Vital Aspects of a Statutory Benefits Workers Compensation Settlement

This article will provide important information regarding workers compensation settlements. It will explore the benefits of statutory settlements, various aspects of the process and what you should consider before accepting an offer.

Background to WA Workers Compensation Payments

Under the Workers Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981 workers who have an accepted workers compensation claim are entitled to:

• reasonable medical and allied health treatment expenses
• compensation for loss of wages
• reasonable workplace rehabilitation expenses
• travel and other expenses

If you have made a workers compensation claim in WA, this article is a complete guide on all you need to know about WorkCover WA schemes and claims, including workers compensation benefits, coverage and examples.

Medical review regarding permanent impairment

Before settlement of a workers claim, most of the WorkCover lawyers will recommend workers undergo a review by an Approved Medical Practitioner.  A full list of these doctors and specialists can be found on the WorkCover website.

If you would like to arrange a medical review with an Approved Medical Practitioner you should provide them with Form AMS 1 Request for Assessment by Approved Medical Specialist of a Worker’s Degree of Permanent Impairment (See Common Law forms section) well before your appointment. The Approved Medical Practitioner will provide you with a notice that your condition has not yet stabilised or an assessment of your permanent impairment.

An assessment of permanent impairment is very relevant to your claim. It states that a certain part of your body is impaired to a certain degree, (e.g. 5% Permanent loss of the full efficient use of the back (including thoracic and lumbar spine)). If the report indicates that a part of your body is impaired as a result of your work injury, this is multiplied by the percentage in the ‘prescribed amount’ schedule to indicate how much money you should be paid for permanent impairment to your body.

It is important to attend AMS reviews and follow the steps on how to best work with medico-legal doctors for medical evidence.

Workers compensation payouts – maximium payments

The amount that you can receive in workers compensation statutory benefits is limited and is altered by WorkCover WA each year. This is called the ‘prescribed amount’.

At present the prescribed amounts are as follows:

• ‘Maximum Payment’ (see explanation below): $239,179.00
• Medical Expenses: $71,754.00
• Rehabilitation Expenses: $16,743.00

The Maximum Payment comprises compensation for loss of wages (weekly payments) as well any payment you are entitled to for your permanent impairment. Some workers have a severe injury where they can not return to work and in limited circumstances, the maximum payment can be extended. Extensions may also be available to the prescribed amount for medical expenses. This article outlines who you need to know about claiming WorkCover benefits.

Getting the most out of your WA workers compensation claim

Permanent Impairment / Schedule 2 Benefit

The assessment of whole permanent impairment (WPI) is very relevant to your claim.

• If you are assessed as having a whole person impairment of 15% or more you may be able to bring a negligence common law claim against your employer.
• If you can make a common law claim the amount you will receive is generally more than you will receive in the ‘no fault’ workers compensation system.

Please stop searching online for permanent impairment payout amounts WA or permanent impairment calculator WA. Your permanent impairment rating must be assessed by an AMS doctor. Furthermore, it is important to choose the right doctor to assess your permanent impairment. This is because your ability to negotiate a more favourable settlement will increase if you are assessed at a higher level of permanent impairment. In reality, insurers often choose the doctors who usually provide a relatively low assessment of permanent impairment. For example, an insurer doctor may give a 2% WPI for a back injury at work, However, a more favourable AMS doctor may give a 16% WPI. The gap in the WPI assessment may result in over $100,o00 difference in the workers’ final workers’ compensation settlement amount.

It is important to work with a good personal injury lawyer for your workers compensation claim or common law claim. This is because established personal injury law firms often have developed good networks of doctors that support injured workers to fight injustice WPI ratings produced by insurance doctors.

Weekly payments

In addition to settlement workers comp for a lump-sum amount at the end of the claim, injured workers may also be entitled to workers compensation weekly payments. If the injured workers do not have good medical evidence, they may get their workers comp weekly payment cut off and forced to return to work when they are not ready.

It is often the case that the only medical evidence that workers have is from the doctors that their employer’s insurer has sent them to. As we have said above, these doctors have been selected as their views will often accord with the views of their instructing insurers.

At the very least, you should obtain a medical report from your general practitioner or treating specialist before you consider settling your workers compensation case. If your general practitioner says that you are unfit for work or partially unfit this provides you with a negotiating tool, wherein in other circumstances you would have had nothing.

Medical Expenses

It is important to get your general practitioner and appropriate specialist to set out their views regarding what will be needed by way of treatment in the future. If you have any expenses that were not paid for by your employer’s workers compensation insurer, then you should produce the invoices and receipts.

Rehabilitation Expenses

If you have not undergone any rehabilitation at the time of settlement, or you are in the process of being rehabilitated you should bring up rehabilitation expenses as something that will be incurred in the future.

Travel Costs

Many workers do not know that they are entitled to the reasonable travel expenses associated with their claim. Travel expenses can be significant if the worker lives in a rural or remote location.

Common Mistakes in Workers Compensation Settlement

A personal injury claim may take 6 months to 3 years to reach a settlement. There are many factors that affect your overall personal injury compensation payout amount. The top 3 reasons that injured people get their settlement amount reduced are 1) lack of quality legal advice; 2) lack of quality evidence; 3) lack of quality claim management. All these common mistakes can be avoided by simply appointing a good personal injury law firm, such as Foyle Legal, to help with your compensation claim. Foyle Legal provides No Win No Fee legal representations to all qualified personal injury claims in WA.

Obtaining legal advice

If you have made a workers compensation claim in WA, stop wasting time on the impairment benefit calculator, or endless articles on workers’ compensation payout guide WA type of articles. The quickest and cheapest way to obtain legal advice is to contact Foyle Legal and organised an obligation free claim assessment before settling the workers compensation claim. Remember, your employer’s workers compensation insurer is trying to settle your claim for the least amount of money possible.

Call our experienced workers compensation lawyer at Foyle Legal concerning your workers compensation claim and we will be happy to help you further.