Being injured on the job can leave you facing serious setbacks that can make pursuing the future you’ve planned for yourself more challenging. Workers’ compensation in Indiana is designed to cover two primary categories of your loss in support of your most complete recovery.
Better understanding the workers’ compensation process can help you better understand and protect your rights. One of the most important steps anyone who’s suffered an injury-causing accident on the job should take is consulting with an experienced Greenwood workers’ compensation lawyer early on.
Common Types of Work-Related Injuries
Every work-related injury claim is unique to situation at hand, but some of the most common types include:
- Crushing injuries related to being caught in or being caught in between heavy manufacturing equipment
- Chemical burns, which are common to chemical plant accidents
- Respiratory illnesses, which are closely associated with work in chemical and manufacturing plants
- Injuries related to slipping and falling, which can happen on any job site and can include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, soft tissue injuries, and broken bones
- Overexertion and repetitive stress injuries, which are common to manufacturing jobs
How Workers’ Compensation Works in Indiana
Workers’ compensation in Indiana is designed to be something of a compromise. The idea is to balance the rights of both employers and employees and to expedite the claims process at the same time.
As an employee, you give up the right to file an accident case against your employer, while your employer gives up the right not to cover your valid claim. In other words, you don’t have to worry about pursuing a long-drawn-out case to recover your losses, and your employer avoids the hassle and expense of personal injury lawsuits.
In this exchange, the issue of negligence is erased from the equation.
What’s Included in Workers’ Compensation Benefits?
When it comes to workers’ compensation claims in Indiana, the losses that you can recover on are more limited than they would be in a personal injury claim and include the following benefits:
- Your necessary covered medical expenses
- Your lost pay – up to a specific percentage of your current wages
First Steps to a Workers’ Compensation Claim
If you suffered an injury in an accident at work, it’s important to recognize that the workers’ compensation process follows a careful schedule, which means it’s important to act quickly.
While your workers’ compensation claim will be specific to your situation, there are some important first steps every claimant should take.
Obtain medical attention
The most important thing anyone who has suffered an injury in an accident can do is seek immediate medical attention.
The signs that you’ve suffered a severe injury can be blurred by the adrenaline surge and shock you experience, and some injuries are simply slow to become symptomatic. Because early diagnosis is so closely related to improved health outcomes, seeking early medical treatment is always in the best interest of your health and is also the right move to make for your workers’ comp claim.
Notify your employer
The next step in the process is letting your employer, boss, or supervisor know that you suffered an injury at work, which will instigate the claims process. If the accident in question wasn’t an emergency situation, your employer – or their workers’ compensation insurance carrier – has the right to choose the medical provider you see.
Reach out for legal guidance
As soon as you can do so, reach out for the skilled legal guidance of a practiced Greenwood work injury attorney. Workers’ compensation claims tend to be challenging, which makes proceeding on your own ill-advised. Obtaining fair compensation that addresses your full range of losses in their entirety is too important to forego legal counsel.
Why Are Workers’ Compensation Claims Denied?
While workers’ compensation insurance is designed to help protect employees, it’s important to recognize that the insurance company covering your claim is interested in its own bottom line, which means it’s interested in keeping your settlement as low as possible. In fact, some workers’ compensation providers will deny claims outright – hoping dejected claimants will simply give up.
It’s always to your advantage to allow your knowledgeable workers’ compensation attorney to communicate with the insurance company on your behalf.
You’re not required to provide the rep with a statement, and it’s generally advisable not to do so. The insurance company has considerable practice using the innocent statements of claimants like you to damage their own claims. This is why staying off social media while your claim is pending is also encouraged.
What Does a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Do?
Your workers’ compensation lawyer will take on all the following primary tasks on behalf of your claim’s best possible resolution:
- Compiling all the relevant evidence into a tight claim that supports your legal rights
- Helping you navigate the path forward toward an advantageous outcome
- Skillfully negotiating for your claim’s advantageous conclusion
- Being well prepared to take the matter to litigation if the insurance company refuses to engage in fair negotiations
When You Can File a Personal Injury Case After a Work Injury?
While workers’ compensation is designed to take negligence off the table and to bypass personal injury cases altogether, there are highly specific situations in which this isn’t the case.
Consider the following:
- If you suffered an injury as a result of a third party’s negligence, you could file a lawsuit against that third party. In this context, a third party means someone who is not your employer, which – for example – can include the manufacturer of a dangerously defective product or a subcontractor at a construction site.
- If your employer’s negligence was especially egregious, such as if it was intentional, you could proceed with a personal injury claim.
Personal injury claims allow claimants to seek complete compensation that can include losses related to physical and emotional pain and suffering.
Turn to an Experienced Greenwood Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
Sevenish Law Personal Injury Lawyers protects the rights of injured workers in Greenwood, Indiana. Put our more than 35 years of skilled advocacy in pursuit of your claim’s best possible outcome. We have a track record of fiercely defending the rights of the injured that speaks for itself.
Your claim is important to your future and to us. Learn more about your legal options by contacting us online or calling 317-636-7777 today.
Workers’ Compensation Claim FAQs
How do I prove I suffered an injury at work?
This is a job that’s best left to your seasoned workers’ compensation attorney – who will gather all the available evidence necessary to build your strongest claim, which includes succinctly demonstrating that your injuries are work-related.
Can’t I handle my own work injury claim?
Without the compensation to which you are entitled, recovering your health and well-being to the degree possible may not be possible, and without professional legal guidance, obtaining just compensation can be out of reach.
How much will my attorney charge?
Most workers’ compensation attorneys work on contingency. This means your attorney’s pay will be based upon – or will be contingent upon – the outcome of your claim.
