Recoup Your Wages with Our Workers’ Compensation Attorney
Workers’ compensation insurance provides benefits to individuals injured on the job. Benefits include payment for medical bills, out of pocket expenses, and lost wages while you are out of work.
D’Agostino & Associates P.C. is a firm of legal professionals that advocates on your behalf. Regardless of your claim’s circumstances, our workers’ compensation lawyers can help.
Workers’ Compensation
Every year, thousands of construction workers and laborers are killed or seriously injured while working at construction sites, even though state and federal regulations and industry standards, require owners, general contractors, and sub-contractors to implement a wide variety of safety measures. If you’ve been injured in a workplace accident, please give us a call for a free consultation. People injured while on the job have protected rights under the law. Initially, you must seek attention from a company doctor. Only after 90 days of seeing a company doctor do you have a right to choose your own doctor. Be sure that you notify your insurance company within 5 days of this change to ensure that your doctor is paid. All persons injured at work should immediately seek a consultation with an experienced attorney.
Far too frequently, we see people who are too trusting. Many times the system that was designed to help the worker really works against them. The system makes it difficult to collect compensation for work-related injuries by putting the burden on the injured worker. This is why it is so important that injured workers understand their legal rights. Workers’ compensation can mean the difference between a devastating personal tragedy, bankruptcy, or divorce, versus a dignified recovery and survival. In addition, it is vital that you have an experienced and aggressive lawyer.
100% FREE CONSULTATION + 100% QUALITY SERVICE = 100% PROBLEM SOLVED This is not an all-inclusive list of what we handle. Please call to discuss your needs. If you were injured at work, you have rights. Give us a call so we can make sure your medical treatment is covered and you obtain the lost wages you’re entitled to.
Navigating the System
The workers’ compensation process involves complex rules and regulations. Therefore, failure to meet specific requirements can lead to denial of the assistance you’ve requested.
Our trained attorneys help with the following:
- Meeting deadlines
- Improving medical care
- Calculating benefits
- Preparing and appealing claims
- Negotiating settlements
Types of Settlements
Workers’ compensation pays benefits on injuries that include physical, mental, and traumatic injuries. Additionally, occupational diseases fall into this category. Benefits can be temporary or permanent.
Our workers’ compensation attorney in Long Island, NY provides advice regarding the types of benefits that should be part of your settlement. These include:
- Permanent Partial Disability (PPD): This common disability results from an injury that prevents you from performing required tasks and from working at full capacity.
- Permanent Total Disability (PTD): In order to receive these benefits, you must be completely disabled and unable to return to work.
- Temporary Partial Disability (TPD): Benefits are available if you can work after an injury but have physical restrictions and earn less.
- Temporary Total Disability (TTD): You are entitled to benefits when you are temporarily unable to work. This can occur when your doctor recommends less strenuous tasks, but they are not available at your workplace.
Documenting Injuries for Workers’ Compensation Cases
When filing a Workers’ Compensation claim, it is often common for the victim to only document the most severe injury that occurs from an accident. Often, the victim is so concerned with their fractured bone or back pain, that they forget to document additional injuries sustained. It is in your best interest to document all pain and damage that you sustain as a result of an injury while at work. Undocumented injuries can often be dismissed or thrown away in court. Making sure that all injuries from an accident are recorded will help build a stronger case.
All Injuries Count
Whether you fall off of a ladder or slip and fall, injuries are often more widespread than what hurts the most. Even if you sustain a major injury in one spot, other parts of your body may have also been damaged. You may have landed on your back, but did you hurt your head? Did your elbow smash against the ground too?
When filling out an injury report or other official documents, it is important to document each point of impact and the pain in that area. Swelling, bruising, cuts, and scrapes should all be documented. If an area is impacted or scraped, but there is no visible damage or pain, you should still take note of it. It is possible that you sustained internal damage that is found later.
Informing Your Physician
As mentioned above, you will likely have to see a doctor chosen by your employer. However, your personal physician can provide their own report and will be important to visit in order to help you maintain proper care for your injuries.
It is always important to visit your physician after any major injury, especially if you did not receive emergency medical services. Your doctor will be able to look over your injuries, run tests or call for scans if needed, and more. If you are building a case for workers’ compensation, you will need proper medical documentation of your injuries. Walk your doctor through the events of the injury, and be sure to inform them of each injury sustained. They will formulate their own report, which may be helpful for further treatment. Your doctor’s notes may also be helpful in building your case. Documenting your injuries and pain with your doctor can be an important step for building your Worker’s Compensation case.
Additionally, if you do not go to visit a doctor after your accident, your employer’s insurance company may try to use this as evidence that the injuries were not severe enough. It is important to visit your physician, as well as any specialists they suggest. You should visit your primary care doctor even if you are taken to a hospital as a result of the injury.
Why is Documentation Important?
For the example of falling down a ladder; assume that you bumped your elbow on the floor too. Your injury report does not include that you hit your elbow coming down. 2 weeks later, your physician discovered a fracture in your elbow. From there, it would be difficult to prove that the fracture was from the fall, at least in a legal case. While the elbow impact was not in your report, it may be important for your case. However, by documenting every aspect of the injury when it happens, it will be more likely to link the injury to the accident. Injuries that are not linked to the accident may be dismissed from the case. This means that you might get compensation for your back injury, but not your broken arm. Furthermore, they might mean the difference between approval or dismissal of your case as a whole.
Do You Have A Case? Contact D’Agostino & Associates For A Free Evaluation
Injured workers rely on workers’ compensation claims for wage benefits while they are in recovery. At D’Agostino & Associates, we help you get timely medical treatment and pay your medical bills. D’Agostino & Associates P.C. has offices in New York and New Jersey. Contact us, or call us at 1-888-245-2924 to schedule a free consultation with our personal injury attorneys.