injury will require training to perform a different job.
- Understand how much medical care you will need in the future and the cost associated with these healthcare services.
- Figure out how much all of this is worth under the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Act and come up with a dollar figure reflecting that amount.
- Approach the insurance claims adjuster with a demand for settlement (this is often referred to as a “demand letter”).
- Convince the insurance claims adjuster – and likely their attorney – to agree to that settlement amount.
- Review and sign a lengthy set of settlement documents, prepared by the insurance company’s attorney(s).
- Go to court and ask an administrative law judge to agree to let you settle the case for the agreed upon amount.
If you have any questions about the Arkansas Worker’s Comp claims process, feel free to call us at 1-800-520-5874, or go hartlawfirmllp.com/#faqs. Helping injured workers is what we do. And even if we don’t represent you, we can help point you in the right direction.
So, how much do lawyers charge to help settle AR Workers’ Compensation claims? It’s a really good question, especially when you’re hurt, unable to work and you’re trying to keep the bills paid. Every dollar matters, right?
Well, the truth is, attorney’s fees don’t amount to near as much as you might think. Many people think AR Workers’ Comp is the same as personal injury law, where the attorney gets 1/3 of the total settlement. But that’s just not the case.
In fact, an attorney gets a relatively small portion of the Workers’ Compensation settlement amount. For starters, the fees charged by an attorney to represent an injured worker in an Arkansas Workers’ Compensation claim are set by state law at 12.5% from the injured worker. And sometimes even this fee is negotiated during settlement to be paid by the insurance company.
It’s also helpful to know that there are no “up front” charges, or fees. In fact, a claimant doesn’t owe their lawyer a dime unless he/she collects money on their behalf – either through settlement, or by asking a judge to force an insurance company to pay benefits they have wrongfully denied.
For answers to more of your Workers’ Comp questions, check out these FAQs, or call 1-800-520-5874. We’re here to help, even if we don’t represent you.
Back and neck injuries are very common in Arkansas workers’ compensation law. More importantly, spine and joint cases can be very valuable for settlement purposes. The main reasons is that these types of work injuries are often the most problematic, because they can involve long, painful healing periods and produce substantial permanent impairment.
Here are 5 very important things to know about back and neck injury settlements, as well as the insurance company playbook before getting too far along into the AR workers’ comp claims process:
Workers’ compensation claims that involve back and neck injuries can be very valuable for settlement purposes.
- Workers’ compensation claims that involve back and neck injury settlements can be quite valuable. In fact, the average settlement for joint and spine injuries can substantially higher than you might think.
- Insurance companies know this, and act accordingly, by immediately sending folks with spine and joint injuries to orthopedic doctors they think will help end these claims as quickly and as cheaply as possible. In fact, the insurance company will often hire a “nurse” to meet the injured worker at his, or her doctor’s appointment, at which time the nurse routinely goes into the examination room with the claimant, and then talks one on one with the doctor about the case.
- If the insurance company doesn’t like what the treating doctor has to say, the patient is sometimes sent for an Independent Medical Examination, again with a doctor chosen (and paid for) by the insurance company.
- Insurance companies want to keep back and neck disability ratings low; the healing periods short; and spine surgeries to a minimum. In the meantime, while the back and neck claims are being potentially dismantled beyond repair, the insurance company and its nurse sometimes tell the claimant that hiring an Arkansas workers’ compensation lawyer to protect them in the case simply isn’t necessary.
- If this scenario doesn’t sound quite right, it isn’t. It’s totally legal, but it’s not even close to totally fair. The insurance company may have a legal right to dictate the path of an injured worker’s initial medical care, but it doesn’t have the absolute right to dictate the direction, or the outcome of his or her case.
Knowing all this, it’s not surprising, really, that one of an insurance companies biggest nightmares is when injured workers with severe spine and back injuries seek the advice of a workers’ compensation lawyer early on in the claims process – especially from a lawyer who is already extremely familiar with the typical insurance carrier game plan and how best to counter it. At Hart Law, we already know the insurance company’s playbook. Which is why it’s so important to consider getting legal advice from an experienced workers’ compensation attorney when you have back and spine injuries.
For more information check out the Frequently Asked Questions (link to https://hartlawfirmllp.com/#faqs ), or give us a call 1-800-520-5874.
It’s important. Very important. Why? Because it represents the only income injured working folks usually have to survive on while they’re in a healing period, following a work injury. But it’s more than that. The eventual value (settlement and otherwise) of workers’ compensation cases is based heavily upon what the claimant’s weekly compensation rate is determined to be. Under law, the average weekly wage and corresponding compensation rate are to be based upon a worker’s contract of hire at the time the injury occurs. The alternate calculation, favored by insurance companies, is to arrive at a rate by analyzing how much an injured worker earned in the year prior to his work injury, and then dividing that number by 52 weeks. Insurance companies like this method, because it often makes the compensation rates lower (sometimes much lower) than they legally should be. This devalues the case, and saves the insurance carrier cash, at an injured worker’s expense. Competent workers’ compensation lawyers should always make accurately determining a client’s weekly compensation rate one of their top priorities.
Claims are often denied by insurance companies under the defense that an injured employee wasn’t actually working at the time the job injury occurred. Under our current law, however, injuries that may not seem particularly work-related at first glance may actually be viable workers’ compensation claims. For example, an injury occurring while an employee is using the restroom, eating lunch, or even on break might very well be deemed to be a compensable claim under our Workers’ Compensation Act. Our Employment Services Doctrine states that if an employee is performing services at the time of his accident that either directly or even indirectly benefit the employer in any way, that employee is technically “on the job” when the injury occurred. Some of these cases have to be tried in court; and some go all the way up to our Supreme Court, like this one, handled and won by Hart Law in 2006: https://opinions.aoc.arkansas.gov/weblink8/0/doc/273068/Page6.aspx
By: Neal L. Hart, Attorney at Law
k to work. After all, there are bills to pay and mouths to feed.
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